The New Caution

It was an odd role for a Soviet leader. All last week, during his private talks with Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Russian Premier Aleksei Kosygin found himself forced to go soft on imperialism. At least that is what Soviet sources traveling with Kosygin were leaking to Western newsmen. "Actually," argued one Russian, "we are fighting Washington's battle. And we're having as much trouble restraining Nasser as you used to have restraining Chiang Kai-shek."

Crux of the matter is Nasser's burning desire to mount a military offensive against Saudi Arabia, which has been aiding the Yemen Royalists in their fight against Nasser-backed Hassan al-Amri, the would-be dictator of Yemen. Russians in the Premier's entourage let it be known that Kosygin is willing enough to aid Nasser with arms and equipment in the Yemen war, but fears that a widening of the conflict to Saudi Arabia would bring about a "hot war" confrontation in the Middle East that neither Russia nor the U.S. wants. Hence, the Russians said, Nasser received a frank warning that "the Soviet Union would be displeased to see an attack on Saudi Arabia."

Nasser must have been disappointed as well by Kosygin's response to the Egyptian food problem. Kosygin counseled Nasser not to risk a stoppage of the U.S. Food for Peace program--Washington is still sitting tight on this year's $150 million worth of grain--because Russia simply cannot afford to pick up the grocery bill. As a result, the joint Russo-Egyptian communique issued at the end of Kosygin's eight-day trip was notably mild in its criticism of U.S. activities.

Two-Faced Solidarity. The whole episode was an interesting illustration of the new caution that pervades Soviet foreign policy these days. Kosygin's trip, after all, was his first planned foray abroad since he took over as Premier 19 months ago. The harsh confrontations that once were Moscow's hallmark from Berlin to the Caribbean no longer occur. Instead the Russians seem anxious to avoid direct conflict with the U.S. Still, the Russian rulers have to maintain anti-imperialist face in order to argue convincingly against their Red Chinese ideological rivals. That task fell last week to Party Boss Leonid Brezhnev.

Speaking at Vladivostok, where he presented an Order of Lenin for economic achievement, Brezhnev spouted a violent torrent of abuse at the U.S. for its stand in Viet Nam. Americans, he said, were "beating all records for cruelty and cynicism. Can we forget even for a minute that the Pentagon's air pirates, murderers and arsonists carry out criminal raids daily on the towns and villages of a fraternal socialist country? Let the American imperialists understand that they will collide with the most tangible demonstration of the combat solidarity of revolutionaries."

Judging by the contradictory performances of B. & K. last week, that "solidarity" is two-faced, to say the least.

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