The New Dark Age

12 November, 2012 — National Security Archive

Third World Competition Damaged Superpower Relations at Pivotal Moment, According to Conference of Former Decision-Makers

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 402

Edited by Svetlana Savranskaya and Malcolm Byrne

For more information contact:
202/994-7000 or nsarchiv@gwu.edu

Washington, D.C., November 12, 2012 — The U.S.-Soviet rivalry in the Third World created splits within the Carter administration and fundamental confusion in the Kremlin over the nature of U.S. motives to such a degree that they helped bring about the collapse of superpower detente, according to documents and transcripts from a conference of former high-level American-Russian policy-makers published today by the National Security Archive. This posting, the second installment of the Carter-Brezhnev project, coincides with the 30th anniversary of the passing of one of the key figures of that era. The materials address issues of global superpower competition during the Carter administration, specifically the conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, as well as Eastern Europe.

Thirty years ago (November 10), in the Soviet Union, an era ended with the death of General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, who ruled the country for 18 years. His name was associated with détente and the Helsinki process internationally, but also with the invasion of Afghanistan. Domestically, he presided over a period of stagnation, but it was also a time of unprecedented peace and stability. Inside the Carter and later Reagan administrations, analysts and politicians were busy discussing numerous rumors of Brezhnev’s death and trying to foresee the Soviet leadership transition after his passing.

While detente (razryadka) was the core of Brezhnev’s foreign policy and legacy, during the period of the Carter administration, the Soviet Union was actively engaged in the global competition with the United States on several continents though its proxies. “SALT was buried in the sands of Ogaden, the sands that divide Somalia from Ethiopia,” in the words of Carter’s National Security Adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski. The irony of this phrase was in the fact that the Horn of Africa was not seen as crucially important by either side, but it dragged down the key arms control treaty, which was the cornerstone of detente, and ultimately undermined the relationship in such a way that the invasion of Afghanistan became possible.

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