The Woodrow Wilson Center Press
A Distant Front in the Cold War: The USSR in West Africa and the Congo, 1956–1964
Related Topics: Cold War, West Africa
A Distant Front in the Cold War reveals West Africa as a significant site of Cold War conflict in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although the region voided the extreme tensions of the standoff in Eastern Europe or in the Cuban missile crisis, it nevertheless offers a vivid example of political, economic, and propagandistic rivalry between the US and the USSR. Mazov presents evidence from previously inaccessible or unknown documents in Russian and US archives, as well as an international sampling of recent scholarly works.
What People are Saying
"This book addresses a subject on which almost nothing is available on the Russian side, and so it covers a very important 'blank spot of history'."—Dr. Svetlana Savranskaya, George Washington University"For the first time, this book uncovers flaws in Soviet policy toward Africa, inherent weaknesses relating to the lack of resources and imagination, bureaucratic impediments and ignorance, which led eventually to failure to compete with the United States for the 'hearts and minds' of Africans."—Ilya Gaiduk, Institute of World History, Russian Academy of Sciences
Chapter List
Series Preface, James G. Hershberg
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Building Bridges, 1956–1959
2 Achievements and Failures in the "Year of Africa," 1960
3 Seeking More Pragmatic Approaches, 1961–1962
4 The Struggle for the Soul of the West African Elite,1963–1964
Notes
Bibliography
Index
