Professors and Students in the Cultural Cold War: The Case of Ethiopia*

Abstract

ABSTRACT During the Cold War the United States and the Soviet Union aspired to transform overseas academic institutions according to their political goals. Their attempts to impose certain values, disciplines, structures, and personnel were foiled by sabotage and indigenous traditions on the part of the local academic elite, particularly professors. The article illustrates futile revisions by both the United States and the Soviet Union at Ethiopian higher educational institutions and discusses the Cultural Cold War in terms of realism, constructivism, Americanisation, Sovietisation and response theory.