THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTOR IN SOVIET FOREIGN POLICY,
Abstract
Stalin's death is considered as an implication for change in the motivation of Soviet foreign policy. The operative aim of the politics of cold war as practiced by Stalin after World War II was total control of foreign territory and people. The Stalinist picture of the world as cleanly divided between two antagonistic camps was a reflex of this drive for total control. One of its consequences was to exclude the notion of political neutrality or a 'third force' in world politics. Therefore, Stalin's death occasioned a psychological revolution in Soviet foreign policy. The driving concern with totality of control subsided, and there arose in the postStalin period a new expansionism of Soviet influence aimed at creating new spheres of influence rather than new satellites. The two-world image faded out, giving way to a picture in which two opposing systems of states compete for preponderance of influence in third states not belonging to either system.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 07, 1957
- Accession Number
- AD0606358
Entities
People
- Robert C. Tucker
Organizations
- RAND Corporation