ABSTRACT
Soviet policies and political predispositions had a very significant impact on the Arab communist movement. This impact resulted from two interrelated factors, beginning with the special role of the Soviet Communist Party in the Soviet state. This allowed for the hegemonic role of the Soviet party to manifest itself within the international communist movement. As clandestine parties outlawed by Arab governments, Arab communist parties were politically and financially dependent on the Soviet Communist Party. It provided the material, financial, and moral support needed by the parties to maintain activities and groups of activists in the face of political suppression and imprisonment. However, as it grew from an independent body to subsume the Soviet state, the Soviet Communist Party came to represent national rather than international interests. Its policies and predispositions were oriented toward the interests of the Soviet state. In other words, the Soviet party’s position on Arab issues was determined by the interests of the Soviet state, and was not guided solely by ideological principles. Thus, one of the most important variables in the development of Arab communist parties was the degree to which they accepted Soviet policies on basic Arab issues.
