Cold War in Africa

Poválečné Československo bylo aktivním hráčem v zemích tzv. třetího světa.
V prostoru Afriky mohlo navazovat na diplomatické mise a zastoupení, které
zde existovaly již za první republiky, a využívat v minulosti fungující kontakty.
Bonusem jistě byla i skutečnost, že československý průmysl měl ve světě velmi
dobré jméno. Dekolonizace Afriky v 50. a 60. letech a hospodářská i politická
situace nově vzniklých států otevřely dveře zahraničním aktérům – mezi jinými
i Československu. Jedním z významných ohnisek zájmu Prahy na africkém
kontinentu se počátkem 60. let stala Ghana. Tato studie zprostředkuje vhled
do československo-ghanských vztahů od vzniku samostatné Ghany do 90. let,
s těžištěm v éře vlády prezidenta Kwame Nkrumaha v letech 1960–1966, která
byla na vzájemné kontakty nejbohatší. Zvláštní zřetel je brán na vysílání a působení
československých expertů z různých oborů. V další části se zaměřuje
na aktivity československých odborníků z národního podniku Hydroprojekt
podílejících se v rámci rozvojové spolupráce na budování ghanského
vodohospodářství.

Détente has been a focus of recent studies on the Cold War. However, still there is no consensus on what exactly détente was, or where and when it spread. This paper assumes that the period from 1963 to 1979 was a period of superpower détente, which also meant détente in Europe and fostered European détente. It calls for a less Eurocentric interpretation and a critical approach towards the different aspects of what has become known as détente.
Five case-studies offer new insights into the limits and possibilities of détente. The example of neutral Austria provides an early example of European east-west-détente that managed to survive despite some crisis-related setbacks. On the other hand the Congo and the Angola crises showed that there was hardly any chance for détente in Africa. This was representative of the situation in the entire Third World. However, détente in Europe was not initially meant to overcome the bloc division. Misunderstanding this fact, the Italian communists, contrary to their hopes, were denied the possibility of entering the government, even in the second half of the 1970s. The failure of the Belgrade CSCE in 1978 (mainly because of the human rights issue) was a harbinger of the end of détente. After the NATO Double Track Decision and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, even military détente had failed.
Nevertheless, numerous results of European détente survived the Second Cold War and ironically, some of the reasons for the end of détente (i.e. the human rights issue) finally led to the collapse of the Eastern bloc in the revolutions of 1989.

For decades articles and books have been published on the history of German foreign policy during Cold War. Regardless of whether Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, America or the world as a whole, the foreign affairs of the Western Federal Republic of Germany and the Eastern German Democratic Republic have been researched and analysed in context of a broad variety of locations. However, even though the list of publications continues to grow, the topic''s theses–especially its main thesis–do not show much progress. Already at an early stage, a central thesis–a core thesis–came to light, met no resistance and entered history''s and political science''s research canons on German foreign policy. This thesis reads: Inner German issues and the non-solved German question were so powerful, they dominated West and East German foreign affairs nearly right from the start. German foreign policy, that was the so-called Hallstein doctrine, that was the so-called German-German contradiction. And all studies–whether of history or political science, whether designed as a case study or as a global approach–confirm this thesis, use it as an integral part of their work–until today. But be that as it may. This study contradicts this thesis, this ''myth'' of German foreign policy. Instead it argues that neither the Hallstein doctrine nor the German-German contradiction, but national economic and international geostrategic interests dominated German foreign policy and German foreign activities–regarding the FRG, the GDR, and Germany as a whole. To proof this thesis, West and East German activities–of the two states, their economies and their societies–in nine Central African states between 1945 and 1975 are observed and analysed. More than a million file pages out of more than a dozen German archives were read to tackle this task–and shed some refreshing new light on the foreign policies of the two German states during Cold War.


