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 8509613

W e a v e r, H a ro ld D o d s o n , J r .

SO V IE T TR A IN IN G AND R ESEA R C H P RO G R AM S FOR AFRICA

U n ive rsity o f M a ss a c h u s e tts Ed.D. 1985

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 SOVIET TRAINING AND RESEARCH PROGRAMS FOR AFRICA

A Dissertation Presented

by

H a r o l d D. Weaver, Jr.

S u b m i t t e d t o t h e G r a d u a t e S c h o o l of t h e
U n i v e r s i t y of M a s s a c h u s e t t s in p a r t i a l f u l f i l l m e n t
f or t he d e g r e e of

Doctor of Education

February 1985

E d u c a t ion

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 SOVIET TRAINING AND RESEARCH PROGRAMS TOE A T D ICA

A Dissertation Presented

by

Harold P. weaver, Jr.

Approved as to style and content by:

_________________________
Dr. George Jrch, Chairperson of C o m m i t t e e

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 © 1985

HAROLD DODSON WEAVER, J R .

All Rights Reserved

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 ABSTRACT

SOVIET TRAINING AND RESEARCH PROGRAMS FOR AFRICA

February 1985

Harold D. Weaver, Jr.

B.A., Haverford College

Ea.D., University of M a s s a c h u s e t t s

Directed by: ProfessorGeorge Urch

The purpose of this study was to assessSoviet

training and research programs for A f r i c a .

Through field observation, interviews, and written

documents, the research project investigated a variety of

Soviet formal and nonformal training programs for A f r i c a n s .

Special attention was given to a case study of a

post-secondary institution created primarily for training

African and other Third-World students: Moscow's Lumumba

Friendship University. In addition, the study analyzed

other areas of Soviet support through education, including

the development of technical institutes in Africa, Soviet

research on Africa, and Soviet moral support in t h e U n i t e d

Nations. Variables of importance in th e study's assessment

of Soviet aid were two major African priorities in th e early

(1955-64) decolonization p r o c e s s : the i n d i g e n i z a t i o n of

human resources and mental emancipation.

ii

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 Among the m a j o r findings th e study reported on Soviet

training programs for Africa are the following:

1. American coverage of Soviet training programs for

Africans was characterized by mass media's

institutionalization of misinformation t hat, by

and large, the scholarly literature scientifically

sustained.

2. In general, Soviet training programs f or Africans

were found to be Afro-centric in supporting the

processes of African empowerment, indigenization,

democratization, and conscientization.

3. Specifically, Soviet training programs for

Africans at Lumumba Friendship University were

found to be innovative in p r o g r a m development,

recruitment and selection, and curricula.

4. Finally, Soviet research on A f r i c a was generally

found to be Afro-centric, with noteworthy

exceptions, in its revisionist, antithetical

efforts aimed at the decolonization of African

history.

ii i

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Much of t he field work fo r this study took place

during a seven-month stay in the USSR from July 1963 to

February 1964. Having been in M o s c o w as a correspondent

officially accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I

am grateful to the Africanists, Africans, librarians, and

educational administrators who made data available to me.

Other data were collected during briefer visits to the USSR,

beginning in the summer of 1959 (as a m e m b e r of a US-USSR

youth exchange) and continuing in 1961 (as an observer at

the W o r l d Youth Forum), and in 1962 (on a p o s t - W o r l d - Y o u t h

Festival, Helsinki, tour).

In A f r i c a , opportunities opened up for me to have

interviews wirh major African education and political

figures -- including Azikiwe, Fafunwa, and Amilcar Cabral --

during my visits to Nigeria (in 1960 as a leader of a

teacher-student group), to Egypt (in 1964 as an accredited

journalist at the N o n - A l i g n e d Summit Conference), to A l g e r i a

(in 1965 as an A.B.C. correspondent at the abortive

Afro-Asian summit conference), to Senegal (in 1966 as a

participant in t h e First World Festival of N e g r o Arts), and

to Francophone West Africa (in 1976 as lecturer in the

American Specialists Program of the U.S. State Department).

These interviews offered me great insight into an

understanding of African priorities and concerns as

perceived by African actors.

iv

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 Though the research has taken a major shift from its

original focus, I am grateful for early encouragement from

the late Melville Herskovits, Thomas Hodgkin, and W.E.B.

DuBois, pioneering Africanists in th e West. Dr. DuBois was

kind enough to give me an entre to' senior Soviet

Africanists.

Portions of this work were exposed to critical

scrutiny during presentations at meetings of the Comparative

and International Education Society, the African Studies

Association, the M c G i l l Centre for D e v e l o p i n g Area Studies,

the Center for International Education of the U n i v e r s i t y of

Massachusetts, the University of Montreal Colloquium on

"Culture and Communication", the Toronto symposium on

"Africa: A Continent in C r i s i s " , and the Faculty Seminar in

Communication at the University of Vermont. I am especially

grateful for the critical assistance rendered by Professors

David Kinsey, Femi Richards, and George Urch.

Thanks go also to a series of typists and word

processors (D. Goudreau, A. Boody, S. Khan, W. Campbell, W.

Rowan, N. Boyer, J. Moreau) who provided valuable services

despite my often illegible handwriting.

I dedicate this work to m y late parents, Dr. Harold

and Mrs. Gladys Weaver, both formal and informal educators

par excellence, and to my children, Harold III, Djata, and

Ai s h a .

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .......................................................... 1

P r o b l e m ........................................................... 1
P u r p o s e ........................................................... 10
R e s e a r c h D e s i g n ................................................. 11
M e t h o d o l o g y .................................................. 11
D o c u m e n t s .................................................... 14
F i e l d R e s e a r c h ............................................. 18
I n t e r v i e w s ............................................. 19
O b s e r v a t i o n ............................................ 21
M e t h o d o l o g y b y C h a p t e r ................................... 21
L i t e r a t u r e ....................................................... 22
D e l i m i t a t i o n ............ 27
C h a p t e r O u t l i n e ................................................. 28
N o t e s ....................... 29

CHAPTER

I. AFRICAN PRIORITIES AND SOVIET AIMS ................... 34

A f r i c a n P r i o r i t i e s ........................................ 34
M e n t a l E m a n c i p a t i o n ................................. 35
A f r o - C e n t r i c R e s e a r c h ............................... 39
A f r o - C e n t r i c S c h o o l i n g .............................. 42
I n d i g e n o u s H u m a n R e s o u r c e s ........................ 47
A n t i - N e o c o l o n i a l i s m ................................. 49
N o n - A l i g n m e n t in the C o l d W a r ..................... 51

S o v i e t A i m s ................................................. 52
Historical Antecedents: International
S o l i d a r i t y w i t h L i b e r a t i o n S t r u g g l e s ...... 54
S o v i e t O b j e c t i v e s in A f r i c a ....................... 56
I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n f e r e n c e s .......................... 57
Afro-Asian Solidarity Conference,
B a n d u n g ....................................... 58
2 0 t h C o n g r e s s of t he C P S U , M o s c o w .......... 58
C o m m u n i s t S u m m i t C o n f e r e n c e , M o s c o w . ..... 59
21 s t C o n g r e s s of the C P S U , M o s c o w .......... 59
81 C o m m u n i s t a n d W o r k e r s ' P a r t i e s
C o n f e r e n c e , M o s c o w ........................ 60
2 2 n d C o n g r e s s of the C P S U , M o s c o w .......... 61
I nter na ti onal Cultural Relations: Soviet
T e c h n i q u e s ........................................ 61
N o t e s ........................................................ 64

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 SOVIET RESEARCH ON AFRICA 73

The Soviet Polity and Academic Research

on A f r i c a .................................... 73
O r g a n i z a t i o n : I n s t i t u t e s a n d U n i v e r s i t i e s ......... 76
T h e A f r i c a I n s t i t u t e .................. 78
R e s e a r c h D i r e c t i o n s : An O v e r v i e w by D i s c i p l i n e s .. 82
M e t h o d o l o g y : F r o m I s o l a t i o n to A c c e s s ......... 83
I d e o l o g i e s ................................................. 85
N e g r i t u d e ............................................. 85
P a n - A f r i c a n i s m ....................................... 87
C o n c l u s i o n ................................................. 90
N o t e s ....................................................... 91

III. SOVIET E D U CA TI ON A S S I ST AN CE TO AFRICA:

A L T E R N A T I V E C H A N N E L S .................................... 95

O u t s i d e the U S S R ......................................... 95
U n i t e d N a t i o n s S y s t e m .............................. 95
T e c h n i c a l I n s t i t u t e s in A f r i c a .................. 99
I n s i d e the U S S R ........................................... 100
Y o u t h D e l e g a t i o n s a n d S p e c i a l E v e n t s ........... 101
Formal and Nonf or m al E duca ti on Involving
E x t e n d e d S o j o u r n ............................... 104
S h o r t - C y c l e G r a d u a t e E d u c a t i o n .................. 11 2
C o n c l u s i o n ................................................. 113
N o t e s ........................................................ 113

IV. LUMUMBA FRIENDSHIP UNIVERSITY:

CASE STUDY OF A SOVIET INNOVATION .................... 117

F r i e n d s h i p U n i v e r s i t y vs. O t h e r S o v i e t
U n i v e r s i t i e s .....................................1 19
G o v e r n a n c e : T h e U n i v e r s i t y C o u n c i l ...................122
Th e S o v i e t A f r o - A s i a n S o l i d a r i t y C o m m i t t e e .. . 1 2 2
T h e U n i o n of S o v i e t S o c i e t i e s of F r i e n d s h i p
and C u l t u r a l R e l a t i o n s with
F o r e i g n C o u n t r i e s ................................... 12 5
T h e S o v i e t C o m m i t t e e of Y o u t h O r g a n i z a t i o n s ..128
R e c r u i t m e n t , S e l e c t i o n , a n d S p o n s o r s h i p ............ 130
C u r r i c u l u m ................................................. 135
Curricular Aims and Structure ............ 135
T h e T r a n s i t i o n P e r i o d : P r e p a r a t o r y F a c u l t y ..138
N a t u r a l R e s o u r c e s : G e o l o g y D e p a r t m e n t ........ 140
D i s e a s e C o n t r o l , H e a l t h , D i e t , a n d L an d:
F a c u l t i e s of A g r i c u l t u r e a n d M e d i c i n e ... 148
Planning and Economy: the Study
of E c o n o m i c s ................................... 151
H i s t o r y a n d P h i l o l o g y : H u m a n S c i e n c e s ........ 155
C o n c u l s i o n ................................................. 158

