ABSTRACT

This edited volume examines the complexities of the Cold War in Southern Africa and uses a range of archives to develop a more detailed understanding of the impact of the Cold War environment upon the processes of political change.

In the aftermath of European decolonization, the struggle between white minority governments and black liberation movements encouraged both sides to appeal for external support from the two superpower blocs. Cold War in Southern Africa highlights the importance of the global ideological environment on the perceptions and consequent behaviour of the white minority regimes, the Black Nationalist movements, and the newly independent African nationalist governments. Together, they underline the variety of archival sources on the history of Southern Africa in the Cold War and its growing importance in Cold War Studies.

This volume brings together a series of essays by leading scholars based on a wide range of sources in the United States, Russia, Cuba, Britain, Zambia and South Africa. By focussing on a range of independent actors, these essays highlight the complexity of the conflict in Southern Africa: a battle of power blocs, of systems and ideas, which intersected with notions and practices of race and class

This book will appeal to students of cold war studies, US foreign policy, African politics and International History.

Sue Onslow has taught at the London School of Economics since 1994. She is currently a Cold War Studies Fellow in the Cold War Studies Centre/IDEAS

chapter |8 pages

Introduction

chapter |26 pages

The Cold War in Southern Africa

White power, black nationalism and external intervention

chapter |24 pages

Non-alignment on the racial frontier

Zambia and the USA, 1964–1968

chapter |23 pages

Unsung heroes

The Soviet military and the liberation of Southern Africa

chapter |24 pages

Terrorists or freedom fighters?

Jimmy Carter and Rhodesia

chapter |24 pages

From Cassinga to New York

The struggle for the independence of Namibia

chapter |4 pages

Conclusion