Inside story: CIA document admits USSR pipped US in THIS key region in Cold War era

In the summer of 1957, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) were already a decade into the Cold War. Their battle for influence had already spread throughout the world. Such was the case in the world’s second-largest continent, too. Battleground: Africa.

However, the US was lagging quite far behind. A recently declassified CIA document from 1957 sheds light on how Washington, despite its global prowess, found itself trailing the USSR in Africa— at the time going through a decolonisation wave.

The report by the American intelligence agency shows that while the Soviet Union had made deep inroads into the continent, influencing their politics and economy, the US was struggling to even collect the most basic data.

We read between the lines in the report, and explain the wider context of what was happening.

The gaps in American intelligence

On August 14, 1957, a meeting was convened in the Office of the Chief Geographic Research Area. A report about the meeting published roughly a fortnight later reveals a startling admission: “It was agreed that, in general, CIA does not have the kind or quantity of information on Africa that is needed.”

The recently declassified CIA document shows that the US had limited intelligence about Africa even a decade into the Cold War. Image courtesy: CIA

The document outlines several areas where the US fell short. There were gaping information gaps on Africa’s physical geography, native tribes, urban areas, and commodity flows were woefully insufficient. “Knowledge of native tribal and urban areas in Africa: the relation of native peoples to terrain, of superimposed legal boundaries, of detribalised- urbanized-mixed native groups in the cities and towns to their rural homeland,” was particularly lacking.

Why the CIA was behind

The United States’ policies and operational strategies regarding Africa were still in their developmental stages at the time. They had not yet evolved into fully formed, effective frameworks.

This was, at least in part, responsible for the data problem. It led to a lack of clear requirements being outlined, and consequently, shortfalls in funding and research.

“Part of the data problem is caused by the fact that policy and operations vis-a-vis Africa have not yet themselves matured. Requirements are not crystallised sufficiently to stimulate adequate funding of research or even effective use of data that are available,” the report mentions.

The CIA acknowledged that policies and operational strategies regarding Africa were not fully ready even in 1957. Image courtesy: CIA

Moreover, there were problems that the intelligence agency had due to the sheer size of the continent. CIA personnel were carrying out regional research on a continent. However, the tools they were using to gather reliable data were those that are normally applied to a country. “The interrelationship of continental, regional, and country problems has not yet been stated clearly enough for basic work,” the author(s) of the report added.

The progress made by Soviets

The Soviets, on the other hand, had made great progress.

The CIA noted that “considerable ethnographic work seems to be programmed by the Russians.” The statement itself is enigmatic. However, it does betray one hint: The Soviet Union had taken a proactive approach in understanding Africa’s diverse ethnicities. In fact, they might have gone beyond that to socially engineer the relations between some communities. Words like “ethnographic work” and “programmed” may be pointing towards that.

The Soviets also had clear goals and strategies laid out. “One Soviet objective is to exploit the continent’s resources, trade, and manpower; to subvert the uneducated masses as well as their Western-educated leaders,” the document states.

“Another Soviet objective appears to be the interference with the US, British, French, and Belgian efforts to explore and utilise the resources of the various countries in Africa and to prevent our use of these strategic materials; to keep our money, time, and effort involved in non-productive activities.”

Soviet Union’s objectives were mentioned in the 1957 CIA document. Image courtesy: CIA

If the document is to be believed, the USSR had not only clearly set its sights on the vast resources in Africa, but also actively set out to thwart the West in this crucial region.

For context, there were uprisings against European colonial powers all over Africa. Moreover, the socialist, anti-capitalist ideology at the core of communism appealed to people in a region where both natural and human resources had been exploited quite ruthlessly solely for the profit of a select few.

According to the book “Soviet Policy in West Africa, 1957-64”, USSR sought to export its model of socialist economic and social development to West Africa, particularly targeting Ghana, Guinea, and Mali. Between 1957 and 1964, it committed substantial resources to this endeavour, driven by the conviction that socialism was a superior economic system.

By exporting their socialist model and committing large resources, the USSR aimed to create strong alliances and foster environments conducive to socialist governance.

There are two more lines in the report we must focus on: The fact that CIA was missing “information on Soviet techniques of politico-economic penetration”, and that one of the main purposes of geographic data collection for the US would be to “develop intelligence that will aid the US in countering Soviet penetration.”

Soviet Union’s socio-economic penetration into Africa was a concern for the CIA. Image courtesy: CIA

That, is a telling tale. It is evident that the USSR was employing techniques not fully understood by the CIA for politico-economic penetration. It is likely that these methods were already working, given the mention of the need for “countering” them.

Did CIA get better?

It would appear that the report (and perhaps adjacent efforts taken at the time) worked. In November 1959, the CIA established a specialised division focused on Africa.

They also created a clear policy regarding the continent. According to researcher Susan Williams, the CIA’s objective in Africa was to secure American power across the continent by any means possible.

With African nations gaining freedom from European colonial powers, the Cold War paranoia-gripped US became more and more concerned with controlling the popular opinion, resources, and power structures in Africa.

Over the years, the US did manage to gain significant foothold in the continent, especially the Horn of Africa.