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 Notes 158

V. SOV IE T T RA IN I NG PROG RA MS FOR AFRICA:

A C R I T I C A L R E A S S E S S M E N T .................................. 1 6 4

C o v e r a g e in U . S . P r i n t M e d i u m a n d S c h o l a r s h i p 164
A f r i c a n P r i o r i t i e s a n d S o v i e t A i m s .................... 171
R e s e a r c h on A f r i c a in t h e U S S R ......................... 1 7 3
S o v i e t T r a i n i n g P r o g r a m s for A f r i c a n s ................ 1 8 0
C u r r i c u l u m .............................................. 1 8 3
G e o l o g y c a s e s t u d y .............................. 1 8 4
A c c e s s : R e c r u i t m e n t a n d S e l e c t i o n ................ 1 8 8
S o c i a l i z a t i o n .......................................... 1 9 0
C o n c l u s i o n ................................................... 1 9 1
N o t e s ......................................................... 1 9 2

VI. CONCLUSION ................................................... 1 9 5

S u m m a r y ....................................................... 1 9 5
F u t u r e R e s e a r c h D i r e c t i o n s .............................. 200
C o m p a r a t i v e a n d I n t e r n a t i o n a l E d u c a t i o n .......... 2 0 0
C o m m u n i c a t i o n S t u d i e s , t he S o c i a l S c i e n c e s ,
a n d F o r e i g n A r e a S t u d i e s ............................ 2 0 2
N o t e s ......................................................... 20 7

BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................... 2 0 8

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 INTRODUCTION

Problem

1955-1964 represents a critical period in modern

African history. The decade between the Bandung summit

conference of African and Asian states in April, 1955, and

the N o n - A l i g n e d Summit in C a i r o in O c t o b e r , 1964, was marked

by intense anti-colonial, nationalist agitation for

political and constitutional independence. As a result, in

contrast to the 'three nominally independent states in

sub-Saharan Africa in 1955, when Soviet leader Khrushchev

came to power, there were twenty-nine at the time of his

political demise in O c t o b e r , 19 64.

These emerging, structurally "weak s t a t e s " 1 actively

sought outside assistance from the strong states. One of

these was the Soviet Union, for whom African decolonization

efforts gave the government an opportunity to test its

theories about colonial peoples while also demonstrating its

concern through action. Moreover, t he existence of a

super-power to challenge Western colonial dominance in

Africa was seen by numerous observers as significant for

African anti-colonialism. A number of intellectuals have

referred to the mere existence of the USSR, a major power

capable of confronting Western colonial powers, as an

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 2

important factor in p o s t - W o r l d War II national liberation

movements. Harvard political scientists Rupert Emerson and

Martin Kilson pointed out, for example, just how important

the USSR was as an aid to the cause of African

decolonization:

The Russian Revolution has brought in t o b e i n g a

p o w e r c o m m i t t e d to t h e c a u s e of a n t i - c o l o n i a l i s m a n d
e a g e r , w h e r e v e r p o s s i b l e , to a n n o y a n d u n d e r m i n e th e
imperialists w h o m it saw as its m o s t implacable
e n e m i e s .2

An important component of outside intervention in

Africa during this era was in the area of education,

especially training and research. Soviet efforts took

several forms. Though limited at the beginning of the

decade to moral and financial support for training through

the U n i t e d Nations, as well as research on A f r i c a at several

dispersed institutions and universities in t h e USSR, Soviet

educational efforts regarding Africa had expanded

considerably by the end of the period: a centralized

research institute on Africa, training programs that

included a new university for students from A fri ca and other

Third-World countries, and, where politically possible,

educational assistance to Africans in A f r i c a .

Bu t , despite these educational efforts by t he USSR in

response to the African decolonization process, coverage of

the assistance by the W e s t e r n press and scholarship has been

inadequate and, in m a n y cases, misleading. In general, the

publications were ethnocentric and characterized by gaps,

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 3

distortions, and a lack of attention to Soviet aid's

relationship to A f r i c a n priorities.

Narrow, national blinders have b e e n -evident in the

writings of Americans and Russians about their rivals'

policies and p r a c t i c e s . 3 By a n d lar ge, neither Soviet no r

American chroniclers and analysts have heeded th e advice of

C. Wright Mills: "It is h i s [i.e., the social scientist's]

very task intellectually to transcend the milieux in w h i c h

he happens to live"4 . Instead, the tendency has been a

national orientation reflecting the interests and values of

one or t he other of the Cold-War rivals.5 The results have

been publications characterized by e t h n o c e n t r i c assumptions,

gaps in sc o p e , unscientific methodologies, and distorted

findings and conclusions.

In the past two decades, Soviet international

education programs for Africa have been the subject of

observations by numerous American analysts and chroniclers.

In particular, the studies tended to d e a l with aspects of

African area studies in th e Soviet Union, with only passing

reference to observations about training programs for

Africans. Social scientists and journalists have produced a

body of literature that has been widely disseminated around

the world. Social-science publications were generally

political-science dissertations, usually referring to the

training in t he context of the East-West conflict and coming

out of such institutions as Columbia ( K l i n g h o f f e r ),

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 Princeton (Mirreh ' and Legvold), and Boston University

(Cohn).6 Publications by comparative and international

educators have been noticeably sparse, except for those by

U.S. government research staff.7 So with th i s paucity of

scholarly publications, the bulk of material has been

produced by the major international wire services (AP, UPI,

Reuters, and AFP) for daily newspapers and by those

publications with correspondents in Moscow (e.g., The New

York T i m e s , the defunct H e r a l d - T r i b u n e , T i m e , a n d N e w s w e e k ).

Despite the paucity of actual studies focusing

explicitly and specifically on the subject of Soviet

training programs for Africans, some tendencies can be

observed in the writings making reference to the subject,

even though peripheral to their major f oc i. Assumptions of

American scholars have tended to reflect a Euro-centric view

vis-a-vis Africa and a pro-capitalist bias vis-a-vis the

socialist USSR. Research has tended to rely on documents,

sometimes of q u e s t i o n a b l e reliability and validity, that

have seldom been corroborated by field research.

Furthermore, government data (and the print media), often

without attribution, have served as sources for scholars and

have resulted in studies with little documentary citation.8

Furthermore, conclusions based on limited and unscientific

research design were often oversimplified and tended to

reflect national, if not idological, biases. Particularly

blatant in U.S . social-science literature were assumptions

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 5

that Soviet training programs for Africans were negative

phenomena, profiting a negative ideology in a mistrustful

country for questionable ends.

The prevalent assertions in A m e r i c a n publications,

with their ethno-centric assumptions and conclusions, were

oftem misleading and indeed, in m a n y ca s e s , f a l s e . 9 After an

examination of much of this literature, one is left with the

sense that Soviet educational aid programs existed to

subvert African societies and that t he c u r r i c u l a — formal

and nonformal — were little more than political and

ideological propaganda. One is also led to believe that

African students in the USSR were unqualified for normal

university training elsewhere and , hence, were in the Soviet

Union only because no other country would accept them for

higher education. We are told, time and time again in a

variety of publications, that African students in the USSR

faced widespread racial discrimination and that, in formal

education, they were restricted to one institution of higher

education, a segregated one at t h a t . 10 C e r t a i n l y the time is

ripe for a balance sheet about Soviet educational assistance

to A f r i c a that is not only Afro-centric but also without

inherently negative assumptions about socialism and the

USSR.

In addition, significant gaps exist in the

literature. In general, U.S. scholars have been especially

evasive in examining educational relations across national

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 6

boundaries. In 1964, Senator Fulbright warned American

policy-makers and the general public: "Education is in

reality one of the basic factors of international relations

... quite as important as diplomacy and military power in

its implications for war and p e a c e . " 11 Yet , social

scientists and comparative educators have not responded to

th e observations made two decades ago. For example, a 1977

review of the literature on political development and

education in t h e "state-of-the-art" issue of the leading

American journal in the field, Comparative Education Review,

treated the subject as if it was a domestic, internal

i s s u e . 12 The author, Byron Massialis, borrowed from a

political scientist, James Coleman, categories which were

initially conceived to study internal, dynamic politics (in

contrast to static, internal governmental institutions

not even external factors): political socialization,

political recruitment, and political i n t e g r a t i o n . 13 W h a t has

been neglected, by social scientists and comparative

educators alike, is the relationship between politics and

education across national borders. Recently, however,

scholars applying different approaches have begun to

articulate their concern about such neglect. One observer,

Robert Amove, a representative of the Center-Periphery

school, noted the failure of scholars to consider the

"international context of educational forces impinging upon

education s y s t e m s . " 1,4

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 7

Political scientist Marshall Singer reminded scholars

about t he void in t he literature on short-term, non-formal

education programs for persons from d e velop in g nations: "All

of the major powers have training programs of this sort.

Unfortunately, no data are available on the scope and

content of those programs except for the United S t a t e s " . 15

For many, this accusation of a decade ago still holds. A

comparative educator, Matthew Zachariah, has categorized the

literature on education assistance from industrialized

nations to T h i r d W o r l d countries. These categories are (1)

multilateral and bilateral aid for educational planning, (2)

technical assistance (especially in teaching) for

institution building, and (3) Study-Abroad programs in

"w e s t e r n secondard and higher educational i n s t i t u t i o n s " 16

[emphasis mine]. There were noticeable gaps in reference to

scholarly literature on Soviet formal and non-formal

education programs for Third-World students. What do not

exist are studies about African students in the Soviet

Union.

A variety of studies does exist that discusses both

the sojourn and post-return behavior of foreign students in

the United States and certain other Western countries. Over

the years, as Otto Klineberg reveals, published research

(often interdisciplinary) has focused on (1) why students go

abroad to study, (2) who studies abroad, (3) what students

do while studying in foreign countries, (4) how students

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 8

change their perspectives while abroad, and (5) what impact

their experiences have upon their return to their home

c o u n t r i e s . 17 Despite the quantity of studies on education

exchanges, both a systematic analysis and consequent

theories about international cultural relations, including

its education component, do no t seem to e x i s t .

Even an attempt to find a concrete definition of

"international cultural relations" in the education and

political-science literature led to frustration. For

example, a review of tables of contents and indices of

respectable textbooks on foreign policy and international

relations revealed minimal d a t a . 18 O n e found a similar

predicament in e d u c a t i o n journals, including t he Comparative

Education R e v i e w , Comparative Education, and th e Harvard

Education Review. A general book on the subject, in F r e n c h ,

is Louis Dollot, Les Relations Culturelles

I n t e r n a t i o n e l l e s . 19 American practitioners tended to o f f e r a

li s t of activities, alternating between th e phrases

"education realtions" and "cultural relations," without

giving adequate definition. In summary, there were only

vague ideas presented, both by scholars and practitioners,

regarding the definition and scope of international cultural

relations.

