Chapter 1

IDEOLOGY AND ~ s::>VIET FOHEIGN fDLICY:1HE CO N:::E PTUAL F AAME l4) RK

!fhile 'ideology• has a positive meaning in the context

of M2rxism-Leninisrn practiced in the Soviet Union, the term has

generally had a negative conrotation in the context of the

political ideas particularly in the westo 'Ihis chapter begir..s

with a brief en::ruiry into the evolution of the term • ideology•.

It then examines the place of ideology in Marxist-Leninist

theory and its link with policy. This is follo•..ied by a

discussion on ~ Marxism and Jtnternational relations and the

place of ideology in the soviet Union• s foreign policy, where

"deideologisation11 of international rel=tiorn and of inter­has been

-state relatiorn L_ the ::iirect outcome of the • new political

t.'1inking• on which t~ Soviet foreign policy is row based.

Hegelian Concept of Ideology

Hegel postulated t."'lat the world is a unity and is

conceivable only with referen:e to a pe--rceiving mind., having a

•col"'..sciousness• which experiences and takes o1>gnizance of the

infinitely variegated world. This assumption modified the

earlier view that the world existed objectively and

independently of the perceiving subject. According to Hege 1, the

subject, as the carrier of the "unity of cocsciousness", was a

7

wholly abstract super-temporal, super-social entity:

"consciousness in itself". 'Ihis idea on further development

gave rise to other Helgelian concepts like "world spirit",

"absolute mind11 etc .I •

Marx and Ideology

Marx took a decisive step when he debunked these

Hegelian concepts and. gave instea:i a materialistic interpretation

of ideology. He wrote; "'Ihe production of ideas, of conceptions,

of consciousness is at first directly inter\o.oven with the

material activity and the material inter-course of men, the

language of real life". 1 In his critique of the t£rman Ideology

he pointe::i out that morality, religion, metaphysics, all the

rest of ideology and their correspon::iing forms of consciousress,

no longer retain the semblan:::e of in::iependence as assume::i in

the Hegelian thought an::i the 'Historical School'. Life was rot

deterrni r.e::1 by the conscious ress, as assumed by Hegel, but

consciousness by life. Thus rejecting the "consciousness in

i tse 1 f" as a motive force of history, Mc.rx pointed out that it

were t.."IJ.e classes, as d.etennir.ed by the division of labour, which

shaped. hist:ory. Thus the i::tea of • world spirit' was turned

1. Karl Marx an::i Friedrich Engles , The German I::ieoloov (Moscow, 19 4 7), pp. :~47- 55.

8

upsid.e down by Marx ard replacej by that of class-struggle as

2 the basis of historical development.

P9rticu1ar and the Total Concept of Ideology

German Philosopher Karl Mannheim maintains that we do

not yet possess an adequate historical treatment of the 3

aevelopment of the concept of ideology. He says that the

particular ana total conceptions of ideology can be distinguished.

from each other •. Mannheim begins with the assertion that the

mistrust which man has experienced towar::ls the other man at all

stages of historical development should be t2.ken as a "NOTION" the

which is,L forerunner to the corcept of ideology. ~en this

aistrust becomes explicit am takes a formal form; it becomes

11 i:::1eolog~. Thus Mannheim's un::lerstan:::1ing of "i:ieology' is

basically a negative one. "v;e begin to treat our adversary's

views as ideologies only when we no longer consider them as

calculated lies- and when we sense in his behaviour an unrealiability in

which we regard. as a function of the social situatioJi,which he

find.s himself". 4

Manrheim regardS this concept of ideology as

a "particular" concept as it refers to a "sphere of errors,

2. There is considerable debate amongst the Marxistsover the theory of ideologies. See for i r.s tance S akari Hanninen, Leena Paldan (ed.), Rethinking Ideology, (Berli~ 1983), pp.9-38.

3. Karl Mannheim, "Differing Co rceptio re of I:::1eo logy', in James A. Goul::t, WillisH.Truitt, Political Ideologies, (New York, 197 3), pp.14-24.

4. Ibido, pp.lS-16.

9

psychological in nature, which, unlike deliberate deception,

are oot intentio na 1, but follow inevitably and unwittingly from

certain causal deterninism". 5 Building upon t.he concept of

• error• as a basis for the earli.er mtions of 'i:J.eology',

Hannheim points out t:~ot B<_;cc,nts theory of 1 Idola' and

"false rotiorn" may be regar:led as a forerunner of the modern

co n:::eption of ideo logy.

