Colonial system: balance and prospects after 1945 in the assessments of diplomats of the United States, the USSR and Great Britain

Abstract

The following paper deals with the views of the ambassadors of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain, expressed in telegrams for foreign affairs agencies. Rolling the world to a new global confrontation, the aggressive rhetoric of each participating country, specific actions to build up political and military capabilities required some kind of balanced assessment from experts who were well-versed in the political and social development of states that appeared after the Second World War on different sides of the barricade. In addition, the third world acquired special importance in the new conditions. The disintegration of the colonial system opened great prospects for each of the great powers. Therefore, besides the analyses of prospects and characteristics of relations between the USSR and Western countries, diplomats in their analytical reports affected the prospects for the development of the former colonies, as well as tried to forecast the actions of the probable enemy and the closest allies, comprehended the existing contradictions on this issue and tried to give some assessment, propose solutions to these problems. Considering the influence of the telegrams analyzed in the framework of this study on the formation of the Cold War, conclusions are drawn about the impact of assessments expressed by diplomats on the development of relations with the countries of the third world. The analysis of J. Kennan, N. Novikov and F. Roberts notes shows the difference in the approaches and understanding of each country, both its opponents and its allies, a different view of the process of decolonization and its prospects. The paper is based on the sources on the diplomatic history of the Cold War and on some references on the topic.