With massive U.S. government and foundation support,

Soviet area studies and other foreign area studies in t he

United States accelerated after t he Soviet launching of

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 c

Sputnik in 1S5S. Hence, Leonard Binder, in "Area Studies: A

Critical Assessment", was able to proclaim: "T h e basic

motive in t he development of area studies in the United

States has been p o l i t i c a l " . 20 Resulting training programs

and research projects tended, t hu s, to be in keeping with

U. S . government policies and priorities. This "orthodox

knowledge" was a response by scholars to "what [ t h ey

considered] as national ... n e e d s . " 21

In contrast to this stands "antithetical knowledge

the kind of knowledge produced by people who quite

consciously consider themselves to be w r i t i n g in opposition

to p e r c e i v e d o r t h o d o x y . " 22 M o r e particularly, antithetical

knowledge recognizes that scholarship is p o l i t i c a l and that

the scholar has prejudices, and, hence, enters the research

task with a "foremeaning" based on "past experiences and

p r e j u d i c e s , " 23 as well as an " i n t e r e s t " . 24 Furthermore,

since "knowledge is essentially an actively sought out and

contested thing, not merely a passive recitation of facts

and accepted v i e w , " 25 antithetical scholars use "innovative

methodological i n s t r u m e n t s " . 26 Finally, antithetical

scholars are "relative outsiders to the patronage s y s t e m , " 27

and hence can be freer in their choice of subject and

methodology.

What is needed is a b a l a n c e sheet. A number of new

questions could be raised about Soviet relations with

Africa. Some are particularly important. How did the USSR

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 10

respond to African cultural priorities in the struggle for

decolonization? What kind of balance sheet can be drawn up

•about Soviet aid to Africans in t he domain of education?

Furthermore, how relevant was that aid in reltionship to

African nationalist priorities? In other words, what is

needed is an objective analysis of Soviet educational

efforts: one that uses sound methodological procedures, not

national, Cold-War biases.

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify African

n a t i o n a l i st priori ties related to training and research, to

investigate Soviet programs in response to those priorities

amenable to action by educational means, and to assess to

what extent the Soviet programs were relevant to African

nationalist priorities. More specifically, the study will

address the following questions:

PRIMARY QUESTION: What were the aims and nature of

Soviet educational efforts directed at Africa between 1955

and 1964, and to w h a t extent were those efforts relevant to

African nationalits priorities?

IMPLEMENTING QUESTIONS:

1) What were African nationalist priorities amenable by

education? (Chapter I)

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 11

2) What were Soviet aims in Africa? (Chapter I)

3) What were the ai m s and nature of Soviet research on

Africa? (Chapter II)

4) What were the a ims and nature of Soviet training

programs for Africans, with special attention given to

Lumumba Friendship University? (Chapters III and IV)

5) To what extent were Soviet training and research efforts

appropriate for A f r i c a n priorities? (Chapter V)

Research Design

Methodology

The approach of this study is t h a t education was a

significant means to achieve certain African-nationalist

priorities. Those priorities were pin-pointed as mental

emancipation and African human resource development as

important in the decolonization process. Implementation of

those priorities would tend to lead to relatively more

independence in b o t h domestic affairs (a n t i - n e o - c o l o n i a l i s m )

and external affairs (non-alignment). Central to this

research was t he nature of Soviet intervention in the

process.

In dealing with African priorities, the focus was on

those deficiencies potentially capable of being resolved by

educational means. For suggetions in estimating those

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 12

priorities, I have turned to the following sources: African

intellectuals (i d e o l o g u e - p o l i t i c i a n s , scholars, writers, and

filmmakers), Soviet Africanists and political leaders, and

American Africanists.

In a s s e s s i n g Soviet research on Africa, I focused on

issues related to A f r i c a n decolonization and development.

Within that framework, I examined Soviet primary sources

(writings and interviews with researchers), emigrant

secondary sources, British and American sources, and Western

translations -- from Russ ia n to F r e n c h and English -- of

Soviet documents.

As f or Soviet activities in the areas of education

and training, I have placed the primary emphasis on t he

training of Africans in t he Soviet Union, with particular

reference to a case study of Lumumba Friendship University.

Two areas outside t he USSR where the Soviet government was

involved were technical assistance in Africa and moral

support accorded Africa at the United Nations. For those, my

major sources were African and Soviet primary and secondary

sources: testimonies of actors and observers, interviews

with actors, observations of the p h e n o m e n a , and literature

on t he training programs. Other sources included U.S.

secondary sources: scholarly studies, newspaper accounts,

and the observations of international-education

pract it i o n e r s .

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 The following chart summarizes the origins of th e

sources used to study African priorities, Soviet research on

Africa, and Soviet training programs for Africans:

Subject/Topic Sources

African Soviet U.S./Western

African Priorities X X X

Soviet Research X X

Soviet Training,
including Lumumba
University X X X

An examination of a variety of different vantage

points provided more than one perspective, in contrast to

the one-dimensional characteristic of most of the literature

available on the subject. In regard to research, training,

and Lumumba Friendship University, the Soviet sources

provided an explanation of their rationale, policies, and

practices, as well as a critique of W e s t e r n policies and

practices. Western sources, on the other hand, revealed

reactions to and interpretations of Soviet training and

research programs. African sources reflected the

experiences of participants, policy-makers, ideologues, and

intellectuals. In other words, in research, training, and

the case study of Lumumba Friendship University, the actors,

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 participants, and outside observers of the experience served

as sources.

To take a closer look at the sources employed, I will

discuss data gathered from documentary sources and from

field-research sources.

Documents

Primary documentary sources included social-science

studies by Soviet scholars, university catalogues and

regulations, transcripts of speeches and broadcasts of

government officials, as well as personal documents,

especially testimonies and private letters belonging to

participating actors. Secondary sources included

social-science studies by American scholars, UN and U.S.

government reports, and fiction purporting to be based on

the experiences of participating actors. Because many

statistical documents were unreliable, even on a seemingly

cut-and-ary case as the precise number of African students

at Lumumba University, they were used only sparingly.

The following documentation centers were used in

various countries. In Western Europe, the Institute of

Commonwealth Studies and the Q u ee n Elizabeth House of Oxford

University; the Central Asian Research Institute, London;

t he A f r i c a n Studi-Centrum, Leiden; UNESCO and the Institue

of Educational Planning, Paris; and Radio Liberty, Radio

Free Europe, and the Institute for the Study of the USSR,

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Munich. In the USSR, I used the research facilities of t he

Africa Institute, the Lenin Library, and Lumumba University

in Moscow, as well as th e Institute of Ethnography,

Leningrad. Finally, in North America, documentation was

reviewed at th e Library of Congress, th e Russian Institute

at Columbia University, the African Studies Programs at

Columbia and Boston Universities, and the general libraries

of City College of New York, New York University, the N ew

York Public Library (including its specialized Schomberg

Center), McGill University, Laval University, Smith College,

the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of t he

Univesity of Toronto, and the U n i v e r s i t y of M a s s a c h u s e t t s at

Amherst.

The study drew upon Soviet periodicals, including the

scholarly Narodny Azil i_ Af r i k i (Peoples of Asia and

Africa), published jointly by the USSR Academy of Sciences'

Africa and Asia Institutes; International Affairs (Moscow),

a monthly publication in English containing articles by

Soviet foreign scholars, journalists, and politicans; New

T i m e s , a mass weekly published in several languages; Moscow

News, a bi-weekly newspaper distributed throughout th e

English-speaking world and focusing on cultural affairs,'

including international exchanges; Soviet News, a weekly

published by the Soviet Embassy in London; Vestnik aN SSSR

(Herald of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR); Voprosy

Historii (Problems of History); Afrika i_ A z i y a Seqodnva

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 16

(Africa and Asia Today), a mass monthly on events on those

two continents; Vestnik Vyssnei Shkoly (Herald of Higher

Education), the publication of the Ministry of Higher and

Specialized Education; and Druzhba (Frienship), the

publication of Lumumba Friendship University. Ideological

statements and coverage of internal and external events

believed relevant to foreigners by Soviet leaders appeared

in daily releases distributed to foreign journalists by

Moscow's Novosti News Agency. The World Marxist Review

(Prague) was also of use.

Useful Western translations — both direct and

paraphrased — were Mizan, a near-monthly publication of

London's Central Asian Research Institute; the Joint

Publications Research Service of the U.S. Department of

Commerce (both books and articles of general use and not

necessarily dealing with commerce); t he Current Digest of

the Soviet Press, in which important articles from the

Soviet Party and Governmental newspapers, including coverage

of exchange programs, events in the U S SR , and ideological

questions; Soviet Education; and Soviet Periodical

Abstracts: Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Western and

African journals which occassionaly carried articles by

Soviet authorities, especially on Soviet research, included

Presence Africaine ( Par is) , the Journal of Modern African

Studies (London), the Af r i c a n Studies Bullet i n , Human

R e l a t i o n s , Africa R e p o r t , African T o d a y , and Afriaue-Azie

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 17

( P a r i s ).

Other scholarly and mass-circulation Western

publications used included Problems of C o m m u n i s m , H a r p e r 's ,

Foreign Affairs, Comparative Education R e v i e w , Comparative

Education (London), Look, Christian Science Monitor, New

York Times (New Y o r k and- Paris editions), New York Herald

Tribune (New York and Paris), U.S. News and World Report,

Forum Service, Studies in Comparative Communism, Soviet

Studies, African Abstracts, and the American Political

Sc i e n c e Review. Wire service material came from U.P.I.,

A . P ., Reuters, Agence France Presse, and Tass.

Books by Western writers specifically dealing with

USSR-African relations included Zbigniev Bzrzinski (ed.),

Africa and the Communist World ( 1 9 63) ; David Morrison,

Africa and the USSR ( 1 9 64 ); Mary Holdsworth, Soviet African

S t u d i e s , 1 9 1 8 - 1 9 5 9 : An Annotated Biblioqraphy (issued in t w o

parts, 1961); and Thomas Thornton, ed., The Third World in

Soviet P e r s p e c t ive ( 1 9 64 ).

First-hand accounts of disenchanted African students

included Andrew Richard. Amar, A Student in Moscow (London:

Ampersand, 1961); Michael Ayih-Dosseh, "Les Sovietiques et

Afrique", Supplement de Est et Ouest, Bulletin d 'E t u d e s et

d'informations Politiques Internationales (Paris), No. 261,

1-15 (July, 1961); S.O. Okullo, "Negro's Life in Russia:

Beatings, Insults, Segregation," U.S. News and World Report,

vol. XLIX (August 1, 1960), pp. 59-60; and, on China, E.J.