This psychological observation, that ideology. could be

a source of error, was [Jrobably owing to the close relationship

t.'"lat has existed between "ideology"' and politics .. The concept of

ideology was being influenced rot only by psychological factors

but also by political, sociological, philosophical and

historical factors. A synt.'-lesis of the various tendencies which

were at 'WOrk has given rise to what Manrheim calls the "total

cooception" of ideologyG Mann.'"leirn identified three principal

stages in the evolution of the "total" corx::ept of ideology: a)

the developnen~ of t.~e philosophy of conciousness in Germany

which demolished t.'"le objective ontological unity of the world and

replaced it with a unity imposed by the perceiving subject; b)

the efforts to view t..'1e con:::ept of ideology in historical

perspective which meant that t.~e unity of the world as imposed

by perceiving mind .vas in a process of continual historical

transformation. In t..'1is· scheme of things the historical -

political elem~~nts get in:::orporated into the conception of

5. Ibid.

10

ideology. Thus the mtion of 'ideology' ceased to remain merely

a psychological or philosophical notion. The i:iea of nationally

differentiated' folk spirit'. took shape at this stage. Thus

the transition from abstract concept of 'consciousness in

itself' gave way to more concrete idea of 'folk spirit' which

took into account the national specifics and political

developments: c) 'fhe final step in the creation of the total .

con:::eption of ideology took place when the Marxist concept of

class consciousness replaced the concept of • folk spirit'. The

coocept of 'class ideology• was a natural outcome of this

substitution. The net effect of the evolution of t.'le 'total'

concept of ideology ,.,as tl)at instead of t.'le unchanging, absolute,

static concept of 'consciousness in itself', a new conception,

which varied in meaning in accordance with the historical

development, nations and social classes came into being.

Mannehim points out that several consequences flow from t.'lis

concept of i:ieoiogy: (a) t.'le realisation that human affairs cannot

be un:ierstood in isolation of their elements: (b) an i:ieology

itself derives its meaning from t.'le historical stage in which

it is conceived. The Marxists can be given the cre:iit for

synthesising the various ten:iencies in t.'"le developmentof the

concept of ideology and giving a 1 total' concept.

The Political Ideology

In the realm of political i:ieology, the problem of

making out what is real has always been the touchstone of

11

ju::lging the worth of a particular ideology. ~at is •real' is in

turn judge::l by a politician, a man of action, against the

existing practice. Thus, the word gives sanction to this

specific experien::e of a politician with reality. During the 19th

century, the word 'ideology' was being use::l in this sense. For

instance, Napolean contemptusously labelled his a::lversaries who

were oppose::l to his imperialist ambitions, as 11 i::leologists".

Sioce Napelean was in a position of strength to deal wit.":l his

less powerful a::lversaries, he was able to give a derogatory

meaning to\the word 11 i::leology'. Marx and Engles were interested

in inVeStigating the I interrelated System Of flase i:J.easl am

held that 'political i::leologies were for most part post facto

justifications or rationalizatior.s for t.~e existing material or

6 ecoromic organisations of a society. They wer-e intereste::l in

i::lentifying the veste::l interests behin::l political i:J.eology. The

Marxists conclu::le:J. that all political ideologies ten:J.e:J. to

further directl)' or indirectly the interests of the ruling or the

::lominant groups or classe~. 7 Lenin found ro difficulty in

referring to Marxist theory arrl practice of i:leology and viev.red

it as progressive an:J. revolutionary. The Marxist ideology was

used to fight ot.~er political i:leolo9ies, which were perceived

as reactionary or statico Thus Marxism, in Leninism, becomes ore

6. Gould & Truitt, n.3, Pel.

7. Ibid., p.2.

12

of the ideologies which gives the 'true•, the 'scientific'

description of the 1vorld and the society and is thus'superior"

to other political ideologiese

The Debate about the Relevance of Ideo logy Today

There is considerable debate on the relevance of the

ideology in today' s circumstan:::::es. It was first Edward Shil who

in a Congress of Cultural Freedom in 19 54 put forward t.l-).e thesis

that in the present era ideology had lost all its relevance.

This 'end of-t.l-).e ideology' thesis was later develf;>ped by Daniel

Bell and Seymour Martin Lipset. The burden of their thesis was

that in t..~e industrialised countries of the west, 1 ideology was

~t an end because fundamental social conflict was at an end'.

Daniel Bell, developing the thesis 'The-end-of-i:ieology'

makes the 'following points in his book: 8

I ::leo logy, in the 19th century, sought to tram fo.rm society and ::lerived its force from the passion of ~e a::L"lerents to change society. Today, with a rough coooensus among the intellectuals on political issues - the acceptance of a welfare -state, :ieee ntra lis at ion of power, mixed eco rorny and political pluralism etc., the main force behind

ideo logy haS dec lined.

The ferment in Asia and the un:ierdeveloped world has given birth to rew ideologies which are distinct from the 18th century ideologies in the senee that instead of being concerned with 1 great political' and human problerns,t."le newer ideologies are only about 'ecoromic develo:pnent and national power' and there fore rot as potent as the 19th century ideologies. Bell counts the Russian and t."!e Chinese ideologies as representative of t.'1is nerlll€r brand of ideolo9ies which would rot be permanent.

8.. Daniel Bell, "ri'he End. of Ideology', in G:ml::i & Truitt, n. 3, pp .. 176-79"

13

Alastair Macintyre criticise th~ 'end-of ideology'

t.'lesis and argues that '.errl-of-i.:ieology' is itself an

ideology. He makes the following points in the critique of

the thesis put forward by Bell, Lipset, Shil and supported by

J .L. Tolmon, Sir Isaiah Berlin, Norman Cohn etc. 9

'llie 'Em-of-ideology' thesis is an ideology itself and is t.~e product of the place where it took birth (i.e. the developed west} an:i the time when it was propounded (i.e. 1950). 'lb this extent, it justified the Marxian tenet that the ideologies are specific to place and time •.

