Transforming Clients into Surrogates: the Soviet Experience
Gottemoeller, Rose E. (1985). Transforming Clients into Surrogates: the Soviet Experience. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, The.
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Abstract: The Soviet experience has important implications for the United States: U.S. policymakers can successfully use surrogates in the third world; indeed they may be required to in future world conflicts. However, they should not underestimate the taxing requirements for transforming a client into an effective surrogate.
A potential surrogate must qualify on a basic level with a strong central government, viable economy, and trained military establishment. The United States must possess the means to influence him, whether as a strategic supplier, bulwark against the Soviet bloc, or partner willing to consider his national interests. Finally, and most important, the client's national interests cannot conflict with or prevent the United States from achieving its own strategic goals.
In attempting to use a client in a surrogate role, the United States will probably not be able to meet these stringent requirements. As a result, U.S. policymakers must be willing to accept the risk that a client will perform inadequately or not at all. Indeed, uncertainties remain even if all requirements are met, because a client's perceptions of its interests shift over time. The United States must therefore accept the need to adjust policies :hat require foreign surrogates, or to quickly abandon them when they fail. Surrogates are an important element of great power strategies in the developing world, but the Soviet experience shows that they are a risky one.
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MAG: 311691598 OpenAlex: W311691598 CorpusID: 127361725
