Cold War in Africa??

Originally posted by Act of Oblivion   ..Hello all..   ..I have started taking some first tentative steps towards gaining some knowledge about Africa and the Cold War....namely, focusing on how the Cold War impacted on the continent and how it was 'fought' out between the 'superpowers' with regards to foreign policy...   ...this really is first stage stuff for me, so i was wondering if there are any enlightened members out there who can point me in the right direction of creditable sources and some all-round information on the topic..web sources would be very useful as i am based in the UK and funds are short for books right now..., there seems to be a lot out there but i need recommendations and worthy resources that can help me dodge wading through mud and get straight to the fertile fields, ....i am particularly interested in the period 1975 to 1979, but any information and help would be gratefully received...   ..thanks in advance...   ..AoO....

Certainly! I would be more then happy to enlighten you!

The major flash point on Africa and the Cold War was in Southern Africa with the White Ruled States of South Africa and to a small extent Rhodesia , However with much of the scrutiny these states faced on the world state most of this was covert to some extent, However West Germany exported loads to South Africa before it joined the UN and France sold alot of military equipment to the nation, These were the too big notable ones, However Israel was close to SA in terms of geopolitics and is rumored to have helped the nation acquire nuclear weapons and help bypass the sanctions against it. In addition South Africa received alot of covert aid from the United States especially during the Reagan years.

The prominent Communist nations were also very much interested in Africa also, The Soviet Union provided much support to nations with socialist leaning governments throughout Africa, However both China which throw strong support behind the ANC along with North Korea also aided the Mugabe led ZANU against the government of Rhodesia. In addition Castro would become military involved in Angola against South African forces in the mid 1970's to aid the Marxist MPLA.

In other parts of Africa the USSR and China competed for influence in many nations such as Somalia and Ethiopia, With Somalia mainly siding with the USSR until a falling out lead to them backing away from the USSR. In Ghana there was also a rivalry for influence also. In Kenya although the regime there had Socialist influences it was pretty much neutral in the superpower politics in the region. 
                              


Edited by Kevin - 26-Feb-2008 at 01:26

Originally posted by Kevin Certainly! I would be more then happy to enlighten you!

Originally posted by Kevin   .The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for The Third World  By Christopher Andrew   .The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times    By Odd Arne Westad

Originally posted by pinguin   I opened a thread a while ago about Cuban intervention in Angola against South Africa. It may help.