The postulate that there is no 'consensus • among the intellectuals, politicians on certain kay political, ecorornic issues is an incomplete one as it does rot define as to who are the parties to the 'consensus 1 • The lack of consensus thesis is merely to justify status-quo in which the developed societies are at an advantage. The 'consensus• in fact excludes significant sectiors of t.~e society- e.g. blacks in USA - who do rot take part in political decision making. The concept of 'consensus• is related to the corx::ept of 1 interests'. The 'end-o £-ideology' thesis represents t.~e interests of the 'haves• in developed societies and not of those who have been left out of this consensus.

has The •end-of-ideology' t.~esisiProved to be highly discordant with the prevailing mood in the 1960s when t.~e social conflicts intensified.

In this critique Macintyre succeeds in convencingly

arguing that pragmatism of the' end-of-ideology' thesis in

itself gives rise to the birth of romantic ideologies in those

9. Alasdair Macintyre, Agair..st the self Images of Age, (New York, 1971), pp. 3-11.

14

section of ~ society who :io not represent the relatively

comfortable section of t)tj society which promunced. the

"e n::l-o f ideo logy". 10

Ideology and Policy - The Marxist -Leninist View

In Marxism-Leninism, great stress is laid on the

connection between ideology an:i policy of the •revolutionary

working class•. Ideology is taken to be a system of vie~,

conviction and ideals expressing the interests of a definite

class. Yu. Krus in a Soviet theortician,holds that there can be I

ro policy without ideology as every type of policy covers social

relations and. has to pass through human conscious ness before it

11 takes shape. Lenin repeatedly s tres se::i the importance of

ideology on which was based his theory of state an::1 fevolution.

The activities of the Bolshevik party were also given an

ideological basis.

In the Soviet marrual of Marxism-Leninism the ideological

struggle is listed as one of the basic forms of class struggle

of the proletariat. 12 The task of the i::ieo logical struggle are: creation of -..-

at_ class coociousness among the workers an::i b) liberation of

10. Many in the west are euphoric about the collapse of socialist ideology in recent years.

11. Yu. Krasin, The Contemporary Revolutionary Process, Theoretical Easays (Moscow, 1981), p.140.

12. o. Kuusinen (e::l.), Fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism, (Moscow, 1961), pp.202-07.

15

non proletarian masses - the peasntry, the petty bourgeoisie and

the i ntelligensia - from the influence of bour-geoisie ideas and -winning them over to the sociaList ideas. ~ile working-class is

schooled in the day-to-day struggle, according to the manual, t."lat

is,however, rot emugh. For the working class to reach a high

level of class consciousness a special form of class, ideological

struggle is needed. This involves working out a world outlook,

a scientific theory which shows the working class the path to

liberation. 'Ihe struggle for immediate class interests - e.g.

trade-unionism - is rot sufficient to give birth to socialist

views. The manual declares t~at the doctrine of socialism could

be created only on the basis of the most advanced philosophical,

economic and political theories which were in turn based on a

certain class based ideology. Thus in the Marxist-leninst

literature the importance of ideolog:4£or the tvorking class to

chalkout its theories and policies to achieve 11 libera:tion•1 is

highly stressed. ,..

These ideas were further developed and elaborated in t~e

Soviet Union. The success of the revolution was considered to

depend upon t.l-:le shaping up of the 'social consciousress' of the

masses, wh±ch could be aroused only through i:leological

propaganda. A revolutionary party of the working class was needed

as it alone 9rovided t"J.e connection between the theory of

scientific socialism an::i the working class movem:::nts. 13 Further

13. I bid.

'

16

it was consi::lered impossible to frame and. implement a

revolutionary policy, without the k mwle::lge of the objective

laws of socio-ccooomic development of t~ societyo Marxism­

Leninism, as a unity of all its component parts-philosophical,

ecoromical, social, cultural, scientific, communist- was

consi::lered to be an i::leology which was based on the objective

laws of social development. Thus, a revolutionary party, arme::l

with Marxist-Leninst ideology base::l on t.lte materialistic

co:oception of history, was supposed to follow a sceintific policy.

Thus, in the context of the USSR, the importance of i::leology for

the policy coul:J. rot be over-estimated.

Marx is t-Le ni nis t Co nee ptio n of functions of Ideology

In the Marxist-Leniret conception,i::leology belongs to the

• supers tructure• of the society which corres pon::ls to the i basis 1

determined by materialistic relations. Although i:J.eology, like ..

other compananions of the 1 superstructure• .Ls secon::lary, it

nevertheless Lis important.

I ::leo logy, in Marxism-Leninism, has beer. assigne::l several

functions: (i) cognition; (ii) gui::le to action, motivation;

(iii) axiological (i.e. relate:J. to values); (iv) Combating

h . l . 14 ot. er l~eo ogles.

14. Krasin, n.ll, p.144o

17

Cogl'"'i.tion

In its cognitive functio ~ 2.:ieo logy proviies a frame<,.,ock

an o c ie nta·tio n to unje rs ta n::l the social reality. I :leo logy is

use::l to understand and sort out the facts an::i use t.~em for

progrosticating the course of historical ::levelopment.

