ABSTRACT
By 1985, Soviet policy toward Africa south of the Sahara experienced many of the strains and setbacks which then characterized its policy towards the Third World in general. These problems were of three kinds. First, since 1982 there was a lack of direction and initiative in Soviet foreign policy which was caused by successive leadership crises in Moscow. A second major problem was that the Soviet economic model gradually lost its attractiveness for erstwhile Soviet clients in Africa. Thirdly, the Soviet Union had no ability to address the pressing problem of growing instability in key client countries such as Ethiopia, Angola, and Mozambique. As with many other aspects of Soviet national life, the Gorbachev team has also brought substantial changes to Soviet policy towards Africa. The Soviet promotion of political settlements for regional conflicts extends to the internal situation in Southern Africa.