Die deutsche Außenpolitik zur Zeit des Kalten Krieges stellt in historischer wie politikwissenschaftlicher Hinsicht einen Gegenstand dar, der mit gutem Gewissen als wissenschaftlich erschlossen bezeichnet werden kann. Zahlreiche Aufsätze, Artikel und Bücher sind in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten erschienen, welche die deutsche Außenpolitik in Europa, Afrika, Asien, Ozeanien, Amerika, oder auch gleich der Welt als Ganzem, in den Blick genommen haben. Dies gilt sowohl für die Außenpolitik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland als auch für diejenige der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. Früh – wenn nicht sogar von Beginn an – kam hierbei eine zentrale These, eine Kernthese, zum Vorschein, die, ohne auf Widerstand zu stoßen, Eingang in den historischen und politikwissenschaftlichen Forschungskanon fand und ihn bereits nach kurzer Zeit zu dominieren begann. Die Rede ist von der die deutschen Auslandsaktivitäten angeblich bestimmenden Hallstein-Doktrin und dem mit ihr in engem Zusammenhang stehenden deutsch-deutschen Gegensatz. In dieser Arbeit wird dieser Kernthese, diesem ''Mythos'' der deutschen Außenpolitik, vehement widersprochen. Weder die Hallstein-Doktrin, noch der deutsch-deutsche Gegensatz, sondern nationale ökonomische und internationale geostrategische Interessen haben die deutsche Außenpolitik – und darüber hinaus auch die gesamten deutschen Auslandsaktivitäten, der BRD wie der DDR – maßgeblich bestimmt. Zur Stützung dieser Gegenthese werden in der vorliegenden Studie die staatlichen, wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen Aktivitäten West- und Ostdeutschlands in neun zentralafrikanischen Staaten zwischen 1945 und 1975 kritisch dargelegt, umfassend analysiert und im Hinblick auf mehrere zentrale Thesen zu den deutschen Auslandsaktivitäten ausgewertet.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate information about the causes and costs of wars in Africa. This work is divided into five topics; First, Introduction which provides basic knowledge about peace and history of Africa; Second, Typology of wars in Africa which explains the types of wars that exists or once was in Africa, Causes and Costs; Third topic is about Africa and War on Terror this provides a deep down knowledge about the terrorism and how Africa got involved into the war on terrorism; the fourth topic is about the Political economy and cultural ecology of war in Africa; and the final topic is about conclusion, lastly there is a reference on the bottom of the paper.

An earlier version of my Cold War literature course in which I tried to give a more comparative view of the fiction being written during the conflict by including works (some in translation) by Russian writers and authors from "non-aligned" nations.

W. Rudyerd Boulton was a museum ornithologist in New York, Pittsburgh and Chicago who became a specialist in the birds of Africa, notably Angola. He participated in several expeditions to Africa and the Americas, but published little. With the onset of World War II, he joined the newly formed US intelligence and espionage agency, the Office of Strategic Services. He became head of the Secret Intelligence desk for Africa and was connected to the top-secret import of Congolese uranium for atomic bomb development. His postwar career remains largely classified, but in 1953 he was employed in a personnel office of the Central Intelligence Agency. Retired in 1958, he then moved to Southern Rhodesia, where he managed the Atlantica Foundation, an organisation of his own making, which appeared to have extensive funding of unknown origins. Boulton spent the rest of his life on his 'ecological research station', a farm outside Salisbury that he offered to American and Rhodesian scientists as a research base. A retired CIA official who moved to Africa during decolonisation is inherently suspicious. Despite exhaustive efforts, Boulton's continuing connection to Washington could not be documented. In fact, several indications – including his own managerial shortcomings – argue against the conclusion that he moved to Africa as a CIA plant. This paper provides an alternative explanation for his relocation, that it was the organic culmination of decades of self-construction effected through three marriages to accomplished women, two of whom were wealthy. Through his partnerships with Laura Craytor, Inez Cunningham Stark, and Louise Rehm, he developed into an expert on African nature, a liberal on American racial matters, and a wealthy patron of scientific work. Evidence of Boulton's intelligence gathering may yet turn up, but for now the intimate politics of his life provides a better way to explain his relocation to Africa. Although American interests cannot explain his presence, his American origins mattered in that his African retirement was based on wealth, prestige and racial privilege gained in that country. Keywords Ornithology in Africa, decolonisation of Africa, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Rhodesia

In South Africa most of the non-fictional works on the "border war" (Afrikaans: "grensoorlog") including South Africa's military incursions into Angola, represent only the perspective from South Africa's side and a large part of these still justifying Pretoria's military operations. A Far Away War is the first work published in English that shares the role of the Cuban internationalists, the Russian (then Soviet) involvement and the (limited) support supplied by East Germany. The work widens horizons on this war.

