Friendly neutrals and supplies for a long war

A neutral state could still help one side through the practical choices it made about supplies and access. Soviet deployments sought favorable neutrality in Africa and South America, while India received sustained diplomatic attention. Such relationships could make supplies available and might permit basing or other support arrangements. Their value depended on considering a war that continued beyond its opening exchanges. Nuclear escalation affected Soviet ship design, but the argument credits Soviet planners with being less committed than NATO to the assumption that a general war would end almost immediately in nuclear destruction.