Brezhnev Doctrine

American  

noun

1. the doctrine expounded by Leonid Brezhnev in November 1968 affirming the right of the Soviet Union to intervene in the affairs of Communist countries to strengthen Communism.

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Example Sentences

In June 1989, Gorbachev announced that he would not enforce the Brezhnev Doctrine, under which Moscow reserved the right to intervene in satellite countries.

From Washington Post • Nov. 30, 2018

Brezhnev justified this invasion by claiming the Soviet Union had the right to prevent its satellites from rejecting communism, a policy known as the Brezhnev Doctrine.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2012

Andranik Migranyan, a Soviet intellectual, last week explicitly condemned the Brezhnev Doctrine in the reformist weekly Moscow News.

From Time Magazine Archive

And there seems to be a flip side to Gorbachev's repudiation of the Brezhnev Doctrine: it also means that Moscow will not intervene to force reform.

From Time Magazine Archive

Gorbachev's statements appeared to rescind the so-called Brezhnev Doctrine, proposing intervention in defense of socialist regimes, that was used to justify the invasion of Czechoslovakia.

From Time Magazine Archive