At the height of the Cold War, Soviet ideologues, policymakers, diplomats, and
military officers perceived the countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America
as the future reserve of socialism, holding the key to victory over Western
forces. The zero-sum nature of East-West global competition induced the United
States to try to thwart Soviet ambitions. The result was predictable: the two
superpowers engaged in proxy struggles against each other in faraway, little-
understood lands, often ending up entangled in protracted and highly
destructive local fights that did little to serve their own agendas. Using a
wealth of recently declassified sources, this book tells the complex story of
Soviet involvement in the Horn of Africa, a narrowly defined geographic entity
torn by the rivalry of two large countries (Ethiopia and Somalia), from the
beginning of the Cold War until the demise of the Soviet Union. At different
points in the twentieth century, this region—arguably one of the poorest in
the world—attracted broad international interest and large quantities of
advanced weaponry, making it a Cold War flashpoint. The external actors
ultimately failed to achieve what they wanted from the local conflicts—a
lesson relevant for U.S. policymakers today as they ponder whether to use
force abroad in the wake of the unhappy experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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