Changes

The Kremlin tried to gain a foothold among the newly independent countries of sub-Saharan Africa by giving technical and educational assistance to such socialist countries as [[Guinea]], [[Mali]], and [[Ghana]]. Although the Soviets publicly maintained that their efforts were strictly fraternal and were being made unconditionally, in fact the secret Kremlin documents show that the aid was part of a strategy to promote their political ideals. African leaders, however, interested in an Africanization of their erstwhile colonial structures, were careful to avoid the ideological ramifications of the collaboration. In the critical area of joint educational projects, they refused to give Soviet teachers and professors privileged positions even in the institutions built by the USSR, such as the Institut Polytechnique in Conakry, which consistently had more Western instructors than Soviet ones. With instruction taking place in the former colonial languages, it was noted that the Soviet instructors' proficiency in French and often their technical expertise lagged far behind those of their French and American counterparts. The Soviets seem to have overestimated the attraction of their Peoples' Friendship University in Moscow while clearly lacking the human and pedagogical means to offer sufficient training in Africa itself and may have been proceeding without plan in what they perhaps considered a region of peripheral importance in the conduct of the Cold War.  Setting up Patrice Lumumba university for African students in Moscow in 1960 was one solution, but the African students there reported an intense degree of hatred and racism from the Russian students which further soured relations.<ref>Julie Hessler, "Death of an African Student in Moscow: Race, Politics, and the Cold War," ''Cahiers du Monde Russe'' 2006 47(1-2): 33-63.  The harsh racism in Moscow continue today; see [http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/18/world/moscow-journal-african-students-harsh-lesson-racism-is-astir-in-russia.html Seth Mydans, "Moscow Journal; African Students' Harsh Lesson: Racism Is Astir in Russia," ''New York Times'', Dec. 18, 2003] </ref>

The Kremlin tried to gain a foothold among the newly independent countries of sub-Saharan Africa by giving technical and educational assistance to such socialist countries as [[Guinea]], [[Mali]], and [[Ghana]]. Although the Soviets publicly maintained that their efforts were strictly fraternal and were being made unconditionally, in fact the secret Kremlin documents show that the aid was part of a strategy to promote their political ideals. African leaders, however, interested in an Africanization of their erstwhile colonial structures, were careful to avoid the ideological ramifications of the collaboration. In the critical area of joint educational projects, they refused to give Soviet teachers and professors privileged positions even in the institutions built by the USSR, such as the Institut Polytechnique in Conakry, which consistently had more Western instructors than Soviet ones. With instruction taking place in the former colonial languages, it was noted that the Soviet instructors' proficiency in French and often their technical expertise lagged far behind those of their French and American counterparts. The Soviets seem to have overestimated the attraction of their Peoples' Friendship University in Moscow while clearly lacking the human and pedagogical means to offer sufficient training in Africa itself and may have been proceeding without plan in what they perhaps considered a region of peripheral importance in the conduct of the Cold War.  Setting up Patrice Lumumba university for African students in Moscow in 1960 was one solution, but the African students there reported an intense degree of hatred and racism from the Russian students which further soured relations.<ref>Julie Hessler, "Death of an African Student in Moscow: Race, Politics, and the Cold War," ''Cahiers du Monde Russe'' 2006 47(1-2): 33-63.  The harsh racism in Moscow continue today; see [http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/18/world/moscow-journal-african-students-harsh-lesson-racism-is-astir-in-russia.html Seth Mydans, "Moscow Journal; African Students' Harsh Lesson: Racism Is Astir in Russia," ''New York Times'', Dec. 18, 2003] </ref>

Intensified commercial and cultural relations with Latin American countries paid off when [[Fidel Castro]] came to power in Cuba in 1959 and aligned his country with the Soviets. Castro was much more aggressive than Khrushchev and sponsored guerrilla movements in the region. Khrushchev was ultimately more interested in peaceful coexistence and in pursuing a classic policy of regional power than in revolutionary strategy.  Khrushchev allowed [[Fidel Castro]] took the lead, which brought the world to the brink of disaster with the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

Intensified commercial and cultural relations with Latin American countries paid off when [[Fidel Castro]] came to power in Cuba in 1959 and aligned his country with the Soviets. Castro was much more aggressive than Khrushchev and sponsored guerrilla movements in the region. Khrushchev was ultimately more interested in peaceful coexistence and in pursuing a classic policy of regional power than in revolutionary strategy.  Khrushchev allowed [[Fidel Castro]] to take the lead, which brought the world to the brink of disaster with the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

 

===Cuban Missile Crisis===

===Cuban Missile Crisis===

see [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] [[File:Dobbs-Cuba.jpg|thumb|220px]]

see [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] [[File:Dobbs-Cuba.jpg|thumb|220px]]