Guide to Action

a In its second function, ideo logy se eves asL gui:te to action

as and alsoLa motivation for action. For instu.nce, i:teology is use:l

for justifying the class objectives, for legitimisng or just.i .. fying

political action. Thus ideology can lea::l to action or qui·te often

an action, after it has been taken, can be justified in i:ieolo9ica:

terms. The important point here is t.""tat action and ideology are

closely linke::l.

Axiological Functio rn

The axioloqical function of ideolo9y is ro less important

as ideology is use::l to substantiate t.'"le values of a given class. a

For instance, the goal ofL<=:lassless society cherishe:i by t.'l.e

Narxists as a supre;nely human value has to be substantiated by a

fully developed ideologyo

Combative Function

I:leology combats i:ieology .. In fact, quite often ideologies

take shape aro grow in response to certain ot.'ler i::ieologies. Thus,

18

the iaeology plays an important role in meeting the challenge of

other ideologies. For instance, Marxist-Leninist t.~eoreticiarn

have in the past usea the Marxist-Lenirnt iaeology and the

theory an:l practice of socialism in the Soviet Union to combat

such i:ieological approaches as 1 global conscious res s' which

recommen1s some kina of supra-i:::ieological conSciousness in the

fashion of Karl Mannheim's •sociology of kn:::>wle:ige• free from

any class-ideological frame~-JOrk or the 1 techmlogical ideology'

i:iea put forwar:i in t.'1e .~st which favours substitution of

'class-ideological' approach by some kin:::i of integral, rational

ideology. ~ile the Soviet iaeologues did stress the need of a

:iialogue between the Communists an:i the propornnts of other

iaeologies, this aialogue, it was maintained, should rot lead to

jettisoning of the class-nature of Marxist-Leninst i:ieology. A

cooperation between ideologies was foreseen by the Soviet

theoreticians if such a cooperation was for the achievement of

common goals ana objectives like solving the burning problems of

the rna nkind.

Contradictions coul::i arise between i::ieology an:::i reality

i.e. between the ideological aspects proper arrl its cognition

aspect. It may happen t.'i.at the t."'l.eoretical cognition apparatus

provi::ie:::i by t."'l.e ideology may give distorted vievJ of reality. In

such a cose, iaeology becomes meaningless. Quite often t."'l.e

contradictions appear when i:::ieology fails to rise over and above

t."le immediate am practical interests, to the level of worlj,..wi:ie

19

historical experience. It is therefore stressed. that ideology , ,

or t.~eory has to be constantly updated. in the light of the day-

-to-day struggle of the working class. v.hilc ideology provides

orientation and a guide to action, it is not regarded. as

deterministric in nature. The Soviet t.~eoriticians maintained.

that the ideology or t.~eory could oot predict all events. For

instance, t.~e New Eco oomic Policy ( NEP) was a::lopte::l in response

to the dictates of t:-te times and was ideologically a correct

decision as it furt.'"lered the cause of the working class. NEP,

nevertheless,' could oot be predicted.. The s arne was true of the

Brest-Litovsk peace treaty. The creative aspect of Marxism-

Leninism,· the need to steer clear of sectarianism,· left wing

radicalism and qogmatism has all along been stressed. in the

soviet literature. To::lay, un::ler Gorbachev, the need. to apply

Marxism creatively is stressed. a good. ::leal. These examples make

it clear that changes in ideology are consi::lere::l mrmal in t.~e

USSR. Today, even the very basic ideas of Marxism and. Marxism-,..

Leninism are being reinterprette::l in the light of the changes in

the global environment affecting the ex is te n2e of rna nki nd ..

western Debate over Ideology in t.'le Soviet Union

There has been a general consensus in t.">-te Western

aca::ler:lic circles that the ideology of Marxism-Leninism play

an important role in the Soviet politics. Bart"ington Hoore in t.~e

his work of 1950 examineddnterplay of Marxist-Leninist ideology

and. soviet politics upto late Stalin period an:i established t.~at

20

pre-revolutionary Bo.3hevik theory hcid. shaped Soviet political

behaviour. Gustav wetter's 1952 study of Dialectic_ Materialism

and his 1962 book Soviet Ideology Today corcentrating on the

philosophical basis of Soviet ideology in post-Stalin period

recognised explicit link between ideology and politics. In the

1ate fifties and sixties a number of important studies appeared

iocluding the rotable ores by Richar T. de Georges•, Patterns of

Thought ( 1966), David Joravsky' s Soviet Marxism and Natural

sciences (1917-1932) (1961), Herbert Marcuse 1 s Soviet Marxism

(1958) • 15 The English journal Soviet Studies carr-ied an intemive

debate during 1966-68 on the function of ideology in Soviet

politics. 16 The debate was triggered off by Meyer in his

"speculative essay• in which he assigned five elements to

ideology in USSR: (i) Diatectical Materialism, (ii) Historical

Materialism, (iii) ·Political Eco romy, ( iv) Scientific Communism,

and (v) Official History of CPSU. Ideology's function.P were

taken to be' ..

