THE HOT “COLD WAR”: THE USSR IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

Abstract

Vladimir Shubin is the Deputy Director of the Institute for African Studies inthe Russian Academy of Sciences and a former officer in the Soviet armed forces,and subsequently, a member (eventually secretary) of the Soviet Afro-AsianSolidarity Committee and desk officer (eventually head) of the African Section ofthe Communist Party of the USSR. In the latter two capacities he became intenselyinvolved in supporting Southern African liberation movements on behalf of theUSSR.In The Hot “Cold War”: The USSR in Southern Africa Shubin aims to ‘set therecord straight’ with regard to Moscow’s involvement in Southern Africa during theCold War, especially the role of the Soviet military, which he believes ‘is coveredinadequately or even distorted’ (p. xv). His work is divided into five parts dealing insuccession with the liberation struggles in Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe,Namibia and South Africa during the period 1960 to 1990.