Peaceful coexistence was a theory developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War . It was adopted by Soviet-influenced Communist states , and said that they could peacefully coexist with capitalist states . Peaceful coexistence ( or , `` Peaceful co-existence - as a form of the continuation of the class struggle '' ) was a theory developed and applied by the Soviet Union at various points during the Cold War in the context of its ostensibly Marxistâ `` Leninist foreign policy and was adopted by Soviet-influenced `` Communist states '' that they could peacefully coexist with the capitalist bloc ( i.e. , non-communist states ) .