15o For a review of these and other works see Stephen \'bite, "Ideology and Soviet Politics" in Stephen M-lite, Alex Pravda (edo), Ideology an::i Soviet Politics, (London, 1988), PPo 1-17.

the 16. Fori1966-68 debate in Soviet Studies see the following:

Alfred G. Meyer,· 11 The Fun::tions of Ideology in the Soviet Political System", Soviet Studies, vol.17, oo.3, 1966, pp.273-85: Alec Nove, 11 Ideology and Agriculture", Soviet Studies, vol.17, oo.-t, pp.397-407; David Joravsky, 11 Soviet Ideoloqy', Soviet stu::iies, vol.18, ro.1, pp.2-19; Fredrick Barghoorn, 110bservations on Contemporary Soviet Political Attitu:les", Soviet Studies, vo 1.18, no .1, pp. 66.-7 0; Robert v. Dan:~els, .. The Ideological Vector'~ Ibi::i., pp.71-73. Also sE!e Alfred G. Meyer, "Political Ideologies in t..'-le Soviet Union: Reflections on Past Attempts to Unders ta n::i the Relationship bet~veen I:ieas and Politics", in n.15, pp.43- :>B.

21

language of poli tic:s; cod.e of communication; legi timisation

of CPSU rule; arrl a means of socialisation. This d.escription

of id.eology has been accepted in the Western 'literature though

there have been further refinements too. It is recognisa:J. in

the West that while id.eology is important in the Soviet context,

it shoul:i rot be cred.ited. with ":ieterminism11• Further, with

time the content of the i:ieology L.eo Marxism-Leninism has

changed. substantially from Stalin to Gorbachev. In fact

Gorbachev 's concept of "humane, d.emocratic, socialism11 is being

used to remove some of the central features of socialism as ~\.

establishe:i in/USSR. This 'di 11 be d.iscussed. in d.etai 1 in t.'1e

latter chapters.

Marxism and Int2rnational Relations

Before the examination of the role of 'Ideology' in the

formulation arrl corrluct of ¢,¥e Soviet foreign policy, it will be

useful to ex&lline t.~e treatment of international relations by

Harx an:i Erqles o There has alrea:iy been a consid.erable :iebate

on this~ The cred.it for initiating a ne~t~ rourrl of this :iebate

in the 1980s goes to Kubalkova and. Cruickshank who have broken

from the tra.d.iti.::m of generally d.ismissive writings in t.~e \-/est

ri:iiculing the Marxist atternpts to give a theory of international

relations o \~

\j)-;- 71 ) \ ~ r N '<(

NO\

THESIS 327.47

G9593 ld

111/ll/111111/llll/11111/ TH3549

22

Kubalkova <lni Cruickshank, 17 a::lopti ng He::iley Bull' s the

i::ientification o:fLthree main philosophical trq::litions of

international relations strive to locate the Marxist view of

international relations in this spectrum. According to Bu11 18

these tra::iitions are (i) Hobbesian trcdition which ::iescrib~

international relations as a pure conflict state in which the

states are in permanent conflict with each other to maximise

their own interests. In this scenario the inte~als of peace

are mere 1 y the perio::ls when one 'Nar has e n:ie::i a n:i the

preparatiorn are afoot for the rext one. (ii) Kantian or t.~e

unversalist tradition where the ::iominant theme is that of

community relationship among all men, irrespective of states or

societies in which they live. There are moral imperatives in

the internal relations which suppose::ily gui::ie the con::iuct of

states. (iii) Grotia n tra::iitions figuring somewhere bet';ol€e n the

Hobbesian (conflict) tra::iition and the Kantian (universalist)

tradition. According to this tra::iition, conflict and

cooperation co-exist in international relations. the

Kubalkova an:i Cruickshank maintain thatL_fitting of Marx

into any one of these patterns ::ioes rot prove easy. At first

glance, Marxism can be regar::ie::i as a sub-system of Kantian

17.

18o

Ven:iulka Kubalkova and Albert Cruickshank, MarAism and International Relations, (Oxford, 1985), pp. l0-15.

H. Bull, The Anarchical Society: A Stu::iy of Or~er in ~rl::i Politics, (Lon::ion, 1977), PP-24-27.

23

(universalist) tradition as there is a lack of emphasis in

Marx on the state system and instead there is a stress on

classes which cut across the state boun:laries ani are

universalist in character. However, the similarities break down

here. Unlike the Kantian tradition which makes morality as

a :fuundation of international relations, Marx, in the spirit of

historical materialism ,regards materialist relations as the

basis of the society incluaing the world system. For Marx, it

is the interplay of classes and the relations of production

which turn out to be the motive :furce of history. Thus, in

Harx, the principles governing class relations subsume both

domestic an::i international relations. Any sharp distinction

between the domestic and the international does r.ot come

naturally in Marxism. Therefore, Marx's connection to Hobbes or

to Kantian tradition is only superficial. Perhaps t.~e

rvrarxist tradition of international relations like the Groat:i.an

tradition can be placed J:::etween t.'"le Hobbesian and t.'"le Kantian ,.

traditions but distinct from the Grotian which is totally anti-

thetical to Marxism.

