The Costs of the Soviet Empire
A comprehensive framework is developed and applied to estimate the economic costs incurred by the Soviet Union in acquiring, maintaining, and expanding its empire. The terms ``empire'' and ``costs'' are explicitly defined. Between 1971 and 1980, the average ratio between empire c...
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Published in | Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 230; no. 4729; pp. 997 - 1002 |
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Main Author | |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
The American Association for the Advancement of Science
29.11.1985
American Association for the Advancement of Science |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | A comprehensive framework is developed and applied to estimate the economic costs incurred by the Soviet Union in acquiring, maintaining, and expanding its empire. The terms ``empire'' and ``costs'' are explicitly defined. Between 1971 and 1980, the average ratio between empire costs and Soviet gross national product was about 3.5 percent; as a ratio to Soviet military spending, empire costs averaged about 28 percent. The burden imposed on Soviet economic growth by empire costs is also considered, as well as rates of change in these costs, and the important political, military, and strategic benefits associated by the Soviet leadership with maintenance and expansion of the empire. Prospective empire costs and changes in Soviet economic constraints resulting from the declining performance of the domestic economy are also considered. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0036-8075 1095-9203 |
DOI: | 10.1126/science.230.4729.997 |