ABSTRACT
A common impression of the superpower role in Third World conflicts is that their keen competition all over the globe until the mid-1980s, and their consequent intervention in faraway regions, contributed to instability and brought about the escalation of local conflicts into global crises. Another view maintains that, due to their superior capabilities and presumed “responsibility” for world stability, the superpowers, especially if they collaborated, could bring peace and order to unstable Third World regions.
