ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the reformist impact in developing Communist states, the position of the Soviet Union in the unfolding revolutionary developments, the role of the West in furthering democratic change, and the significance of contemporary trends for the plight of rural societies and indigenous people. Compared to parts of the developing world Communism in Eastern Europe had few indigenous roots and was imposed by the Soviet Red Army in the wake of the World War Two devastation. Soviet policies in the Third World have oscillated between radicalism and pragmatism. This has depended on the global "correlation of forces," Soviet military capabilities, and the domestic condition of targeted countries. According to Soviet theorists the world revolutionary process experiences ebbs and flows, both internationally in the expansion of Communism and internally in socialist construction. The West faces numerous adversities and some valuable opportunities in fostering democratic reform among both left and right-wing dictatorships in the Third World.
