Extended Containment: Countering Soviet Imperialism and Applying Economic Realism

This essay presents two ideas for extending the existing containment policy of the United States to improve its effectiveness. One of the extensions would express and provide U.S. support for genuine and legitimate movements seeking liberation from Soviet imperialism in the Third World. The other extension is concerned with developing and applying a policy of economic realism in trade, credit, and technology transactions between West and East. Before considering these policy extensions, the essay contrasts two different sets of beliefs concerning the nature of the Soviet system and the objectives and motivations of its readers. It is suggested that these different beliefs underlie the conflicting positions on specific policy issues which are advocated by particular people and organizations in the U.S. policy community. One set of beliefs, termed mirror imaging MI, holds that, while the Soviet Union is often aggressive in its external behavior, this aggressiveness springs from its history and its understandable preoccupation with defense. According to the MI view, notwithstanding such aggressive behavior, the Soviet Union and the Soviet system and leadership really are motivated by values similar to those maintained by the West, namely human betterment, peace, prosperity, and justice.