WORLD COMMUNISM AND THE PEACE MOVEMENT 101preference for the Communist Party of Great Britain and certain left-
wing Labour militants.^36
The Kremlin leaders pursued this policy without thought for the
damage it caused to Anglo-Soviet relations. They felt that they had
nothing to lose at that time. Détente was dead and America under
Reagan had never been more combative. If the communist and social-
ist left or the peace movement could do anything to undermine
NATO’s self-confidence, Moscow could only benefit. Soviet leaders
ignored the evidence that Western governments had proved resilient
in the face of domestic opposition. NATO was not going to buckle
under pressure from industrial strikes or street protests. Nor would
it call off the installation of new nuclear weaponry in Europe. The
Kremlin’s last available gambit had failed. The West’s resolve had
been tested and not found wanting. But Politburo members were
jealous of the status of a superpower; it was unthinkable for them to
make serious concessions to American demands. The question that
the Politburo had yet to answer was whether its economy could afford
its global pretensions. Its resources were overstretched in Eastern
Europe, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cuba and sub-Saharan Africa. Its tech-
nology was losing ground to America. Its own people showed growing
signs of disgruntlement.
As yet the Soviet leaders remained determined to confront and
compete with the Americans. They were locked into a condition of
collective denial.