Soviet bloc expansion was expected to absorb client states permanently

Evidence

The Russians have not yet established a real military presence, but they are moving rapidly and dangerously in that direction. Egyptians feel that their independence is now in real danger, that they may be seeing the beginnings of a Russian occupation which will be harsher and, above all, longer than the British one. Several friends in conversation drew attention to the fact that the Russian tendency is not merely to exploit but to “eat” the countries into which their troops and experts move. “We shall share the fate of the Tartars and the Uzbeks” was a dreary comment which I heard more than once. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1302

Categorization

• QUESTION: How accurate was this prediction? The Soviet empire did eventually collapse, but the ‘eat the countries’ fear reflects a genuine historical pattern of Russian expansion into Central Asia worth investigating.