PERESTROIKA AND THE THIRD WORLD 35 sophisticated (and, incidentally', somewhat contradictory and ambiguous), the essence of the argument is the same. It seems to us that the argument is less a reflection of present-day objective reality on a global scale, than an opportunist justification for perceived 'national interests' of USSR.26 Restructuring in the USSR, as presently conceived, requires peace at any cost, especially peace and cooperation with the Western world. Both to achieve peace at any cost, and to enhance economic ties with the West, allegedly 'legitimate* Western interests have to be recognised. The embarrassing concept of neocolonialism has to be abandoned or at least tucked away in the footnotes. However, objective reality does not lend support to the thesis of disappearance of the phenomenon of neocolonialism and its arsenal of methods. There is evidence to show that the developing countries have been facing worsening terms of trade in the international economy. The debt crisis of the Third World continues to grow more severe, and the tribute to advanced capitalism by the Third World by way of interest mounts every- year. The neocolonial structure of the international division of labour has not changed appreciably to support arguments to the effect that all colonial aspects have disappeared. It is clear, then, that the vanishing act of neocolonialism in writings of Soviet academics and publicists reflects wishful thinking rather than a sober assessment of contemporary reality. One can certainly agree that peace is vital and our planet must be preserved. But one is compelled to add, with Gus Hall, that the world we preserve must be livable.27 And that would require as a precondition the real and not the conceptual overthrow of neocolonialism. It would demand not a 'peaceful permanent settlement' between imperialism, socialism and the Third World under the euphemism of 'balancing of all interests' but the elimination of the imperialist system. NOTES AND REFERENCES 1. V. Vakrushev, Neocolonialism: Methods and Manoeuvres, Progress Publishers, Moscow, p. 47. 2. Mikhail Gorbachev, Political Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the 27th Party Congress, Novosti Press Agency Publishing House, Moscow, 1986, p. 21. 3. Ibid., p. 23. 4. V. Vakrushev, Neocolonialism Today, Allied Publishers, New Delhi, 1987. 5. M.S. Gorbachev, October and Perestroika: The Revolution Continues, Novosti Press Agency Publishing House, Moscow, 1987. 6. Ibid., p. 63. 7. Ibid., p. 66 8. Ibid., emphasis added. 9. Ibid. 10. M.S. Gorbachev, Perestroika, Collins, London, 1987, p. 178, quoted in B.P.R. Vithal, 'Perestroika: The Revolution Resumed,' paper presented at the seminar on 'Recent Economic Reforms in Socialist Countries' organised by Social Scientist, New Delhi, March 1989. 11. Nikolai Volkov and Vladimir Popov, 'Has an era of neocolonialism materialised?'. International Affairs, 11, Moscow, 1988, p. 108. For an incisive