Word: soviet
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...That the Soviet Union is anxious to extend its influence throughout the crisis area is beyond dispute.* What is less certain is how boldly it is pursuing this goal. Moscow's view of Iran under the Shah appears to have been highly ambiguous. Some experts believe Iran's Tudeh Communists played a direct role in the well-organized strikes of the oil workers and in the mass demonstrations against the Shah. Russian radio stations broadcast anti-American and anti-Shah propaganda. Yet the Soviets also became the Shah's third largest arms supplier and entered into several...
...other hand, governments that were strongly pro-Western have either fallen or been weakened in Iran, Turkey and Pakistan. Pro-Moscow regimes have come to power in Ethiopia, Afghanistan and South Yemen. The collapse of the Portuguese colonial empire gave the Russians new opportunities in southern Africa. Soviet naval vessels now call at ports from Mozambique to Viet...
Most Western diplomats believe the Soviets are simply exploiting targets of opportunity as these present themselves. "The Russians are great opportunists who will readily take advantage of a situation that presents strategic gain with the minimum of risk," says a senior British official. But he adds that the conservative Soviet leadership should be credited with properly understanding the serious risks involved in actively seeking to overthrow the Shah and deny Persian Gulf oil to the Western world. He concludes: "There is no concrete evidence suggesting that the Russians have been masterminding or in any way been directly involved...
...that the troubles in Iran could have a direct effect on Saudi Arabia. The rulers in Riyadh place a high priority on both Arab solidarity and socioeconomic stability in the region, and thus their interests tend to parallel those of the U.S. Saudi leaders have worked actively to counter Soviet influence in northeast Africa and the Middle East-notably by helping keep Egypt afloat financially, by offering aid to Somalia's regime after it broke with Moscow, and by giving moderate counsel at Arab summits...
...however, the Saudis are upset that the U.S. has not taken a more active role in combating Soviet influence in Africa, especially in Ethiopia and Angola. The Saudis themselves feel encircled by hostile regimes: to the southwest by Ethiopia, with its Cuban troops; to the south by Marxist South Yemen; to the north by the new leftist regime in Afghanistan; and now by the instability in Iran across the gulf. The Saudi fear is that unfriendly