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 18

Hevi, An African Student in China (1963). Various

second-hand reports are available in a number of Western

periodicals. A novel, allegedly combining his own

experiences in P r a g u e with African students in L o n d o n after

their abortive stay in E a s t e r n European countries, is J a n

Carew, Green Winter (M o s c o w is not My M e c c a ) .

I also relied upon books and articles on Africa

published by Soviet Africanists in the USSR, Western Europe,

the U.S., and the United Kingdom. Books by Soviet writers

are to be found in endnotes of chapters and in the

bibliography at the end of this work. At times, African and

other foreign newspapers, often owned by E u r o p e a n interests

or carrying views of Western wire services, were used to

ascertain the kind of information the A f r i c a n public (and

the world) was getting about Lumumba University, especially

during such well-covered events as the Red Square

demonstration of African students in D e c e m b e r , 1 9 63.

The nature of the topic made validity and reliability

more likely if other, complementary data sources could be

established. This corroboration of documentary sources was

done by field research.

Field Research

Two major techniques of data collection were utilized

in m y field research: interviews and observation. In t he

USSR, observations and interviews took place during a

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 19

seven-month field study (1963-1964) along with several

shorter visits to L u m u m b a University, the African Institute,

and Moscow State University, as well as to Leningrad's

Institute of Ethnography ( 1959, 19 61, and 1962).Given the

secrecy of much activity in the USSR, field research allowed

me to collect data, including insights and feelings, not

available in p r i n t . Furthermore, field research allowed me

to c o l l e c t printed documents intended only for local use,

not for wider distribution (for example, a booklet of new

dormitory regulations aimed at the international student

population passed ou t at the student hostels of Lumumba

University after th e 1963 African student demonstration).

Interviews. Unstandardized and semi-standardized

interviews were used to get personal experiences, feelings,

and interpretations. (Standardized approaches were

generally rejected as too rigid, except, for example, in

efforts to corroborate precise data.) Much of th e

interviewing in the U SS R took place without the respondents'

knowledge that I was collecting information for scientific

work. Moreover, most interviews were conducted under

conditions in w h i c h positive, even trusting, rapport had

already been established between the interviewer and

respondent.

Non-directive interviews were u sed, both to establish

rapport and , la t e r , to collect data. Every effort was made

to m i n i m i z e the interviewer's influence on t he respondents

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 20

and to leave open the possibilities of gathering data in

areas and about subjects that would enlighten th e

interviewer on the general context in which t he students

were functioning, but which might not have fallen within the

initial scope of th e research project. There were also

times when the interviewer decided to use a more focused

approach. This type of interview was often found

appropriate for attempting to corroborate quantitative data

from documents and press conferences.

As an interviewer, I was much like a door-to-door

salesman in his initial contact with a prospective consumer:

taking steps in the opening question formulation to p r e v e n t

a refusal of an interview. Because of a suspicion of

journalists, especially those f r o m t he U.S., some actors

refused to be interviewed; others refused because of my

official accreditation as a foreign correspondent by th e

USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Occasionally, in

situations where genuine confidence and fri e nd sh ip had been

established between interviewer and respondent, mechanical

recordings were carried out, especially with the advent of

the new, easily portable, lightweight Phillips

cassette-recorder from Holland.

Among t he respondents were African students and

diplomats in Moscow, and Soviet aid officials. Soviet

Africanists interviewed included 1.1. Potekhin, D.A.

Olderogge, L.D. Yablochkov (academician and first director

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 21

of the Soviet cultural center in A c c r a ) , Rosa Ismaigilova,

and Lily Golden Hanga (Afro-Soviet researcher and former

wife of the late V i c e - P r e s i d e n t of Zanzibar and Government

Minister of Tanzania).

Observation. Corroboration and exploration were also

carried out through observation, sometimes simultaneously

with interviews. My seven months in M o s c o w as an accredited

correspondent, July, 1963, to February, 1964, allowed for

observation of Soviet educational aid to A f r i c a n s on a

regular basis, alternating between participant-observer and

detached witness. I was able to observe deeds, actions, and

behavior and, hence, complement data gathered from d ocu me nt s

and interviews. Relatively less-structured observation

allowed me to p a r t i c i p a t e in naturalistic observational

s e t t i n g s . 16 Although both participant and non-participant

roles were u s e d, I used the former sparingly so as not to

influence the phenomena that I was researching.

Methodology by Chapter

For specific chapters, the study proceeded as

follows: Chapter I, on African priorities and Soviet a i ms,

drew upon studies published by A f r i c a n , American, and Soviet

social scientists; testimonies and autobiographies of

participants; U.N. reports; and U.S. and Soviet government

reports. Chapter I I , on African studies in the USSR, drew

upon Soviet scholarship published in the USSR, Western

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 22

Europe, the U.S., and the United Kingdom. American,

British, and Canadian dissertations, books, and articles

were also used, as well as semi-structured and unstructured

interviews with research participants.

Chapter I I I , on Soviet educational aid to A f r i c a n s ,

used documents of the United Nations (the Trust and

Non-Self-Governing committees, and the Trusteeship Council)

and UNESCO, transcripts of speeches by Soviet political

leaders, articles by Soviet educators, Western periodicals

and newspapers, testimonies, Third-World-centered novels,

semi-structured and unstructured interviews with Africans,

structured interviews with Soviet political and educational

authorities, and participant as well as non-participant

observation. Chapter IV, a case study of Lumumba

University, relied upon Soviet and American government

reports; transcripts, and excerpts of speeches from Soviet

political leaders; testimonies of African students;

University catalogues and regulations; transcripts of

electronic media coverage; audio recording devices; and

interviews and observation.

Li t e r a t u r e

In the last twenty-five years, studies on A f r i c a ' s

relations with th e world's industrialized societies have

proliferated. Various aspects of Africa's social, economic,

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 23

political, diplomatic, and military relations with the G r e a t

Powers have been analyzed in the social-science literature.

During the Cold War period, a number of books and monographs

on Soviet political, economic, diplomatic and military

relations with Africa were p r o d u c e d . 28 However,

computer-aided surveys of the literature, including ERIC and

Dissertation Abstracts I n t e r n a t i o n a l , revealed few studies

explicitly treating the nature of Soviet educational

relations w it h Africa.

Among the few existing studies dealing with th e

subject of Soviet international education programs,

particularly t he area-studies component, is that one

produced by American Arthur Klinghoffer, The Soviet View of

Socialism in Sub-Saharan A f r i c a , 1 9 5 5 - 1 9 6 4 . 29 This text is

an examination of writings on African socialism by Soviet

ideologues, government officials, and scholars. Previously

written as a political-science dissertation, the work did

not attempt to use an international-education framework.

Moreover, as can be seen from t he following titles, the

tendency was for political scientists to treat

Soviet-African relations in general or political studies:

Soviet P o l icy Toward Blac k A f r i c a : The Focus on N at ional

Inteqration and The Soviet Union and Sub-Saharan Africa:

Communist P o l icy T o w a r d Af r i c a , 1 9 1 7 - 1 9 6 5 .

When it d i d deal with education assistance, even

peripherally, th e literature on Soviet training programs for

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 24

Africa viewed the Soviet Union as giving higher priority to

i n t e r n a t ional cultural relations generally, and to

international education specifically (especially its Study

Abroad programs), than any other n a t i o n . 30 U n d e r Khrushchev,

international cultural reltions were credited with

significant e x p a n s i o n . 31 According to B a r g h o o r n , t he leading

U.S. commentator on the subject, a unique characteristic of

Soviet cultural diplomacy was its ability to stimulate

people, ideas, and cultures f or Soviet p u r p o s e s . 32 A m e r i c a n

scholars concluded, or assumed, that there were several

Soviet objectives. Namely, they were to gain k n o w l e d g e , 33

to disseminate a positive image of the U S S R , 34 and to

present the U S S R to d e v e l o p i n g nations as a m o d e l for rapid

economic g r o w t h . 35 T h e literature recognized Soviet efforts

to present itself as friendly to the oppressed who were

fighting imperialism in A f r i c a , Asia, and Latin A m e r i c a . 36

But in studies of Soviet-African relations that noted Soviet

training programs for Africans, American scholars were

likely to be ethnocentric. A prototypical observation found

in a Princeton political-science dissertation was the

following: "U n l i k e the university training which Africans

receive in the W e s t , the training in E a s t e r n Europe and the

Soviet Union is strongly colored by ideological and

political c o n s i d e r a t i o n " 37 [emphasis mine]. This is a

concrete example of the prevailing myth among American

political scientists that Western/U.S. schools are not

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 25

political i n s t i t u t i o n s . 38

Western scholarship paid particular attention -- in

its references but not in d e t a i l e d , concrete studies -- to a

university created during the Khrushchev era, Lumumba

Friendship University. Several contentions dominated.

Contention number one was that the University, and other

Soviet education programs, existed to p r o d u c e disruption and

s u b v e r s i o n . 35 Contention number two was that th e U n i v e r s i t y

was the sole vehicle for African and other Third-World

stud ent s* t c ^ t u d y in the U S S R . 40 A third contention was to

label the University "Apartheid U n i v e r s i t y . " 41 This label

implied social and' s p a t i a l segregation, inferiority, and the

generally oppressive conditions which the African-Asian

majorities must live in S o u t h A f r i c a , in frequent conflict

with the Soviet society in terms of social interaction,

especially dating.

A fourth contention was that the curriculum was

oriented to political and ideological indoctrination, with

little academic s u b s t a n c e . 42 Contention number five was that

the University contained only discontented, unqualified

students who desired to be elsewhere and who would not have

considered Lumumba University if they had been qualified to

enter superior Western colleges and u n i v e r s i t i e s . 43 Implicit

in a l l these ideas -- and in m u c h of the literature — was a

sixth contention, which carried a host of assumptions and

self-fulfilling prophecies: that is th a t only the United

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 26

States and other Western democracies, with altruistic

intentions, were capable of acting in the best interests of

Africans.

Ignored in W e s t e r n scholarly evaluations were African

priorities and aspirations, normal social relations between

African guests and their Soviet hosts, stuaent-teacher

relations, diverse recrutiment and admission methods,

intended uses of the scientific and technical education in

Africa, curricula orientation towards African realities, and

th e relationship between education in the student-importing

country and the broader societal needs in the

student-exporting countries. With fe w e x c e p t i o n s , 44 the

scholarly literture remained mainstream in support of

policies and myths advocated and propounded by U. S .

government policy-makers and spokespersons. U.S. government

documents, often without attribution, were sources of

information. In general, American social scientists and

educationalists either o v e r l o o k e d or misrepresented Soviet

training programs for A f r i c a .

