Soviet Global Engagements: Alliances, Aid, and Strategy in the Cold War

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union sought to expand its global influence by forging alliances, providing military and economic aid, and supporting revolutionary movements across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. This panel explores the diverse strategies Moscow employed to engage with the Global South, highlighting the political, military, and ideological dimensions of Soviet foreign policy.

Alexey Chernyavskiy examines the Soviet decision-making process behind providing naval aid to India during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War, shedding light on the USSR’s strategic calculations in South Asia. Nikolaus Graf Vitzthum explores Soviet-Ethiopian relations from 1974 to 1991, focusing on the USSR’s last major attempt to build socialism in the Third World. Benjamin Allison investigates Soviet policy toward the Steadfastness and Confrontation Front from 1977 to 1984, revealing Moscow’s role in Middle Eastern geopolitics amid shifting U.S.-Soviet relations. Finally, Svetlana Savranskaya traces the evolution of Soviet-Cuban relations from 1960 through the Gorbachev era, illustrating how Moscow’s priorities in Latin America evolved over time.
Together, these papers offer a comparative perspective on the USSR’s engagement with the Global South, demonstrating how regional dynamics, ideological commitments, and global power struggles shaped Soviet foreign policy beyond Europe.

Sub Unit

• History: 1945-1990

Chair

• Sergey Radchenko, Johns Hopkins U

Papers

• The Soviet Union's Decision-Making Process to Provide Naval Aid to India during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 - Alexey Chernyavskiy, U of Houston

• Ethiopia’s Socialist Revolution in Global Context: Soviet Visions, African Realities - Nikolaus Graf Vitzthum, Yale U

• 'They really will not take ‘junk’': The USSR and the 'Progressive' Arabs, 1978–79 - Benjamin V. Allison, U of Texas at Austin

• From Revolutionary Solidarity to Strategic Pragmatism: Soviet-Cuban Relations, 1960–1991 - Svetlana Vitalievna Savranskaya, George Washington U

Discussant

• Sergey Radchenko, Johns Hopkins U