ABSTRACT
Inadequacy in the economic strength is the Achilles' heel of Soviet social-imperialism in its cutthroat rivalry with US imperialism for world hegemony. To alleviate its economic difficulties, the Soviet Union has steeply increased its trade with the West and sought enormous credits to finance the import of sophisticated equipment and technology and grain. All this is done by mouthing "materialization of relaxation" and "economic cooperation" and cashing in on the appeasement trend in the West. The Brezhnev clique thus has managed to boost the Soviet economic potential for the arms drive and war preparations and strengthen its hand in contending for world domination. For years the Kremlin's all-out drive to expand the war industry has left the Soviet economy in a state of lopsided development – the consumer industries are backward, and the growth of production has fallen markedly.