Political scientist Richard Merritt, in surveying the

literature of post-return behavior of foreign students --

without reference to A f r i c a n students trained in the U S S R --

observed that "some of the most revealing information is

anecdotal in c h a r a c t e r . " 45 Several kinds of testimonies have

been published on Soviet training programs for Africans.

First-hand accounts by disenchanted African students in the

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 27

USSR included A m a r , 46 A y i h - D o s s e h , 47 a n d O k u l l o . 48 A novel,

allegedly combining his own experiences in Prague with

testimonies of African students on vacation in London after

their aborted study in the USSR, was Carew's Moscow is N o t

My M e c c a .4 9 Interview-survey data, subsidized by t h e U. S .

State Department, were compiled about African students

leaving the USSR before graduation to c o n t i n u e their studies

in the U . S . 50 First-hand accounts by African students

feeling that their educational experiences in the USSR had

been positive included O s e i 51 and various testimonies found

in W e Are from Fri endsh ip U n i v e r s i t y 52 and Nous Etudions a

L ’U n i v e r s i t e d e M o s c o u . 5 3 D u r i n g 1961-1975, when most of the

literature was published, most carried assumptions -- and

used research methodologies to support their assumptions —

that seemed to be aimed at discrediting the nature of

socialist and Soviet societies, including their

international training programs.

Delimitation

Limitations of this study should be noted. One is

that the study does not attempt to d e a l explicitly with the

post-return behavior of African trainees in the USSR (that

is an area of a possible follow-up study) although I will

attempt to assess possible advantages of Soviet training

programs for Africa and , hence, at least implicitly treat

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 28

implications for post-return behavior.

Second, the period covered is 1955-1964, the period

during which Nikita Khrushchev was head of the Soviet

government and the C o mm un i s t Party of t he Soviet Union, and

the period between the 1955 Bandung conference of

African-Asian cooperation and the 1964 Non-Aligned

Conference in Cairo, when dozens of African states were

achieving constitutional independence.

Third, some definitions are in order. When we speak

of "Africans", we generally are referring to persons from

middle Africa. "African leaders" or "African spokespersons"

who are quoted refers to those members of the elite who are

on record as having made pronouncements about a subject, for

example, African priorities, Afro-centric training, or

Afro-centric research.

Chapter Outline

Chapter I: African Priorities and Soviet Aims

Chapter II: Soviet Research on Africa

Chapter III: Soviet Education Assistance to A f r i c a :

Alternative Channels

Chapter IV: Lumumba Friendship University

C a s e S t u d y of a S o v i e t I n n o v a t i o n

Chapter V: Soviet Training and Research Programs

for A f r i c a : A C r i t i c a l R e a s s e s s m e n t

Chapter VI: Conclusion

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 29

This chapter has outlined th e procedures for carrying

ou t this study. The next chapter will deal with Soviet aims

in Africa and African priorities amenable by education

means, contexts for actually examining Soviet training and

research programs for A f r i c a .

Notes

xS e e M a r s h a l l S i n g e r , Weak States in a W o r l d of Power

(New Y o r k : F r e e P r e s s , 1972)

2R u p e r t Emerson and Martin Kilson, e d s ., The

Political Awakening of Af r ica ’E n g l e w o o d Cliffs:
Prentice-Hall, 1965°, p. 15. This sentiment has been
repeated in a number of interviews with African
intellectuals.

3T h o m a s B. L a r s o n , S o v i e t - A m e r i c a n Rivalry (New Y o r k :
W. W . N o r t o n , 1981), p. xi, a n d F l e r i n , p. 28.

4C. W r i g h t Mills, The Socioloqical Imag in ation, p.

184. For example, a highly a c c l ai me d work l o a d e d w i t h the
ethnocentric biases of his adopted country and higly
s e l e c t i v e in its u s e of c a s e m a t e r i a l s of A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n s
is P a u l Hollander, Political P r i s o n e r s : Travels of W e s t e r n
I n t e l l e c t u a l s to the S o v i e t U n i o n , C h i n a , a n d C u b a 1 9 2 8 - 1 9 7 8
(New Y o r k : O x f o r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1981). A s an i m p o r t a n t
e x a m p l e , w h y is P a u l R o b e s o n m i s s i n g f r o m h i s d i s c u s s i o n ?

’Z b i g ni e w Brzezinski, ed., A f r i c a a n d the Communist

World (Stanford: S t an ford University Press, 1964); David
Morrison, The U SS R and Africa (London: O x f o r d University
Press, 1964); Thomas Thornton, ed., The Third World in
Soviet Perspective (Princeton: Princ e t o n U n i v e r s i t y Press,
1964); and M ar y Ho i d swoth, S o v i e t - A f r i c a n S t u d i e s , 1 9 1 8 - 1 9 5 9
( L o n d o n : R o y a l I n s t i t u t e of I n t e r n a t i o n a l A f f a i r s , 1 9 5 9 ) .

’H e l e n D e s f o s s e s C o h n, S o v i e t P o l i c y in West Africa
( C a m b r i d g e : H a r v a r d U n i v e r s i t y Pr e s s , 1970); H a s s a n Mirreh,
Soviet F o r e i g n Po l icy in Sub-Saharan A f r i c a (Ann Arbor:
Microfilm International, 1962); a n d A r t h u r J. K l i n g h o f f e r ,
The Soviet View of Socialism in A f r i c a , 1955-1964 (Ann

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 30

Arbor: U n i v e rs it y M i c r o f i l m I n t e r n a t i o n a l , 1966) and later

Soviet Perspectives on A f r i c a n S o c i a i i s m ( R u t h e r f o r d , N.J.
F a r l e i g h D i c k i n s o n U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 96 9 ) .

7W o r t h noting are s e v e r a l by Seymour Rosen: The

P e o p l e 's F r i e n d s h i p U n i v e r s i t y in the U S S R (n .d .), H i g h e r
E d u c a t i o n in the U S S R (1963), S o v i e t T r a i n i n g P r o g r a m s for
A f r i c a (1963), a n d T h e D e v e l o p m e n t of F r i e n d s h i p U n i v e r s i t y
(1973).

8F o r example, s ee B a rba ra- Burn et al., Higher

E d u c a t i o n in N i n e C o u n t r i e s (New Y o r k : M c G r a w - H i l l , 1 9 7 1 ) .

’A r t h u r K l i n g h o f f e r , T h e S o v i e t V i e w of S o c i a l i s m in
Sub-Saharan Africa, 1955-1964 (Ann Arbor: University
Microfilms International, 1966); Edward Wilson Russia and
Black A f r ica b e f o r e World W a r 11 (New York and London:
Holmes and Meier, 1974); Robert Legvold, Soviet P o l ic y in
West Afr ica (Cambridge: Harvard U ni ve rsity Press, 1970);
Benjamin Odum, S o v i e t Relations with Sub-Saharan Africa,
1957-1967 (Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, 1970), a
h i s t o r y d i s s e r t a t i o n at the U n i v e r s i t y of W a s h i n g t o n , w h i c h
contained a chapter on c u l t u r a l r e l a t i o n s (pp. 201-272).
This chapter represents a c o m p e n d i u m of distortions about
A f r i c a n s t u d e n t s in t h e U S S R .

10See American Council on education ’1 9 8 1 ° and

various a r t i c l e s in t h e popular press.

11J . W . F u l b r i g h t in t h e "Introduction" to Philip

Coombs, T h e F o u r t h D i m e n s i o n of F o r e i g n P o l i c y (New Y o r k ) .

12B y r o n B. Massialas, "Education and Political

D e v e l o p m e n t , " C o m p a r a t ive Education Review, vol . 21, nos.
2/3 ( J u n e / O c t o b e r 1 9 7 7 ) , pp. 2 7 4 - 2 9 5 .

1 3 S e e J a m e s S. C o l e m a n , ed., E d u c a t i o n a n d P o l i t i c a l
D e v e l o p m e n t (Princeton: Princ et o n U n iv ersity Press, 1965).

14R o b e r t Amove, "Comparative Education and

World-Systems Analysis," Comparative Education Review
( F e b r u a r y 19 8 0 ) , pp. 4 8 - 6 2 .

15 S i n g e r , Weak S t a t e s , p. 166.

1 6M a t t h e w Zachariah, "Educational Aid: A

Bibliographic Essay and a Plea for N e w L i n e s of Inquiry,"
C o m p a r a t ive E d u c a t i o n , vol. 6, no. 2. (June 1 9 7 0 ) , p. 115.

17O t t o Klineberg, "Research on Exchanges in

Education, Science and Culture."

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 31

13H a n s J. Morganthau, Politics among N a t i o n s , 4th

edition (New York: A l f r e d A. Kncpf, 1967); Charles P.
Stoessinger, International Relations (Englewood Cliffs:
P r e n t i c e - h a l l , 1962); N o rman P a a d l e f o r d and George Lincoln,
The D y n a m i c s of International Politics 2nd edition (New
York: MacMillan,1962); and A.F. K. Organski, World
P o l i t i c s , 2 n d e d i t i o n (New Y o r k : A l f r e d A. K n o p f , 1 9 6 8 ) .

1 ’L o u i s Dollot, Les R e l a t io n s Culturelles

Internationales ( P a r i s : PUF, 1 9 6 8 ).

20L e o n a r d B i n d e r , ed., S t o r y of the M i d d l e E a s t , p.

1, a s q u o t e d in E d w a r d Said, C o v e r i nq I s l a m . (New Y o r k :
P a n t h e o n B o o k s , 1 9 8 1 ) , p. 133.

2 xI b i d . , p. 142.

2 2I b i d . , p. 149.

2 3I b i d . , p. 157.

2 4 I b i d . , p. 158.

2 51 b i d ., p. 152.

2 6I b i d . , p. 150.

2 7I b i d . , p. 250.

28See partial list under note 9.

2 ’K l i n g h o f f e r , o p c i t .

3 “P h i l i p Coombs, The Fourth Dimension of Foreign

Policy; Frederick Barghoorn, The Soviet Cultural Offensive
(P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1964).

31 P h i l i p Coombs, E d u c a t ion and Foreign Pol i c y .

32B a r g h o o r n , Soviet Foreign Propaganda.

33 B a r g h o o r n , The Soviet Cultural Offensive.

34M i r r e h , Soviet Foreign Policy in Sub-Saharan

A f r i c a ; Barghoorn, The Soviet Cultural O f f e n s i v e .

