Determinants of Soviet foreign policy: A study of Soviet policy toward Pakistan, 1960-1971

Foreign policy is the outcome of a complex interaction among situational variables at the global, regional, bilateral, and domestic levels, which are filtered through a country's unique perceptual prism. While recognizing the role of perceptual factors in Soviet foreign policy, this study stresses the importance of situational variables in foreign policy formulation. It is asserted that, like other countries in the international system, the Soviet Union responded to the demands of realpolitik, pursued its national interest, and tried to maximize its power.;This study attempts to delineate the determinants of Soviet policy toward Pakistan and to draw some general conclusions about Soviet foreign policy behavior. The author challenges many dominant assumptions and explanations regarding Soviet policy toward Pakistan and provides alternative interpretations of particular policies and events. The relative impact of global, regional, and bilateral factors on Soviet policy toward Pakistan is analyzed for the period 1960-1971. Hypotheses at each level establish linkages between changes in Soviet relations with other countries and fluctuations in Soviet-Pakistan relations. At the global level, Soviet-Chinese relations were found to be most significant in the determination of Soviet policy toward Pakistan; at the regional level, Soviet-Indian relations were most significant; and at the bilateral level, Pakistan-China relations were most significant. In comparing variables from these three levels, inputs from the global level were found to have the maximum influence on the formulation of Soviet policy toward Pakistan.;This dissertation is a contribution to the literature on foreign policy analysis and Soviet studies in several ways: a case study approach is successfully combined with a broader theoretical and conceptual framework; hypotheses regarding the influence of variables at different levels of analysis are empirically tested; and, unlike previous studies, the Soviet perspective of events is presented. Finally, the multi-level approach employed here provides a more comprehensive understanding of Soviet objectives toward Pakistan. The conceptual framework and hypotheses outlined in this dissertation can be used to study Soviet-Pakistan relations in other periods and also Soviet relations with other countries.