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Sergey Radchenko Profile picture
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24 Nov, 4 tweets, 1 min read
Brezhnev and Castro discuss Qaddafi. Brezhnev: "I think Qaddafi is just a boy. ... They have no idea about Lenin or socialism. What they do have is a lot of money. ... At the same time Qaddafi is a fanatical Muslim." Image
Castro: "I am not too sure that they are fanatical Muslims. I think these are just rude, uncultured, impolite, and, I would say, ill-meaning people." Image
Castro on Qaddafi: "My general impression is that he is crazy or at least half-crazy." Image
Note, this is the guy who in 1962 proposed to Khrushchev to nuke the US in a first strike. 😱

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More from @DrRadchenko

Sergey Radchenko Profile picture
26 Nov
Trump's pardon of #MichaelFlynn reminds me to post bits and pieces of an interesting document I recently unearthed in the Russian archives, which tells a remarkable story of corruption and treason. The dramatis personae are Nikita Khrushchev and Cyrus S. Eaton.
Cyrus S. Eaton (1883-1979) was an American-Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He was known for critical views of the US posture in the Cold War, and helped organise the first Pugwash Conference. He even received the Lenin Prize from the USSR in 1960.
In February 1964 Eaton travelled to the USSR where, on February 16, he met Nikita Khrushchev. They had a lengthy discussion of world affairs - not unlike many other conversations Khrushchev would have with visiting politicians and public figures. Until all of a sudden...
Read 15 tweets
Sergey Radchenko Profile picture
23 Nov
Reflecting a little more here on @ARVershbow's comments today that it was wrong to see the USSR "as it was" under Brezhnev because by doing so you missed out on Gorbachev... I think this somewhat misconstrues what Gorbachev sought to accomplish.
There's an interesting perspective in the West that sees Gorbachev for someone who embraced Western values and turned the USSR away from a confrontation to a partnership with the United States. I think this is not exactly correct - indeed, probably mostly incorrect.
Gorbachev, like Soviet leaders before him, saw the US as an aggressive superpower, which sought to bankrupt Moscow in the arms race. His early arms control initiatives were all about seizing moral leadership from the United States through the advocacy of nuclear disarmament.
Read 9 tweets
Sergey Radchenko Profile picture
23 Nov
Enjoyed this presentation by @AmbDanFried, @ARVershbow and Celeste Wallander. Of course, as someone who has closely studied Russia's take on the "long 1990s," I will have a number of points of disagreement with the distinguished speakers, some of them major disagreements.
I've set out the evidence here: tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108…, and I am happy to say that there's going to be a sequel (on Kosovo). To sum up the argument with a Chinese proverb, "it takes two hands to clap."
At the same time, I can only endorse the authors' very reasonable recommendations, which call for engagement with Russia on issues like arms control, counterterrorism, proliferation, and climate change. The authors' argument in favour of people-to-people contacts is spot on.
Read 5 tweets
Sergey Radchenko Profile picture
21 Nov
Oh, didn't know that: apparently when the North Koreans and the South Koreans published their 4 July 1972 Joint Declaration (an epochal document for dialogue on the Korean Peninsula), the North Koreans didn't even bother to inform their ally, the USSR.
Check out Brezhnev and Kosygin complaining that they literally heard this on the radio. (Apparently, Kosygin tuned in to the BBC - what, he listened to the BBC?):
Brezhnev speculates that the South Koreans probably warned the Americans (this was true). But you have to feel for the Soviets who had such a useless ally as North Korea.
Read 4 tweets
Sergey Radchenko Profile picture
21 Nov
Brezhnev & Kosygin here seen complaining about the fact that the Vietnamese would not supply samples of downed US equipment to the Soviets. "They say 'yes, yes, yes'. They promise all the time." But "we have not received anything from them."
Curiously, the Soviets had much better luck with their non-Communist allies in Egypt who would actually provide them with the captured Israeli (often US-supplied) military equipment.
On the scale of 1 to 10 (1=least reliable; 10=most reliable), the Vietnamese were never above 2 or 3 for the USSR. A real pain! (I guess it got worse, e.g. Albania and Romania).
Read 4 tweets
Sergey Radchenko Profile picture
21 Nov
A first-rate documentary [unfortunately just in Russian] on the Sept. 1999 apartment bombings in Russia. Twenty-one years later, there is a lot of uncertainty over what happened, and conspiracy theories about alleged involvement by the FSB and even Putin personally.
@pivo_varov's conclusion is that in all likelihood the bombings were carried out by the Chechen terrorists, not the FSB, which doesn't preclude a botched cover-up operation in relation to the unexploded apartment in Ryazan. An honest conclusion, which I'd endorse.
@pivo_varov is spot on in arguing that the deep underlying problem is the FSB's unwillingness to come into the open, which only (rightly) breeds conspiracy theories and undermines public trust in the State.Many skeletons locked away in those closets. Some will fall out with time.
Read 4 tweets

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