3 6I b i d

37R o g e r Kanet, The Soviet Un ion and Sub-Sharsr.

Africa: Communist P o l icy toward Africa, 1917-1965 (An n

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 32

Arbor: Univeristy Microfilms I n t e r n a t i o n s l , 1966).

3 8 K a r a b e l , p. 367. This may partially a c c o u n t for

the paucity of a t t e n t i o n g i v e n by p o l i t i c a l s c i e n t i s t s to
the s t u d y of e d u c a t i o n a l p h e n o m e n a .

39A. Rubinstein "Friendship U n i v e r s i t y ; " J. Carew,

M o s c o w ; A. A j ao , T i g e r 's B a c k ; E. H e v i , A f r i c a n S t u d e n t : A.
Amar, A n A f r i c a n S t u d e n t in M o s c o w . O d u m w r i t e s a b o u t "the
Soviet tendency of r e c r u i t i n g y o u t h s for dubious purposes
from developing countries." Odum, S o vi e t R e l a t i o n s with
S u b - S a h a r a n A f r i c a , p. 204.

4 “A m e r i c a n C o u n c i l on E d u c a t i o n C o m m i t t e e on F o r e i g n
Students and I n t e r n a t i o n a l P o l i c y (ACE), "Foreign Students
a n d I n s t i t u t i o n a l P o l i c y : A n A g e n d a for A c t i o n , " 1 9 81.

4 xO p c i t , A m a r , Carew, and Osei. See Priscilla

Johnson, "'Friendship U' in M o s c o w , " H a r p e r 's , December
1 9 6 0 , pp. 89-ff; andD a v i d Burg, "The People's Friendship
U n i v e r s i t y , " P r o b l e m s of C o m m u n i s m , N o v e m b e r - D e c e m b e r 1961,
pp. 5 0 - 5 4 ; a n d O d u m , S o v i e t R e l a t i o n s , p. 211.

4 2 S. R o s e n ; A. R u b i n s t e i n ; A. A j a o , T i g e r ’s B a c k ; R a m
D e s a i , " M o s c o w O r i e n t s F o r e i g n S t u d e n t s , " "C h r i s t i a n S c i e n c e
Monitor, 29 August 1 9 67, p. 9; and Nicholas Nyangira,
"Africans Don't Go to R u s s i a to Be B r a i n w a s h e d " , New Y o r k
R i m e s M a g a z i n e , 16 M a y 1 9 65, pp. 5 2 - f f .

43O du m wrote: " T h e q u a l i t y of e d u c a t i o n r e c e i v e d by

t h e f o r e i g n s t u d e n t w h i l e in t h e S o v i e t U n i o n a p p e a r s to be
o n e of t h e m a j o r c o m p l a i n t s of the m a j o r i t y of s t u d e n t s ...
To the s u r p r i s e of many foreign students, some of the
perspective students whose academic q u a l i f i c a t i o n w o u l d not
in a n y circumstances entitle t h e m t o a d m i s s i o n to degree
courses in s u c h f i e l d s as medicine and e n g i n e e r i n g at a
reputable A f r i c a n or Western university, were allowed to
p r o c e e d to their degree studies after staying one a cademic
year studying the Russian language and a fe w b a s i c c o u r s e s
in t h e p r e p a r a t o r y f a c u l t y [ s i c ] . " O d u m , pp. 2 0 7 - 2 0 8 .

44Namely, Mirreh, Soviet Foreign Policy in

Sub-Saharan A f r i c a .

45R i c ha rd Merritt, International Political

Communications, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
1 9 7 2 ) , p. 83.

46A n d r e w Amar, An African Student in M o s c o w (London:

A m p e r s a n d Ltd. n . d . )

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 41M i c h e l A y i h - D o s s e h , " L e s S o v i e t i q u e s et i ’A f r i q u e , "
s u p p l e m e n t , B u l l e t in d 'E t u d e s et d ’I n f o r m a t i o n s P o l i t i aue s
I n t e r n a t i o n a l e s ( P a r i s ) , No. 261 ( J u l y 19 6 1 ) .

4 8 S. O k u l l o , "A Negro's L i f e in R u s s i a — Beatings,

Insults, S e g r e g a t i o n , " U.S. News and World R e p o r t , XLIX
(August 1963).

45 J a n C a r e w , Moscow is N o t My Mecca (New York: Stein

and Day, 1 9 6 4 ) .

5 “S e e b i b l i o g r a p h y : K e n n e t h B a e r ( S y r a c u s e , N e w Y ork:
Syrac us e U n i v e rs it y East African Studies Program, 1968). A
monograph on d i s a f f e c t e d African students from the USSR
p r e p a r e d for t he U . S . S t a t e D e p a r t m e n t .

51J i l l y O s e i , U n A f r i c a i n a Moscou (Pa ris : Collection

"Etudes S o v i e t i q u e s , " 19 6 2 ) .

5 2W e Are Fr om Friendship University ( Mo s c o w : Progress

Publishers, n.d.)

5 3N o u s Etudions a 1'U n i v e r s i t e de Moscou (Paris,

n.d.)

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 C H A P T E R I

AFRICAN PRIORITIES AND SOVIET AIMS

This chapter will begin with an examination of

African priorities presumed to be able to be attacked by

means or education especially by training and research

programs. Following t hat, Soviet aims in Africa will be

scrutinized. Both African priorities and Soviet aims in

Africa help to provide a context for ou r subsequent

examination of Soviet training and research programs for

Africa.

African Priorities

In order to properly assess the effectivness of

Soviet training and research programs for Africa, it is

important to understand the rapid evolution of events on the

continent in the post-World War II period. For Africa, it

was a time of emerging nationalism and unprecedented

uprisings against colonial powers, jus t as for the USSR it

marked a new leadership and increased attention to A f r i c a .

The 1 9 5 0 ’s a n d 1960's marked the beginnings of a ne w a g e in

Africa -- a time to c a s t aside the vestiges of colonial

dominance and its political, economic, and cultural

strangleholds. It was also a time to grapple with the

34

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 35

responsibilities of emancipation — a time to enhance the

process of constititional independence and a time to foster

the cause of self-determination. To facilitate the

evolution from colonialism to independence, some African

leaders advocted certain thrusts in order to confront the

legacies of colonialism. Among those amenable by education

were mental emancipation and indigenous human resource

development in strategic areas of employment.

Mental Emancipation

During the years 1955-1964, two outstanding phenomena

emerged out of the experience of African nationalists.

First was the changing status of their own countries from

colonial dependencies to constitutionally sovereign states.1

In 1955, there were only three nominally independent states

in sub-Saharan Africa; by 1964 twenty-nine territories in

Africa had achieved constitutional independence. Second was

the reaction "against the inferiority of status as members

of a particular race."2 During this period there was a

realization that certain foreign procedures, concepts, and

techniques -- oriented toward th e m e t r o p o l e -- were out of

place in the African context. Other foreign adaptations

were suitable bu t rejected by African political leaders

because of the perceived conflict between African objectives

and values and foreign adoption. It was a period that

Harvard politial scientist Rupert Emerson called "the rise

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 36

of self-assertion"3, including the keeping, adding, or

discarding of those practices that the populace, chrough its

political leaders,* saw fit. This was t he politics — and

th e psychology -- of formal independence: the right to

evolve the type of political, economic, cultural, and

educational systems that t he A f r i c a n leadership wa nt e d . 4

Legacies left by the departing European powers played

prominent roles in the African ideological responses to

c o l o n i a l i s m . 5 In the British colonial environment, little

social contact existed between the African and the European.

In contrast, the French colonial administration intended to

mold the Africans into "good Frenchmen." They encouraged

the kinds of relationships that would cause an educated

African to imitate all aspects of F re nc h culture, including

education, dress, and language.6 Africans in British

colonies, as W a l l e r s t e i n 's paraphrase of Nigerian writer

Wole Soyinka indicates, "did not need to invent the concept

of n e q r i t u d e , for they had been practicing it a l l their

lives."7 The adoption of a cultural-racial concept of

pan-negrism (negritude) by A f r i c a n intellectuals in F r e n c h

colonies revealed their disillusionment and discontent with

the French colonial facade of "assimilation."8 They were

never truly considered Frenchmen. They were "Black

Frenchmen" or "French Africans" or "African Frenchmen."

Similarly, the psychology of African nationalism in

response to Belgian colonialism can be se e n in p o r t i o n s of

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t he speech by Patrice Lumumba at Congolese independence

ceremon ies:

We have known the mockery, the i n s u l t s , the blows

s u b m i t t e d to us morning, noon and night b e c a u s e we
were "negres" . ..

We have k n o w n t h e law wa s never the s ame, w h e t h e r

dealing with a White or a Negro; that it was
a c c o m m o d a t i n g for the one, c r u e l and i n h u m a n to the
o t h e r ...

We have known that in the cities there were

magnificent houses for t h e Whites and crumbling
hovels for t he Negroes, th a t a Negro was not
a d m i t t e d to m o v i e t h e a t r e s or r e s t a u r a n t s , th a t he
was no t allowed to enter so-called "European"
s t o r e s , t h a t w h e n the N e g r o t r a v e l l e d , it w a s on the
l o w e s t l e v e l of a boat, a t t h e f e e t of t h e W h i t e man
in h i s d e l u x e c a b i n . 9

What became clear was that mental emancipation -- t he

need to replace the colonial mentality of servility -- w a s a

k ey component of true liberation. Nationalism and

anti-racism were synonymous, and their link wa s explicitly

recognized by various African nationalists. Zimbabwean

Ndabaniugi Sithole, for example, specifically listed African

nationalism, in his country, as a response to white

supremacy:

T h e r e is a s e n s e in w h i c h " w h i t e s u p r e m a c y " m a y be
r e g a r d e d a s h a v i n g be e n l a r g e l y r e s p o n s i b l e for the
effective cross-fertilization of African
nationalism. W i t h o u t t h e e x i s t e n c e of t h i s r a c i a l l y
b a s e d d o c t r i n e of " w h i t e s u p r e m a c y , " w h i c h a d v e r s e l y
a f f e c t e d the African peoples, it is p r o b a b l e th a t
t h e A f r i c a n p e o p l e s w o u l d n o t h a v e s e n s e d so q u i c k l y
t h e " c o n s c i o u s n e s s of k i n d " w h i c h b o o m e r a n g e d on the
c o l o n i a l p o w e r s a n d the w h i t e s e t t l e r s . 10

One-time Ghanaian Prime Minister, Professor K.A.

