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A New Brezhnev Doctrine: The Restructuring of International Relations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2011

R. Judson Mitchell
R. Judson Mitchell
Affiliation:
University of New Orleans
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Abstract

Contemporary Soviet doctrine on international relations emphasizes changes in the relationships of both domestic and world political structures; all the processes of restructuring are said to be “organically” interconnected. An extensive reconceptualization of domestic processes of social change has provided ideological legitimation for elites in the highly bureaucratized Soviet system. Meanwhile, according to Soviet spokesmen, the world correlation of forces has shifted decisively in favor of the U.S.S.R. Because of this change in the world balance, the Soviets claim the power to set the rules in international relations. The new Brezhnev Doctrine projects the U.S.S.R. as the center of the world, largely determining the direction and pace of political change. The Soviet leaders view detente in terms of rational acceptance by the “imperialist camp” of unavoidable processes of restructuring favorable to the “socialist camp.”

Type
Research Article
Information
World Politics , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , April 1978 , pp. 366 - 390
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 1978

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