When and why did the Sinatra Doctrine replace the Brezhnev Doctrine in Essay

When and why did the Sinatra Doctrine replace the Brezhnev Doctrine in Soviet policy towards East-Central Europe - Essay Example The name of the document many have come up as a joke but its implication on the nations of Eastern Europe was not a joke. This doctrine had widespread effect on these nations and allowed them to control their own internal affairs. This was not possible under the Brezhnev doctrine which was being followed earlier by the Soviet Nation. Before the new doctrine came up; Soviet Nation exerted tight control over the internal affairs of the nations which came into the purview of Warsaw Pact. Brezhnev doctrine was used as a justification by Soviet Nation to justify the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and also that of Afghanistan in 1979. The main reasons which have been cited for this shift in Soviet policy have been the huge economic problems which were being faced by the Soviet Nation; the rising anti-communist and the anti- Russian feelings which were coming up in these nations and the disastrous effects of the Afghanistan war on the economy of Soviet nation. All these reasons made it almost impractical for Soviet Union to exert its forced will on all the neighbouring countries. This doctrine had far reaching consequences on the neighbourhood of Soviet Nation. The entire Soviet block was transformed as a result of this policy. The most dramatic and visible effect has been the destruction of the Berlin Wall in Germany. East Germany government was no longer receiving the support of Soviet Union and this policy made it clear that the country will not affair in the internal affairs of these countries. This led to the ouster of communist governments in East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria. The communist party in Romania also suffered the same fate. This policy in fact signalled the end of cold war and Europe was no longer divided after this policy was announced. This paper aims to study the reasons for replacement of Brezhnev doctrine by the new Sinatra doctrine. The reasons for this dramatic shift in the policy of Soviet Union have been discussed and debated in this paper in the coming sections. Brezhnev Doctrine The Brezhnev Doctrine as a foreign policy for Soviet Union was first defined and clearly established in 1968. (Kovalev, 1968).It was defined as a necessity by Soviet Union in times when forces which are hostile to socialism try to convert a socialist country into a capitalist one. This was considered by Soviet Union not as a problem of the concerned country but a problem which was common to all the socialist countries and effort should be made by all socialist countries to prevent such forces which are disruptive to socialism from gaining power in any country. (Brezhnev, 1968) This doctrine was felt necessary to be defined by Soviet Union in order to justify the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 and also to justify various other soviet military interventions like the invasion of Hungary which took place in 1956.Before this policy was defined; these invasions were considered as inappropriate and improper. Soviet Union was