3usia, while in exile, wa s quoted: "T h e fa c t th a t African

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 38

nationalism is, in the first place, a demand for racial

equality is its m o s t conspicuous a t t r i b u t e . " 11 H i s political

opponent, President and founder of t he nation, Kwame

Nkrumah, observed that "the Europeans relegated us to th e

position of i n f e r i o r s . " 12 Because of this racial variable,

often omitted from American political-science l i t e r a t u r e , 13

African nationalists stressed the need for "mental

e m a n c i p a t i o n " 14 as well as constitutional sovereignty.

Albert M e m m i , 15 Frantz F a n o n , 16 0. M a n n o n i , 17 and Richard

W r i g h t 18 a r e among those who have written perceptively about

the psychology of colonialism including its racial aspects

from the victim's vantage point.

James Coleman summarized t he various conditions of

the colonized: "The attributes that were inculcated included

acceptance of the id e a of white s u p r e m a c y . " 19 H e n c e , African

decolonizers recognized that this new chapter in African

history required n ot only political and economic

emancipation b ut cultural and educational liberation as

well. It was imperative to decolonize culture and history as

presented in c o l o n i a l texts and literature in order to

prompt that mental emancipation that was such a necessary

prerequisite to true freedom. Decolonizing both research and

training were seen as means of moving towards mental

e m a n c ipat i o n .

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 39

Afro-Centric Research

This stage in A f r i c a ' s evolving history required a

release from col on ial restraints that went beyond political

and economic dominance. Political leaders and scholars

began discussing the necessary link between scholarship and

political independence. Memmi, Fanon, Nkrumah, and Freire

were among those observers, African and otherwise, who

reminded us that colonial education in Africa was

politically motivated and was used as a means to

de-Africanize the continent's n a t i o n s . 20 Present in

education, including colonial research, was "t h e actual

negation of every authentic representation of national

peoples -- their history, their culture, and their language.

... Culture belonged to t he c o l o n i z e r s . " 21 African leaders

recognized th e importance of revitalizing African research

and studies to counter the demeaning influence of colonial

education.

Harvard University's two prominent Africanists,

Emerson and Kilson, discussed the relationship between

modern African nationalism and the need for an objective

study of Africa's past. They argued that this search was

necessary in o r d e r to c o u n t e r the long-perpetuated view that

Africa was a dark continent, and its p e o p l e were little more

than primitive "tribesmen" before the arrival of the white

man who endowed them with li ght , learning, and civilization.

Emerson and Kilson pointed out that th i s racist thinking was

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 40

further influenced in the nineteenth century by the

espousals of Darwin:

If A f r i c a h a d no c u l t u r e w o r t h y of t a k i n g its p l a c e
a m o n g t h e o t h e r c u l t u r e s of m a n k i n d , a n d no h i s t o r y
other than t h a t of b a r b a r i s m an d slavery, t h e n it
was inevitable t h a t t h e a w a k e n i n g of this inferior
black race be s e e n o n l y as a g r o w i n g a w a r e n e s s of
what Europe had to o f f e r , a n d its advance measured
o n l y in t e r m s of d e v e l o p m e n t along the lines laid
d o w n by t h e w h i t e m a n . 22

African political scientists and heads of State and

Government, including Jomo Kenyatta, Nmandi Azikiwe, and

Leopold Senghor, all agreed that a re-birth of th e history

of Africa's peoples had to be acknowledged and , indeed, was

mandatory. Kwame Nkrumah put it most succinctly when

addressing the opening session of the First International

Conference of Africanists, Accca, 1 9 62 ; he stated that for

centuries, Africa was the receptacle into which flowed

European culture, language, id eas , and ideologies. To the

rest of th e world, Africa's past was unimportant. He also

suggested that the surge of nationalism among Africans, and

their growing interest in their ro o t s , was viewed with

considerable alarm by the colonizers:

If A f r i c a ' s h i s t o r y is i n t e r p r e t e d in t e r m s of the
interests of European merchandise and capital,
missionaries and a dm inist r at or s, it is no wonder
t h a t A f r i c a n n a t i o n a l i s m is r e g a r d e d a s a p e r v e r s i o n
and colonialism a s a v i r t u e .... In r e d i s c o v e r i n g ,
in r e v i t a l i z i n g our c ul t u r e a nd spiritual heritage
and values, African Studies must help to r e d i r e c t
t h i s n e w e n d e a v o u r . 23

The Nigerian historian K.O. Dike was among those

African scholars who linked African nationalism with

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 41

scientific knowledge of the past:

Every nation builds its f u t u r e on its p a s t ; so t he

A fr ic an must not o n l y inst in ctive ly have f a i t h in
h i s o w n e x i s t e n c e , bu t m u s t a l s o s a t i s f y h i m s e l f by
s c i e n t i f i c i n q u i r y t h a t it e x i s t s . 24

Historian Ajayi of Ghana shared Dike's view. He

argued that every African political leader had to c a s t of f

the shackles of inferiority imposed on him by colonial

regimes, and painstakingly search back into his history and

culture in order to successfully engage in the nationalist

struggle:

He n e ed s a n i d e o l o g i c a l a n s w e r to imperialism. He
m u s t b e l i e v e in t h e f u t u r e of A f r i c a , a n d to d o so
c o n v i n c i n g l y , he m u s t b a s e h i s b e l i e f on a c o n f i d e n t
a s s e s s m e n t of th e a c h i e v e m e n t s of t h e A f r i c a n in the
p a s t .... If he h a s any grawing feelings of d o u b t
about t he future, he would demand less than
self-government. Apart from his own personal
e m a n c i p a t i o n , in o r d e r to s u c c e e d in t h e n a t i o n a l i s t
struggle, he would also need to restore t he
s e l f - c o n f i d e n c e of h i s f o l l o w e r s .... L i k e L i k e the
missionary seeking mass c o n v e r s i o n , th e n a t i o n a l i s t
leader realises that he cannot r e a c h the people
e f f e c t i v e l y e x c e p t in t h e l a n g u a g e , t h e s y m b o l s , the
culture, they understand. That is why th e
nationalist struggle and th e o r g a n i z a t i o n of th e
nationalist party b e c o m e s an i m p o r t a n t e x e r c i s e in
national education a n d am a j o r s t e p in t h e b u i l d i n g
up of national unity anda common political
l o y a l t y .25

Immanuel Wallerstein, an American social scientist,

observed th e relationship between emergent African

nationalism and scholarship:

It is no accid en t that as men began to w a n t to

grapple seriously w i t h t he dismantling of the
world-wide apparatus of racial oppression, they
directed m u c h of theireffort to the s e a r c h for
history, a different history — e s p e c i a l l y of A f r i c a
-- f r o m the o n e t a u g h t so c a v a l i e r l y in t h e s c h o o l s
of t h e w o r l d . 2 6

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 42

In addition to A f r o - c e n t r i c research, the system of

education was also questioned by A f r i c a n nationalist leaders

and other observers concerned about t he nature of the legacy

of colonial education in A f r i c a .

Afro-Centric Schooling

Upon their ascension to constitutional independence

in the late 1950's and early 1960's, African nationalists

began a review of the colonial legacy and an exploration of

the status of education in t he post-colonial period. An

examination of t he nature of schooling will give us some

idea of why was it imperative for African students to ta k e

advantage of study-abroad programs offered by other nations

in o r d e r to acquire the skilled human resources needed for

independence. Among the characteristics that required

changes in o r d e r to aid decolonization and development were

the following: (1) an orientation towards Europe, both in

content and in language of intruction; (2) a focus on

humanistic studies; (3) a neglect of schooling opportunities

for females; and (4) a shortage and underutilization of

facilities in h i g h e r education.

Several generalizations can be made about the

education system inherited from t he colonial powers.

Perhaps most important it th a t its m a j o r objective was to

benefit the European colonizer, not the colonized African.

In other words, the aim was to ensure Africa's continued

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 43

dependency on E u r o p e . Martin Carnoy describes this

symbiotic relationship:

T h e E u r o p e a n p o w e r s u s e d e d u c a t i o n to e f f e c t c h a n g e ,
but only those changes that solidified their
influence and control over t he peoples of ...
Africa. Although the policy was no t altogether
s u c c e s s f u l , it d i d m a n a g e to b r i n g these a r e a s into
c o n d i t i o n s of e c o n o m i c a n d c u l t u r a l d e p e n d e n c y w h i c h
few haveovercome with political - a u t o n o m y . 2 ''
[E m p h a s i s m i n e ]

In that context, certain characteristics can be observed.

The criterion of moral defeatism of t he people was one of

the purposes of colonial eduation. As Kwame Nkrumah

indicated in 1962 to th e international gathering of

Africanists:

T h i s c o l o n i a l s y s t e m of e d u c a t i o n p r e p a r e d us for a
s u b s e r v i e n t r o l e to E u r o p e and things European. It
w a s d i r e c t e d at e s t r a n g i n g us f r o m our o wn c u l t u r e s
in o r d e r to more e ff ect iv el y serve a new a nd alien
i n t e r e s t .22 [ E m p h a s i s m i n e ]

The education system under colonialism did more than

simply negate African culture; it c o n s c i o u s l y demeaned the

culture and history of the people, thus leaving little

chance for the growth of pride and dignity. Textbooks,

including those those in schools run by missionaries,

belittled indigenous cultures and aggrandized the virtues of

foreign r ule, as well as praised the alleged benefits of

Westure c u l t u r e . 25

Eric Ashby, a well known British scholar on African

education under colonialism, states that in most cases

Africans who graduated with a B.A. knew little about t he

intricate political and social structure of their own race.

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 He made the following observation about West African

education and its reJLevance to the African self-image, a

comment which could have been applied to al l of Africa at

th at t i me. Students, he said, were left ignorant of their

culture -- their historical achievements:

... the fascinating and complex network of

organization among t he K e d e t r i b e a l o n g the N i g e r ,
which included even a siiding-scale income tax
figured a c c o r d i n g to the n u m b e r of canoes a man
o w n s ; t h e r e v e r e n c e for t h e e a r t h a m o n g the T a l l e n s i
a n d the i n d i g e n o u s c h e c k s a n d b a l a n c e s w h i c h p r o t e c t
them from autocracy and contribute to good
g o v e r n m e n t ; t he e c o n o m i c s of t h e Y o r u b a t r a d i n g ; the
l a w s of o w n e r s h i p a n d i n h e r i t e n c e of l a n d a m o n g the
Ib o ; the dignified and sophisticated pattern of
judicial procedure a m o n g the B e m b a ; th e elaborate
a n d s u b t l e s y s t e m of e d u c a t i o n a m o n g t h e M ende.'36

This was no t simply interesting information left off

the educational agenda, b ut rather crucial knowledge which

should have been the prerequisite for the African

intellectual hoping to b e c o m e an effective civil servant or

teacher. Ashby notes that it w a s this kind of knowledge that

was needed by t he African nationalist leader in leading the

common people from the old Africa into the future.

