The Soviet Union in the International System of the 1980s

Abstract

It is, of course, impossible to discuss the role of the Soviet Union in the world of the 1980s. The nature of that world, and the part played in its determination by the power of the USSR, are so totally interdependent that one might just as well attempt to discuss the role of the trade unions in the British economy. Developments in Africa and American reactions, the prospects for the control of the arms race, the chances of a global attempt to deal with imminent energy problems: all these will help to determine, and will all be in part determined by, the domestic politics of the Soviet Union and the interaction of these politics, in the form of agreement, conflict or understanding, with those of the United States and other centres of power. But this initial admission also offers a starting point for a discussion, and the starting point itself carries a further implication. The starting point is obvious. The Soviet Union has become a global power. But the manner in which she has done so also merits a little consideration. Long before she acquired anything like a global reach, the Soviet Union was regarded as a super-power. At first, this title smacked rather of an ascriptive courtesy than of any existing reality; but nature gradually carne to imitate art, and the USSR emerged as the true bipolar partner of the United States.