This study of Washington’s dealings with Equatorial Guinea under the rule of one of modern Africa’s most brutal dictators, Francisco Macías Nguema, analyzes US perceptions and policies relating to communist intervention, human rights, and related geopolitical issues during the Nixon, Ford, and Carter presidencies. It also sheds light on the relationships and conflicts between the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba in Africa. In addition, it offers new perspectives on Cuba’s ties to the dictatorship of Francisco Macías Nguema and on the possible role of international actors in his downfall in 1979.

https://academic.oup.com/dh/article-abstract/43/4/699/5490292
FULL VERSION OF ARTICLE AVAILABLE FROM AUTHOR ON REQUEST

I designed this syllabus for a new course offering entitled Justice & Global Conflict. Taking an African-centered focus to International Relations, and particularly Justice & Global Conflict, the syllabus provides a comprehensive critique of foreign intervention and international criminal law whilst introducing students to histories of African conflict and African-centered avenues for justice and social restoration.

For the 2018-2019 academic year, Justice & Global Conflict will explore selected challenges in conflict and security in Africa. National and regional insecurity threatens a country’s capacity to protect the well-being of its citizens while at the same time participating in international organizations and treaties. This course explores the origins of instabilities, and management of external intervention and conflict in modern Africa. Much discussion of the nature of violent struggles in Africa is often attributed to the politics of identity and ethnicity. But what do we mean by conflict in Africa? Is conflict always as violent and pervasive as the media portrays? And most importantly, what are the historical roots of contemporary conflict throughout the African continent? Focusing on the historical precursors to violence and the complex negotiations for conflict resolution in contemporary Africa, students will explore a selection of topics including: colonialism, Africa and the World Wars, nationalism and decolonization, apartheid South Africa, the Cold War, genocide, and sexual and gender based violence. Particular attention will be given to the ways in which our current global world order and its instruments (particularly United Nations’ Peacekeeping and the International Criminal Court), work – and sometimes fail – to promote and preserve justice in Africa between and within nations. Different theoretical approaches to justice and reconciliation in selected regions will be discussed alongside how African perspectives on conflict, justice and reconciliation at times differ from former colonial powers and those outside of the continent. By exploring case studies from a continent with a variety of security concerns, and unpacking the difference between justice and injustice, students will gain a deeper understanding of how current geopolitical actors can structure and affect the prospects for national security policy reform in the global south.

Détente has been a focus of recent studies on the Cold War. However, still there is no consensus on what exactly détente was, or where and when it spread. This paper assumes that the period from 1963 to 1979 was a period of superpower détente, which also meant détente in Europe and fostered European détente. It calls for a less Eurocentric interpretation and a critical approach towards the different aspects of what has become known as détente. Five case-studies offer new insights into the limits and possibilities of détente. The example of neutral Austria provides an early example of European east-west-détente that managed to survive despite some crisis-related setbacks. On the other hand the Congo and the Angola crises showed that there was hardly any chance for détente in Africa. This was representative of the situation in the entire Third World. However, détente in Europe was not initially meant to overcome the bloc division. Misunderstanding this fact, the Italian communists, contrary to their hopes, were denied the possibility of entering the government, even in the second half of the 1970s. The failure of the Belgrade CSCE in 1978 (mainly because of the human rights issue) was a harbinger of the end of détente. After the NATO Double Track Decision and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, even military détente had failed. Nevertheless, numerous results of European détente survived the Second Cold War and ironically, some of the reasons for the end of détente (i.e. the human rights issue) finally led to the collapse of the Eastern bloc in the revolutions of 1989.

Détente has been a focus of recent studies on the Cold War. However, still there is no consensus on what exactly détente was, or where and when it spread. This paper assumes that the period from 1963 to 1979 was a period of superpower détente, which also meant détente in Europe and fostered European détente. It calls for a less Eurocentric interpretation and a critical approach towards the different aspects of what has become known as détente.
Five case-studies offer new insights into the limits and possibilities of détente. The example of neutral Austria provides an early example of European east-west-détente that managed to survive despite some crisis-related setbacks. On the other hand the Congo and the Angola crises showed that there was hardly any chance for détente in Africa. This was representative of the situation in the entire Third World. However, détente in Europe was not initially meant to overcome the bloc division. Misunderstanding this fact, the Italian communists, contrary to their hopes, were denied the possibility of entering the government, even in the second half of the 1970s. The failure of the Belgrade CSCE in 1978 (mainly because of the human rights issue) was a harbinger of the end of détente. After the NATO Double Track Decision and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, even military détente had failed.
Nevertheless, numerous results of European détente survived the Second Cold War and ironically, some of the reasons for the end of détente (i.e. the human rights issue) finally led to the collapse of the Eastern bloc in the revolutions of 1989.