The Soviet Union in the Horn of Africa : the diplomacy of intervention and disengagement /

This published version of Patman's 1986 doctoral thesis (University of Southampton) examines the paradoxes of Soviet policy toward Ethiopia and Somalia since the 1970s. Patman analyzes Soviet behavior within a conceptual framework of intervention and disengagement, both of which entailed serious risks. He demonstrates the complexity of Moscow's relationships with Somalia and Ethiopia, as the USSR shifted alliances in the late 1970s. His extensive and skillful use of Soviet primary sources provides new insights into Moscow's policy of "calculated opportunism." Supported by 60 pages of notes and a 20-page bibliography, this authoritative and well-written work will be indispensable to readers interested in Soviet policy toward the Third World. This volume updates and in part supersedes Marina S. Ottaway's Soviet and American Influence in the Horn of Africa (CH, Dec'82) and Samuel M. Makinda's Superpower Diplomacy in the Horn of Africa (CH, Jul'87). Recommended for larger college and university libraries with strong collections in international relations, Soviet studies, or African affairs. Upper-division undergraduates and above. -J. P. Smaldone, University of Maryland, University College