Soviet Prospects in the Developing World: Implications for US Policy

This chapter summarises the limitations of Soviet power, discussed in detail in the preceding chapters, and how they generate incentives for a Thermidor in the superpower conflict in the developing world. A respite, if extended, could conceivably moderate the inclinations of the superpowers to intervene militarily abroad and lead to a redefinition of their struggle from one characterized principally by force and threats to one driven primarily by political and soci-econo-mic competition.