The Soviet Union and the Neutralist World

Although Soviet interest in the "colonial ques tion" is as old as the regime, an active and well-financed policy was initiated only in 1954-1955 as more colonies attained na tional independence. The first Soviet loans and arms ship ments to Afghanistan and Egypt were designed to weaken the Baghdad Pact, support neutralism, and establish Soviet pres ence in the Middle East. The Soviet Union joined specialized international organizations, and Soviet leaders began to visit selected nonaligned countries. Soviet ideologists developed the concept of "national democracy" and "neocolonialism" in order to rationalize the operation. Long-term loans to a select group of neutralist states, at low interest rates with repayment often on a barter basis or in local currencies, are a significant feature of the Soviet offensive in the "third world." The So viet Union seeks to weaken and ultimately to eliminate West ern influence, disrupting regional military alliances and eco nomic ties with the West; Soviet loans and aid are also designed to promote political and socioeconomic conditions conducive to the strengthening of local Communist parties and are a means of obtaining neutralist support for Soviet foreign-policy objec tives. The Soviet campaign in the "third world" has had lim ited success, and may have consequences which its initiators did not anticipate.