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Soviet Pacific Policy Aims
| Article
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13852 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
12 / 1988 |
2,787 Words |
| Author
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Shiro Shimamura
Shiro Shimamura is a fellow of the Nomura Research Institute
in Japan. |
Since the 1970s, there have been at least two major policy shifts in terms of Soviet plans in the Pacific region. The first was in 1978, when then-General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev visited the Soviets' Far East military base. This marked the initiation of the rapid Soviet military buildup in the Pacific, most notably, of the Soviet Pacific fleet.
The Soviet military buildup in the Pacific fleet effectively cordoned off the Sea of Okhotsk, where it became possible to attack the United States directly with submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). As a result, the United States could not help building up militarily in the North Pacific and demanding that Japan begin arming itself as well. Hence, military tension over the North Pacific increased, affecting relations between the United States, Japan, Korea, and the Soviet Union.
The Soviets, however, also needed to develop their Far East region economically. The cost of transporting military equipment and other materials from Europe was prohibitive, so the government established the Azbaikal agency to oversee construction projects and promote economic development in the region. Its results proved unsatisfactory, however.
Another major shift in Soviet Pacific policy occurred in April 1986, when the Soviets announced "The Proclamation of the Soviets on Security Problems in Asia and the Pacific Area." In this, they proposed an open meeting of the Pacific nations to foster trust and to discuss the development of the Far East and international divisions of labor in Asia and the Pacific countries. Shortly after, in July 1986, General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev visited the Far East region of the Soviet Union, giving his now-famous speech at Vladivostok [see side-bar]. With this, a turning point was reached. The policy of the Soviets in the Pacific changed from one of power conflicts to one of economic cooperation.
Gorbachev's Pacific policy has three main thrusts: gaining the trust and confidence of the Pacific nations, urging the Pacific nations to confer together, and developing the Far East areas of the Soviet Union.
The first goal was supported by a thesis published by the Soviet Science and Academic Research Institute in the Far East in collaboration with Stanford University's international strategy research department. Entitled "The Program for Strengthening Security and Reducing the Danger of War in Asia and the Pacific," the paper skirted the questions of security assurance and
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