ABSTRACT
The Nixon administration, from 1969 to 1974 at least, has exhibited a diametrically opposite set of priorities and achievements. A new RAND Report aims at extending the Nixon approach to foreign affairs to the Third World. The report is rich in common-sense recommendations and empirics: that because only the United States has the air power necessary to counter Soviet air power, doling or parceling out air defense units gives little military advantage to a nation under siege. One must conclude on a somewhat pessimistic note, for the RAND Report confirms, even consecrates, the fact that there is no such entity as the Nixon doctrine for the Third World and its security. Such rhetoric simply confirms an outstanding fact of the moment: the character of a Third World nation is uniquely determined from below by its class interests and racial composition, and from above by its military power and political structure.
