Fishing in the desert: Unravelling the Soviet Bloc's economic activities and intelligence gathering in Ethiopia in the 1960s, with particular reference to Bulgaria

Abstract

This paper seeks to provide fresh insight into East-South interactions during the Cold War. It does so by making use of a range of archival evidence to probe the relationship between intelligence gathering and economic relations in the case of Bulgaria’s Red Sea Development Company (RSDC). This ill-fated joint Bulgarian-Ethiopian enterprise was meant to fit in with Moscow’s efforts to establish a presence in a region that was important for Washington while avoiding direct confrontation with its major international rival. However, the Soviet Union’s attempt to involve its European allies in this venture yielded less than satisfactory results. In Ethiopia, the Bulgarians found themselves caught in cross-fire between the imperial regime, the Eritrean liberation movement and the American contingent. Just like the efforts of their Czechoslovak colleagues, those of the Bulgarians to find viable ways of expanding their economic ties with Ethiopia in the 1960s ultimately failed due to their inability to successfully tackle the challenging conditions on the ground. These conditions underscored the superpowers’ competitive coexistence in the Third World during the Cold War.