Sentence:  Given this background, it is highly inaccurate to portray the Soviet presence in the Middle East as having "replaced" former Western <WSD>suzerainties</WSD>. The two phenomena are very different: the Western <WSD>suzerainties</WSD> had the fixed political meaning of subjection; the Soviet presence does not. Whereas the British and the French had a wide measure of control over the entire political life of the dependent countries, the Soviets have only a limited influence on external policy which is liable to wane abruptly (and then perhaps swiftly increase again). 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A relation between states in which a subservient nation has its own government, but is unable to take international action independent of the superior state; a similar relationship between other entities.