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The Russians Aren't Coming: New Soviet Policy in Latin America

Wayne S. Smith, editor
The Russians Aren't Coming: New Soviet Policy in Latin America
ISBN: 978-1-55587-270-0
$35.00
1992/195 pages/LC: 91-28838

"Deserves particular attention because it includes not only contributions by U.S. scholars but also the works of Soviet researchers and political figures. . . . Provides a multifaceted analysis of some of the most controversial and debated issues of Soviet policy in Latin America."—Latin American Research Review

"The essays remain important in showing that there was never as much of a Soviet presence, influence or `threat' in the Western hemisphere as Washington policymakers said and probably genuinely believed."—Foreign Affairs

DESCRIPTION

Pointing to the dramatic changes in the former Soviet Union and its foreign policies over the past few years, the authors demonstrate that, even before the consequent collapse of communism in the Soviet Union, the fear of Soviet penetration in Latin America, which had driven US policy in the region during the Cold War, had been rendered groundless. They argue that it is high time for the United States to adapt its Latin American policy to the post-Cold War era, a process that should include normalization of relations with Cuba.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wayne S. Smith (1932−2024) served as a Foreign Service officer in both Moscow and Havana and later taught at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and was a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC. He is author of The Closest of Enemies, editor of Toward Resolution? The Falklands/Malvinas Dispute, and coeditor (with Esteban Morales) of Subject to Solution: Problems in Cuban-U.S. Relations, a 1988 Choice Outstanding Academic Book.

CONTENTS

  • Introduction: An Overview of Soviet Policy in Latin America—W.S. Smith.
  • THE DEATH KNELL OF WORLD REVOLUTION.
  • World Revolution and Class Struggle: Outdated Concepts?—G. Mirsky.
  • The End of the World Revolution in Latin America—W.S. Smith.
  • Superpowers, the UN, and the Post-Cold War Era: More Than a Blue Fig Leaf?—T.G. Weiss.
  • NEW POLICY FROM NEW THINKING.
  • An Official Statement of the New Soviet Policy in Latin America—V. Nikolayenko.
  • A New Soviet Perspective—K. Brutents.
  • Comments on the New Soviet Course—I. Prizel.
  • THE SOVIET UNION IN CENTRAL AMERICA.
  • On the Real Soviet Policy Toward Central America—K. Maidanik.
  • New Challenges for Cuban Policy in Central America—J. Carranza Valdes.
  • The US Response to Soviet and Cuban Policies in Central America—D. Rich-Kaplowitz.
  • THE SOVIET UNION AND CUBA.
  • The Future of the Soviet-Cuban Relationship—S. Mikoyan
  • The Cuban Perspective on Cuban-Soviet Relations—E. Montesino Segui.
  • Comments on Soviet and Cuban Perspectives—W.S. Smith. Havana Ground Rules: The Missile Crisis, Then and Now—J.G. Blight, A. Belkin, and D. Lewis.
  • CONCLUSION.
  • Confronting New Challenges—W.S. Smith.