Empire of Liberation: Investigating Soviet Activity in Africa from Khrushchev to Gorbachev

Abstract

Africa is often treated as an inconsequential sideshow in the Cold War, with Soviet activity in Africa during this period being discussed only in a regional or sub-regional context. This reduces scholastic understanding of Soviet activity in Africa and Africa's role as a theatre in a truly global Cold War. This thesis is not a survey of Soviet interactions with African partners, but an investigation of trends in Soviet policy towards Africa that become evident with a wider lens. This approach places Soviet activity in a continental and global perspective. This project focuses specifically on the post-Stalin era between 1953 and 1991. While Soviet leaders hesitantly collaborated to defeat the United States and its allies in what the Soviets considered a zero-sum game, this project concludes there was no grand plan towards Africa. This allows for a better understanding of the trajectory of present Russian relations with African states.