DISCLAIMER: this isn’t about World War III.
In the 1960’s, the USSR and United States were engaged in the Cold War. One of the “battles” of this conflict was the struggle for influence in the Third World countries; a battle that the Soviet Union dominated. But how did they manage to gain such positive relationships where the United States could not?
The Soviet Union was seen as the ‘good guy’ in this dimension of the war by the Third World, as they were anti-imperialist, supported the struggle for independence, and supplied these revolutionary countries with weapons and financial assistance to carry out their plans. The United States represented the imperialist west that dabbled in foreign affairs and caused the problems that the Soviets were now helping to fix.
At the 19th General Assembly of the United Nations in 1964, Che Guevara spoke on behalf of Cuba. His anti-imperialism sentiment was explicitly stated as he called for peaceful coexistence among all nations, not just international superpowers. However, he spoke very highly of the Soviet Union, as if they had done no wrong. It was very clear that his opinion of the United States was equivalent to that of a ‘carnivorous animal that feeds on unarmed people’. The Third World had great reason to think poorly of western nations at the time, but his high regard for the Soviet Union was suspicious.
While the Soviet Union did not engage in colonialism as the west did, they were much sneakier when seeking influence with Third World countries. They practiced imperialism in a much less invasive way. Rather than taking over the government of a developing nation, they aided them with weapons and money, thus winning positive influence.
Guevara and other revolutionaries might not have noticed or cared that the Soviet Union was sneakily winning influence just like the United States was trying to, just in a different way. Either way, the Soviet Union won the “Third World” War against the United States in the 1960’s through subtle, sneaky tactics.
Sources:
Third World Friendships
Che Guevara At The United Nations
Photograph