Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 1982)
local Battalion/Page 3 February 15, 1982 SCONA discussions concluded - : : Third World countries Soviet targets rsy I would i 1 a sarcasii: iland the iess that’s] explain. Roger Kanet, a political science professor at the University of Illinois, tries to make a point at a round table discussion at the staff photo by Peter Rocha Student Conference on National Affairs. Kanet was one of two speakers at the conference Friday. by Laura Williams Battalion Staff Soviet foreign policy in 1982 will be more extensive and in volvement in Third World countries will be more concen trated, a University of Illinois E olitical science professor said ere Friday. Roger E. Kanet spoke on “Soviet Foreign Policy in De veloping Countries: A Look at Africa and Latin America” in the fourth keynote speech of the 27th Student Conference on National Affairs. “There is far greater focus on the use of the military instru ment,” Kanet said in reference to changes in Soviet foreign poli cy over the last twenty years. In the 1960s, Soviet economic assistance totaled about $800 million, and military assistance totaled about $500 million annually, he said. “But in the 1970s, Western statistics — which can be some what supported by Soviet econo mic statistics — indicate that arms transfers are running in the neighborhood of $4 billion a year, while economic assistance is only slightly higher (than in 1960), in the neighborhood of $500 million per year,” he said. “This is a fantastic increase in the significance of the military component in Soviet policy.” Another major change in Soviet policy has been the in volvement in political groups in Third World countries, Kanet said. “The Soviets have been in such countries as Ethiopia train ing domestic security police and security forces to prevent a coup,” he said. The Soviets also have empha sized party-to-party relation ships with the Marxist-Leninist groups, he said. “In my own view, this is also to institutionalize the revolution to insure that just because some one dies and a new president is selected, the whole political orientation will not change.” Kanet said the Soviets Union’s major competitive edge over the United States is its rapid delivery of arms. “The average delivery time for Soviet arms is 12 months, where that for the U.S. is three years,” he said. Third World countries have reoriented their political ties to ward the Soviet Union because the the Soviets proved that they could provide security support far more effectively than the People’s Republic of China, he said. “They are likely to make the mistakes which a number of other African Socialist states have already made — namely destroyed what development was there in the first place,” he said. The years following Water gate and the Vietnam conflict also set the United States behind the Soviet Union, he said. “American political leaders realized they could no longer engage in the kinds of adventur istic intervention policies over seas as they had in Vietnam be cause of the changed attitude of the American people,” he said. DON’T FORGET!! Schmaltz’s Special Is Tonight and Thursday Night A SCHMALTZ — ICE TEA — CHIPS Only After 5 p.m. 68 Reg. 3.52 Culpepper Plaza 693-8276 OPEN Mon.-Thurs. 8 a.m.-f) p.m. Fri.-Sat. 8 a.m.-l a.m. Sun. 12-9 p.m. We Love Phone-In Orders! Poles foes of Solidarity, prof says d being ii did he nil e was passu cacies ofcit oned was. ities at I 0. was 0 e didn't li] ;s at anol mture”h dtps. I wot uage theC. pect fort iree brotlii and are ffl /. But thei dvidualsoi nions oftli II would t| 1 really ffl Tillotsool' Hart HI by Daniel Puckett Battalion Staff Solidarity’s worst enemies were other Poles — not Russians — a speaker at a morning ses sion of the Student Conference On National Affairs said Friday. Dr. Marcin Sar, a visiting re searcher at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York, said the Soviet Union must have been involved in the planning of martial law. The move cost Po land so much — in trade abroad and in lost work-days at home — that the Soviets must have agreed to it well in advance, he sard. However, he said, the Rus sians probably would have left the country alone had Solidarity produced economic results. Un fortunately, the country’s pro duction dropped sharply after the beginning of the Solidarity movement, which brought eco nomic and political unrest. That unrest panicked the rul ing elite of Poland’s Communist Party, Sar said. They were afraid the free trade union would top ple them from power through its program of renewal — poli tical reforms and more local control of the economy. Leaders of the independent trade union then started deman ding more freedom. After attempts to pacify them failed, Sar said, Communist hard-liners asked the Soviet Union to inter vene in the summer of 1981. “The main opponents of re newal were inside, not outside, of Poland,” Sar said. “Twice, they publicly asked the Soviets for assistance. That means inva- When the Soviets didn’t inter vene, Sar said, the party was forced to use the army to sup press the free trade movement. But the military government’s biggest problems still lie ahead, he said. “The militia, the riot police and the army can’t ... run the factories,” Sar said. “They can’t overcome the distress of the workers. Instead, the govern ment will have to come up with incentives to get people back to work.” He predicted that the Polish government will reach some kind of compromise with the workers. But the West can do nothing to help or influence the outcome, he added. i COUPON SPECIAL I MEATBALL SANDWICH I SANDWICH JL Co »- n Spicy Meat Balls, Tomato Sauce, Garlic Butter I and Mozzarello Cheese on Homemade Bread, j: Delicious! Not Valid With People Book Coupon. Coupon good through Sun., Feb. 21. 329 University Northgate Schaftenf tofGeolof or tkuliff., itory koiograp ll f , t lg any ed 300 "O' they are I#. , edit f ort to n,al11 ' : bcsigned’* 1 " writer, d o welrom^ rainl ; 0 as 5* •nee to- v ,i exas AWL hone (7^1 ; Texas A^ 1 ndeOf SflttO ,dav ai 6.75 per ullyear. ,.ed Mf* ct'itiolb It’s almost time... Just two more days! The fun and festivities begin Wednesday, Feb. 17. Miss America and Miss Texas A&M will be assisting in the ribbon cutting ceremony to begin at 9.3 a.m. This will be followed by four days of excitement and entertainment in the ma We’ll see you at the GRAND OPENING Wednesday, Feb. 17 9:30 a.m /*( , TO DALLAS/FORTWORTH WACO o -zQ IM POST OAK MALL EASTERWOOD AIRPORT LOOP, TO HOUSTON