ABSTRACT
The role of the Third World in Soviet thinking has undergone significant changes in the Gorbachev era. These changes have touched upon such fundamental questions as the position of the Third World in the world revolutionary process, the potential for transformation to socialism in individual Third World countries and the nature of the obligation of the USSR and other socialist states to aid Third World development economically, politically and militarily. While most of the changes are still the subject of lively debate among Soviet ideologists and area specialists, trends in governmental policy under Gorbachev seem to indicate an acceptance of some of the more radical rethinking about Soviet relations with the Third World, not the least of which is its relative downgrading as an arena of intensive Soviet involvement.
