ABSTRACT
Soviet policy in the developing world is ultimately inspired by the imperatives of safeguarding the national security of the USSR, preserving the domestic order in the USSR, and maintaining a global presence. This chapter explores the sundry sources of policy diffraction. It outlines the salient regional particularities insofar as they impinge on Soviet policymaking. The chapter is concerned with the existence of a consensus among Soviet policymakers to the effect that Soviet goals of safeguarding national security and excluding the United States (US) can best be served by contracting the channels for US—developing country interaction and expanding institutionalized channels for Soviet-developing country interaction. Divergent inputs also come from institutions such as the military and, at times, the trade-union organization. In South Asia, the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan looms as a central and unavoidable issue, and has complicated Soviet relations with Iran, Pakistan, and India.
