ABSTRACT
The Sandinistas' policy of internationalism grew out of their conceptualization of the Nicaraguan revolution as one part of the world struggle for liberation from foreign domination or socieconomic oppression. A major theme has been the emergence of military security and economic survival as key determinants or shapers of Nicaraguan policy. This chapter focuses on foreign policy patterns which have emerged in the first six years of Nicaragua's revolution. It considers major policy environments and the development of the Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional's (FSLN) military defense policy. The chapter discusses the political and economic ties forged by the Nicaraguans within those constraints. It examines the FSLN government's behavior in the international arena. While the FSLN thus demonstrated its pragmatism regarding immediate issues of international finance, it also signalled continued activism on and adherence to Third World debt objectives. FSLN material support for regional liberation movements, however, quickly became a key contested issue between Washington and Managua.
