Jeremy Friedman

Soviet policy in the developing world and the Chinese challenge in the 1960s

The Editors of the journal Cold War History have the pleasure to present this paper as the winner of the Best Paper Award at the last Graduate Conference on the Cold War, jointly organised every year by the University of California, Santa Barbara, the George Washington University, Washington DC, and the London School of Economics and Political Science, London. It is not often that a paper, as was the case with this one, won unanimous endorsement from prominent Cold War scholars from all three institutions, present at the Conference. The last Conference was organised in April 2009, at LSE, in London and the host of the next one to be held on 22–24 April 2010 will be the George Washington University. By continuing with the practice we inaugurated last year, we wish to underline our commitment to promoting and encouraging new and substantive research of the Cold War by young scholars. As the colonial system collapsed quicker than anticipated in the post-Second World War period, the Soviet Union found itself unprepared, and it hurriedly tried to build the institutions necessary to conduct an active foreign, economic and military policy in the newly emerging states. The development of the Sino–Soviet split triggered a Chinese challenge to this Soviet push for influence, with Beijing portraying the USSR as another white, imperialist power that valued relations with the West over the cause of national liberation. Moscow was consequently forced to adapt its policy, particularly by taking a more militant approach, in order to neutralise the Chinese threat.

Shadow Cold War: The Sino-Soviet Competition for the Third World

The conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War has long been understood in a global context, but Jeremy Friedmans Shadow Cold War delves deeper into the era to examine the competition between the Soviet Union and the Peoples Republic of China for the leadership of the world revolution. When a world of newly independent states emerged from decolonization desperately poor and politically disorganized, Moscow and Beijing turned their focus to attracting these new entities, setting the stage for Sino-Soviet competition. Based on archival research from ten countries, including new materials from Russia and China, many no longer accessible to researchers, this book examines how China sought to mobilize Asia, Africa, and Latin America to seize the revolutionary mantle from the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union adapted to win it back, transforming the nature of socialist revolution in the process. This groundbreaking book is the first to explore the significance of this second Cold War China and the Soviet Union fought in the shadow of the capitalist-communist clash.

The Enemy of My Enemy: The Soviet Union, East Germany, and the Iranian Tudeh Party's Support for Ayatollah Khomeini

This article examines the strategy of the Iranian Tudeh Party in concert with its Soviet and East German patrons and allies during and after the Iranian revolution of 1979. The article assesses the thinking behind the Tudehs strategy of unwavering support for Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his Islamist allies, even after other major leftist parties had begun fighting the new Islamic regime. This strategy was a product of the international Communist movements model of revolution in the developing world that envisioned new states following a “non-capitalist path of development.” In Iran, this was compounded by the use of Allende-era Chile as a model for the politics of revolutionary Iran, as well as a deep conviction that Islamism could not provide an effective model of governance in the twentieth century and therefore would collapse of its own accord within months after the Islamists seized power.

The Revolution Is Dead—Long Live the Revolution

A new structure, a new start 2016 was particularly eventful for Kunstmuseum Bern and Zentrum Paul Klee alike. The two museums entered into operational amalgamation; a new business model was implemented successfully. Eighteen months after these changes were initiated, it is clear that the process has gone well: both museums are on course, and successfully integrated under one director. Visitor numbers for 2016 were significantly higher than for the previous year. On 1 August 2016, Nina Zimmer took up her post as artistic director and head of the new four-strong management team. Various divisions and departments have been successfully adapted and restructured to implement the new umbrella foundations strategic goals in a number of areas. The changes have produced highly satisfactory gains in terms of efficiency and synergies alike.