Features of Marxian Tradition of International Relations

The next question that needs to be tackled is as to what

actually is Marxian trad.ition of international z::-elations. Kubalkov::a

identifies the followinq features as specific b) the Marxian

t d . t. 19 ra ~ ~on :

19. Kubalkova, n.17, p.l6 ..

24

It uses the method of 1 political eco mmy• • Any segregation of 'politics• and •ecoromy1 s is rejected.

Rather than the •states•, it is the classes an::1 the class-strength t,.thich is the motive force of world politics. The crux of international relations is the inter-class relatiore rather than the inter-state relatiore.

The Foreign Policy of a state is influeoced by t~e domestic class-structureo The ruling classes "react to the basic imperatives of production­eit.~er domestically or world wide11 .20

"The state-system is usually fragmented along t.~e lines of main class forrnatiore 11

• Mixes of Hobbes ian, Kantian and Grotian features are not uocornmon in individual types .21

An interesting phenomenon of the world politics is the

existeoce of the various type,y:)f Harxist statES- Soviet,

yUgoslavia~ Cuba~ Vietnamese )etc. 'which :iitfer on the specific

understandings of key concepts involve:i, like the m.eaning of

imperialism, capitalism, class, state, war, nation, vanguard

class, role of the in::iividual)etc. Very often, particularly in

t~e case of docolonised countries, in the name of Marxism, a host

of policies are follo,ved which ·NOul::i be difficult to justify on

pure Marxist theory. However,· thE coocepts like creative

application of I·larxism and transitional stage of development are

used to justify specific policies. For instance, the current

Soviet policy of de-ideoloqisation of international relatioru and

20. Ibi:i.,p.l7.

21. Ibi::lo

25

dilution of the class nature of the world state system is

explained in terms of creative Marxism and in the name of

"jemocratic, humao:(socialism11 in which pri.-ncc y to universal values

over narrow class interests is attached. It will rot be wrong

to say that there has been an attempt in all Marii.st states to

marry Marxism with the national specifics arxl produce a

homebred 'Harxism•. This has been true of 1f~viet Union

(Marxism-Leninism, developed socialism, :lemocratic socialism),

China (Maoism) Yugoslavia (Titoism) and many other countries. are

Briefly summariseibelowLthe kind of issues which

arise v-1he n an attempt is made to s tu:iy how Marxism, es ~;entiall y

a theory of society, is use:l to explain the s peci fie features

of world politics and international relations. These issue.s the

are among the central ores inL,Narxist view of inter·national

re latio r.s.

For Marx, historical materialism, v-1hich regar:ls relations of pro:luction as the bas is on wh::.ch classes are formed an:l class-struggle is"' carried out is the starting point in t.,e study of the society. Now can this view of c::lass-struggle be extended to the international relatiors? If so, with what results? 'that modifications, if any, c f the lav-..s of class struggleL:be required if t.,is extersion is to be Lwould ma::ie?

Does the nature of a class, say the ruling class in a cour.try, change witY place and environnent? For instar.ce, what will be the relative weight of the class factors which cut across the state boundaries or the nationc:~l specifies which determine the domestic environment of the class in the foreign policy of a ruling class?

26

March to communism is a long one.. In fact, the Gorbachevian co rx:ept of humane, democratic socialism ro longer talks of communism as a goal of the socialist ;society. W'lat laws govern the inter-state relatiore in the intervening period? Among the Marxist theoreticians and practioners there is ro consensus on the stages of deve1opment of a society to the final stage of communism, much less is there agreerre nt on the governa rx:e of inter-state relations in the intervening period.

Marxism is also required to take stock of rew pheromeronslike the decolonisation, East-~'.est ,lh relations, periods of col::l-~-1ar arrl detente, nuclear armament, ecological dangers to the existence of mankind. etc .. Do such pheromeno /l~' take place in accor::lance wi.th certain ... ~::I.e fir.e::l laws of the development of society or do they

lead. to revision of the existing theories of t.'1e :.ievelopment of societies?

Should. the world. be regarded as ore unit with v.orl:.i-ecoromy as its basis and the state-system as its super-structure or should it be regarded as one divided into different class formations? 5hould the methods of political-ecoromy be applied to the understan::ting of world polH:ies or should primacy be given to one particular factor over the other?

This is only an illustrative list of questions which arise

when an attempt is made to explain ~ international relations in

terms of Marxist theory. Depen:.iing upon how t.'1ese questions are

perceived and resolved by a state, its foreign policy will be

determi r.ed ..

It is important to realise t.'1at the Soviet Union, as the

first socialist state in the ~...orld, had to graPle with the

objective realities of the \...Orl:1 and formulate its own domestic

and foreign policies in terms of Marxist-Leniret theory, constantly

27

taking into account the changing situation both wit..1"'lin the

country an:::t also outside it. This process continues even

uroer Cbrbachev when efforts are being made at the 'rerewal

of socialism' arrl certain features of capitalism are being

accepted.. This, in turn,has necessitated. car:iinal changes

in .Jff' Soviet foreign policy.

It may also be mentione:::t that despite the exister:ce of

the laws of the development of society having a bearing on the

foreign policy conduct of a state, the for.:-ign policy acts

cannot be pre-determined exactlyor accurately. Very often the

theories are arnmended in the light of experience. This is

particulc:rly trueof the present times in the USSR,when a host

of Marxist-Ler:dnist principles are being revise:i in the light of

the nead felt to cooperate with developed capitalist countries

where capitalism, Jnstead of losing out to socialism, is showing

new strength.

