Cuba In Africa: A Westadian Analysis of Cold War Historiography Through the Case Study of Angola

Are you interested in learning about the Cold War but do not know where to start as a result of the vast array of literature?

Do you seek to better understand the nebulous complexities of local nuance between various actors in the global South independent of and beyond the drawn-out narrative of Washington vs. Moscow?

If so, search no further; this exhibit will guide you through the historiography of the Cold War, and how, in turn, we can reapproach the conflict from a more considerate perspective with respect to political actors outside of the Washington-Moscow Axis. 

The goal of this exhibit is to present the historiography of the Cold War in brief, emphasizing the importance of modern scholarship behind Odd Arne Westad; to present the theme of internationalist solidarity through Cuba in Africa from a Westadian perspective, helping reject and detach from the traditional “Cold War lens”; to demonstrate the agency held by African and other third-world actors alike outside of the Moscow-Washington axis; to emphasize the altruistic Cuban devotion to their idealist principals of communist solidarity with the communist third world; and to show American and Soviet ignorance to Cuban affairs in Africa at the time, and thus the ideological independece of Cuba in Africa.