This book examines the crucial role that Soviet policy toward the Third World played in Soviet efforts to influence the development of the international system in competition with the United States. It traces the evolution of Soviet policy toward the Third World.

Soviet policy towards the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America underwent substantial expansion and change during the three decades since Khrushchev first initiated efforts to break out of the USSR's international isolation. This 1988 volume examine various aspects of Soviet and East European policy towards the Third World.

Gorbachev's Third World Dilemmas (1989) examines the strategic, political and ideological criteria which shaped Soviet policies toward the developing world. Organized around particular themes and issues, it pays attention to both theoretical fundamentals in Soviet doctrine and to Soviet actions in specific regions. The topics range widely and include: the Soviet conception of regional security; Soviet arms transfers and military aid to the developing world; the developing world in Soviet military thinking; the USSR and crisis in the Caribbean; Soviet policy towards Southern Africa, notably Angola and Mozambique; and Soviet policy towards Southwest Africa. It looks at the activist foreign policy that Gorbachev inherited, and explores the elements of change and continuity that Gorbachev and the Soviets faced.