I::leoloqy as It'iput to tJk: Soviet Foreign Policy

a There isLconsi::lerable debate on the irnportc.nce of

i::leology for t..'1e formulation ard con::luct of t./e Soviet foreign

policy. Triska maintair..s that despite erormous discussion an:::t

::livision of opinion on the question of 11 i::leology1 as a

motivating force behind Soviet behaviourj i~ international

affairs, there has been little concern for a precise :iefinition

of the terms under discusEion. Ee rejects the concept of

28

any "ideology' as too imprecise to be of any use inL:analytical study

of Soviet foreign policy behaviour • In its place, a cor:cept of

'belief system• and 1 doctrine• is introduced. 22

The 'belief

system• is con::eptualised as a totality of 'personally

experienced. and otherwise learned attitude and conceptions'

possessed by an individual. The specific set of doctrinal

propositions - e.g. Marxism-Leninism- are held. to be a sub-set

o f the be 1 ie f s ys tern.

Mitchell has critically dealt with Triska's approach

to ideology. 23

He argues that precision is only one aspect

ideology - foreign policy inter-play. The more important question

is whether or rot to treat M ideology11 as a separate analytical

category. Triska's 'belief system" category subsumes 11 i::leology11

thus dispensing with 11 id.eology' as a separate category. Ore

can agree with Hitchell, :.vhen he points out that this approach

is likely to present probl.ems in analysing the Soviet

prorouncernents ... are couched in language of Marxism-Leninism an:i

- .,.,hich do rot take rote of a 'belief system' as understood by

Triska. Treating ideology as a separate category makes it

convenient to relate to Smriet writings. Dispersing with

"ideologY' would. also present methodological problems for any

observer in studying the Soviet political behaviour.

22. Jan F. Triska, David D. Finely, Soviet Foreign Polid:.y, (New York, 19 68) 1 f·p.112-16.

23. R. Judson Mitcht~ll, Ideology of a Super Power( Stonford., 1982), p.2.

29

Brezezinski' s :::iefi ni tio n of 1 i::leo logy' of communist

24 ideology in particulc:r, has been adopted by western authors.

For instance, accordir,g to Brezezir,ksi, modern revolutionary

ideology has four characteristic which distinguish it from the

other set:sof political ideas: (i) The ideology is overt am is

usually contained in official 'texts' (ii) it is systemic in·

nature - the texts are constantly reviewed arrl updated; (iii)

the ideology is ir:stitutionalised - the ideas are embodied in

the ruling communist party and artributed by responsible

authorise::l ideologues; (iv) it is dogmatic - ~he i::leas are

binding on all communists until officially mo::lified by the

25 party.

On the basis of these characteristics, A. Ross Johroon

i::lentifies three levels in a particular set of politid:al

ideas: (i) General philosophical Assurnptiors- e.g. dialectical

materialism: ( ii) doctrinal elements, indicating the general

::lirection of J??litical action in a given historical perio::l e.g.

dictatorship of proletariat; (iii) 11 action prograrnme 11 Progrc.rnmes

of political action, specificallytied to particular historical

and socio-ecor.omic conditiors- e.c;. Stalin's socialism in one

country and Mao TE:e-Tung•s "modern revolution". Ross also

accepts Brezezirsl<:i' s conclusion that 'doctrine' is the crucial

24. L.bigniew K. Brzezir:ski, The Soviet Block, Unit.y & Conflict (Camtridge, 1967), Chapter 19, pp.485-512.

30

• -..::l i . 26 link between :Jogmatic assumptlons auu pragmat c act~on.

Ross also tackles the critic ism t~at a stu:iy of i:leology

would entail stu:iying theory instead of reality. He asserts

that the :Jistinction between "i:ieology" and 11 reality11 is faLse qS

t.l-te reality subsumes • ideology' in the communist world.

Itch ell argues that Ross's cone lusions about communist

i::leology appears to be generally consistent with the approaches

followed by both Soviet theoreticians ani Western scholars •27

However1 he a:i::ls a qu~lificationo He suggests that Soviet

~"leoreticians :io not treat the philosOphical foun:iations of their

i:ieology as inflexible as Ross an:i Brezezenski suggest. Hitchell

argues that t.l-}e Soviet theoretician a:irnit that the philosophy of

i'-tarxism-Leninism is in:omeplete an:i is still un:iergoing formation

an:i t.'-lat the internal relationship among the components of

communist i:ieology is something of an open question. This is

parti£-ularly true ::luring t.'1e present perio::l when .t-1arxist-Leninist

i:ieology is being rei nterpreterl in the USSR.

Important changes are afo0~ in t.'1e Soviet Union ard ~

Soviet society. This has le::l to the questioning of Harxism-Lenini.sm

an:i Lenin himself. Although Lenin is un::ler attack, the Leninist

26. A. Ross Jo:1nson1 The Transformation of Commun:Lst I:ieology: The Yugoslav CaseL 1945-1953, (Cambr.i::lge; Mass, 1972) 1 pp.2-6.

