Whether Soviet Russia actually intends to join the League or
not, it no doubt suits her, in view of the tension with Japan, to have it thought that she is moving increasingly away from isolation into new companionships. The interesting point about her attitude is that it is pretty sure to be diametrically opposed to Italy's in the matter of the predominance of the Great Powers. Soviet foreign policy changes little, and no doubt it is very much what it was when I discussed the League with M. Chicherin, then Commissar for Foreign Affairs, ten years and more ago. One of his objections to the League was its provision of permanent seats on the Council for Great Powers. " But suppose Russia had a permanent seat herself ? " I rejoined—only to have the suggestion that that would make any difference rejected with indignation. No doubt M. Litvinoff would take the same line today.
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