2 7 • VJ. tc h ell, n • 2 3, p • ~ •

31

metho:iology has not outlived its utility. Moovedev, the former

C!l.ief of t.'1e CPSU, CC's Ideological Commission observed, "v~hen

resolving tl-1e task of progressing to highly mo:iern forms of

socialism, we must put the methodological aspects of Lenin's

legacy, its ruthless realism and fearless progression into the

foreground." Speaking un Lenin • s 120th birth anniversary,

Gorbachev said: "One shoul:i be extremely cautious in :iiscussing

auch a theoretical an:i political categury as Leninism ••• For us

Leninism remains a live and active theoretical, ideological arrl

f .... ( ' . "'·-..:1)28 moral orce-..:o emp:-tas~s a:1::1~

The Ideology has played an important role in the foreign

policy conduct of the So'iiet Union. This position may be

urrlergoing mo:hfications as is suggested by the current Soviet

thinking that the international or inter-state relations should.

be 1 :ie-i:ieologise:i'. ~O\vever, the de-i::ieologisation of the inter-

state relations has necessitated. :ievising of an i:ieolo-;ry of

i:ieologis ation py rely .i ng upon a reinterpretation of Marx and

Lenin without fully g.ivirY::) up t.'1Gir theoretical legacy. As has

very often happened in t:.he past, the ne~,-; 'theoretical' formulations

are being prepourrle:i tc .e..xplain the current state of the world.

politicso Accor:iing t.c. the curr-ent perceptions in the Soviet

Union, the foreign poli.cy in the past has been too rigid. and has

cost the country :iea.rly. The present em9hasis ill the USSR is to

28. M.S. C:-orbachev, "O Lenine11, Prav:ia, 21 Arri l 1990.,

On questioning of Ler..in in USSR, see Arvirii Gupta, "Grave Doubts About Leni n• s Legacy", The Times of In:iia, 6 March 1990.

32

make the foreign pol icy more flexible. Sui table theoretical

categories arrl doctrines like the • universal values 1 1 1 freedom

of choic e 1 1

1 interdependent and integral world 1 , 1 c ornmon

European home•, reasonable sufficiency' etc., are bei rr;;; worked out.

"'~ Some re=ent writiOJS in! USSR suggest that dei:ieoligisation

" :ioes oot mean 11 end of ideology11, nor does it mean that the changes &-c..

in the USSR or elsewhere should ~carried. out and. implemented in an

i:ieological vacuum. Similarly, the ideological inputs to t1fo Soviet foreign policy will not cease altogether. Some Soviet

scholars have argued that the world today needs programmes which

will help it a:ivan::e into the future. Such programmes by their

very nature have to be ideological in essen::e. Nor is the need.

for the struggle of ideas, coocepts, convictions is over. In fact,

without such a struggle of i:ieologies, world cannot a:ivan::e.

However,' ~ Soviet scholars argue, there is urgent need to make

such an i:ieological struggle constructive ard oot :iestructive. What

the deideologis,.;J.tion of the inter-state relations ard international

relations means is that i:ieological struggle :ioes not :iegenerqte

into :iestructive "holy wars•• ~ The perverted attitu:ie towards

ideologies should be avoi:ie~ and healthy ard normal attitudes should

be eocouraged. Further, the :ieideologisation also means that

politics shoul:i not be made to take on the problems of an

i:ieological character which cannot be solved by it in a rationally

29 for~seeable future.

. (Moscow, 1990) Konstantin Nikolayev, The Errl of I:ieology7LPP .6-19 & pp.l02-03. As an example of the d.ei:ieologlsation of politics, author says that while it is perfectly legitimate to beleive in t.'le final victory of socialism over capitalism, this should. not mean li=Iui:iation o£ the non­socialist form of organ1sations.

33

On a more specific plane, the Soviet scholars, d.escribi ng

perestroika as an id.eology of renewal, are maki rq efforts to prove

that the coocept of perestroika is closely linked. to Marxism,

particularly its humanistic aspoct which is imerent in t.~e Marxist

theory of alienation d.ealing with the ways of overcomi rq the

alienation of the individual from property, from the fruit of his

labour and. the power so as to open the path to the epo,_?.~h of

•• . .. 3o positive humamsm •

Ideology, as it was practiced. in USSR, i nflue~ed. the

foreign policy in three principal ways: through the influence of

id.eology on the decision makers, politicians, officials etc., through

the i nflueoce of the ideology on the aims of the society am the

state and. its foreign policy and., through pursuan::: e of ideological

goals as at international arena as perceived. by the state. To cake

an example, Stalinism, inherent in the concept of 11 socialism in

one country'', deeply, influen:::ed. t-1e Soviet foreign policy.

Similarly, t.~e ~::lestalinisation' begun by Khruschev arrl

'democratisation' flowirq from oerestroika have influenced. ~

Soviet foreign policy. The link bebveen id.eology and. foreign policy

is a close one, even in the present stage of 'd.eid.eologisation' {he

in USSR. This is the working hypothesis of this thesis. In the

following Chapters an attempt will be mad.e to assess whether this

working hypothesis can be confirmed.

30. S.Alekseev, "Kontseptsiya Pere!;troiki. i Ivlarksizm", Prav::la, 25 July 1990.