Studies about Africa were sorely neglected until the

actual implementation of constitutional i n de pe nd enc e. 4 ’ The

curricula were clearly oriented to the colonial ruler. It

wa s not until after World War II that the University College

of Ibadan and Univeristy College of Ghana, both

significantly "attached" to L o n d o n University, offered th e

f i rst courses on African history to be given in Middle

A f r i c a . 31 A n d it wa s only in N i g e r i a th a t an African, K.O.

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 45

Dike, offered the c o u r s e . 32 This was a part of t he post-war

break-through in African studies, not only in Africa, bu t

also in the U .S. , in the USSR, and in W e s t e r n Europe.

Moreover, classes under the colonial administration

were conducted in the European languages — whether it be

English in G h a n a and Nigeria, or French in G u i n e a and Upper

Volta -- immediately closing the door to that overwhelming

majority of Africans who spoke no European tongue.

Second, there was a tradition of humanistic studies

as opposed to more pragmatic, technical, and scientific

fields. Education provided little or no work incentive or

preparation for t he needs of those indigenous to

economically underdeveloped Africa. There was a liberal

arts c o n c e n t r a t i o n . 33 A f r i c a ' s major human-resource needs in

the scientific and technical fields were being inversely

matched by enrollment in the liberal arts. Students often

concentrated in the high prestige areas of law, as well as

political science and sociology.

While at b es t, African students could seek

opportunities in the humanistic fi e l d , education, by and

large, was severly restrictive to th e majority. Women, in

particular, suffered from a lack of opportunities. Primary

and secondary education throughout th e continent, to sa y

nothing of higher education, were relatively inaccessible to

f e m a l e s . 34 The continent-wide percentage of secondary

enrollment was 22 percent female; the average at t he primary

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 4b

level w as 30 percent, with the figure dipping to as low as

10 p e r c e n t in some areas.

Finally, those students lucky enough to acquire

secondary education in Africa more often than not were

forced to take advantage of study-abroad programs if they

wished to p u r s u e their studies because of a dearth of higher

education facilities on the c o n t i n e n t . 35 African education

specialists, meeting at a UNESCO conference in Addis Ababa

in 1961, pin-pointed avenues for institutions of higher

learning as deserving high p r i o r i t y . 36

Even with the shortages of tertiaty-education

facilities, there was an under-utilization of existing

equipment and resources. Afrcan universities were

characterized by an absence of part-time, non-residential

students because universities insisted on full-time,

residential students. In addition, there was an unusually

low faculty-student ratio; for example, 1:4 at both Ibadan

University ( N i g e r i a ) 37 and the University of G h a n a , 38 1:5

for the University of East Africa and 1: 3 for the University

of R h o d e s i a and Nyasaland.

A direct result of the education deficiencies

discussed above was another post-colonial priority: the

indigenization of human resources in strategic categories, a

subject to w h i c h this study now turns its a t t e n t i o n .

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 47

Indiqenization of Human Resources

African countries were deficient in high-level

p e r s o n n e l , 39 "strategic human c a p i t a l " , 40 and most lacked a

reserve of leadership for political, economic, and social

activities. In fact, Harbison's and Myer's study showed

clearly the abominable high-level manpower shortage existing

in B l a c k Africa. Of the fifteen Middle African countries

surveyed, only one, the Republic of Ghana, escaped the

lowest of the four levels assigned to countries throughout

the world. There is n o reason to d o u b t th a t those fourteen

countries -- Niger, Ethiopia, Nyasaland (Malawi), Somalia,

Tanganyika, Ivory Coast, Zambia, Congo ( Z ai re) , Liberia,

Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, and Sudan — were

unrepresentative of m o s t of M i d d l e Africa.

The authors demonstrated (a) that education and

government employed a m i n i m u m of one-third of the high-level

personnel, (b) th a t over half of the personnel filling

high-level positions were non-Africans, and (c) that

expatriates from W estern Europe held most key posts in the

public services, in e d u c a t i o n , and in c o m m e r c e -and industry.

With foreigners — no t necessarily sympathetic to n a t i o n a l

objectives -- holding key positions in hospitals,

universities, and secondary and primary schools, ba n k s ,

factories, plantations, mines, o il refineries, and giant

commercial establishments, it is c l e a r that indigenization

or "Africanization" was a goal and no t an implemented

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 48

r e a l i t y . 41 According to Scanlon, O'Connell and Cowan,

huraan-resource shortages in Africa were in the following

specific a r e a s : 42

1. Highly educated professional personnel, such as doctors,

engineers, and agronomists

2. Technicians, nurses, and other trained individuals who

served as a s s i s t a n t s to the professional personnel

3. Craftsmen, entrepreneurs, bookkeepers, and secretaries

4. Managers and administrators who could assume

responsibility for high-level positions

5. Teachers, particularly at the secondary level.

Clearly, the system of education inherited from

European colonialism did not meet African-nationalist needs.

Economist Carnoy sums it up:

E u r o p e a n e d u c a t i o n in ... A f r i c a w a s d e s i g n e d t o fit
s o m e i.e., t h e e l i t e of t h e p e o p l e in these areas
into roles d e f i n e d for t h e m by E u r o p e a n s .... Bu t
the intended function of e d u c a t i o n was to help
Europeans transform the local economic and social
structure in ways which strengthened European
commercialand political con tr ol over the region.
Education was used to develop regions to meet
European needs. The pattern of modernization
e v o l v e d in t h i s d e p e n d e n t c o n t e x t , a n d b e n e f i t e d few
... A f r i c a n s . 43 ( E m p h a s i s m i n e )

Hence, major schooling changes were sought by African

nationalist leaders after independence. James S. Coleman

noted t h em: (a) an expansion of the educational system, (b)

a curriculum revision that would meet African-nationalist

needs (politicized, indigenized, and practical), and (c) a

formal educational system th a t would be secularized, both in

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 4S

structure and in c o n t e n t . As a political scientist, he was

aware of the political basis for the "global proliferation

of educational links" attributable, at least partially, to

"the Cold War competition, as Eastern and Western nations

sought to establish and extend their influence in th e

developing nations through ideological and professional

socialization of the presumptive decision-makers of the

f u t u r e ."44

Before moving on to d i s c u s s s Soviet aims in A f r i c a ,

this study will discuss aspects of meaningful independence

seen as important by some African political leaders:

anti-neocolonialism and pro-nonalignment.

Anti-Neocolonialism

African leaders were also aware of, and indeed

strenuously cautious of, succumbing to the overtures of

colonial powers offering economic, cultural, educational,

and other forms of aid . Meaningful independence, they

argued, was wrought o ut of resourcefulness and self

assertion, no t out of insidious pledges of help. African

political scientist F. Ugboaja Ohaegbulam presents a concise

definition of neo-colonialism:

N e o - c o l o n i a l i s m is th e l a t e s t s t a g e of i m p e r i a l i s m .
It is the subtle continuation of the political
domination, which allegedly had been formally
a b r o g a t e d of t h e e r s t - w h i l e c o l o n i a l p e o p l e s t h r o u g h
the back door of economic control. It often
operates by remote control, and prefers to see
puppets rather than independent minded nationalists
in p o s i t i o n s of a u t h o r i t y , 45

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 50

Ghanian political leaders were more specific st i l l .

Alex Q u a i s o n - S a c k e y , the first sub-Saharan African President

of th e U . N . General Assembly, stated: "By neo-colonialism we

mean the practice of granting a so r t of independence with

the concealed intention of making the liberated country a

client-state, and controlling it effectively by m e a n s other

than political o n e s . " 46

Somewhat more accusatory in d e f i n i n g neo-colonialism

is Kwame Nkrumah:

The E u r o p e a n C o m m o n M a r k e t ... is bu t the economic

a n d f i n a n c i a l a r m of n e o - c o l o n i a l i s m a n d t h e b a s t i o n
of European economic imperialism in A f r i c a . The
Treaty of Rome, which brought into being t he
European Common Market, c an be compared to the
treaty that e m an a te d from the C o n g r e s s of B e r l i n in
the nineteenth century. The former treaty
e s t a b l i s h e d the u n d i s p u t e d sway of c o l o n i a l i s m in
Africa; the latter marks t he advance of
n e o - c o l o n i a l i s m in A f r i c a . 47

And Nkrumah broadened the scope of neo-colonialism by

noting a number of techniques used in implementing

neo-colonialism -- some legal; others, extra-legal:

T h e I m p e r i a l i s t s of t o d a y e n d e a v o u r to a c h i e v e t h e i r
ends not m e r e l y by m i l i t a r y m e a n s , b u t by economic
penetration, cultural assimilation, ideological
domination, psychological infiltration, and
s u b v e r s i v e a c t i v i t i e s e v e n t o the p o i n t of i n s p i r i n g
a n d p r o m o t i n g a s s a s s i n a t i o n a n d c i v i l s t r i f e . 48

There was a movement away from this subtle, covert

retention of power by outside forces using internal

institutions. This attempt to break away from dependency

resulted in a new African c o n c e p t -- non-alignment. For

Africans were "seeking those elements of both systems

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 51

[Eastern and Western, capitalist and socialist] suited to

adaptation for an African e n v i r o n m e n t . " 49

Non-Alignment in the Cold War

For African nationalists, adopting a non-aligned

position did not mean that th e continent's new nations were

taking an inactive or passive stand in the international

arena. Presidents and Prime Ministers alike stressed t h i s.

As Nkrumah of Ghana reminded us, non-aligned nations did not

avoid "taking a definite stand on issues which affect the

balance of power in t he w o r l d . " 50 Nor did it mean, stated

Balewa of Nigeria, associating "as a matter of routine with

any of the power b l o c s . " 51 Instead, for Keita from Mali, it

meant "finding the best solution to p r o b l e m s " , 52 and for

Nyerere of Tanzania, using "th e lessons of the East and West

... and our traditions to contribute to m a n k i n d ' s pool of

k n o w l e d g e . " 53 A l l wished to make clear that non-alignment

did not imply substituting "one imperialism for another",

bu t rather t he importance of Africa having its "o w n views

and its own d o c t r i n e . " 54 T h e consequences of this were that

although African leaders expected educational, cultural,

technical, and economic aid from both super-powers, as the

preliminary declaration of the Non-Aligned Conference of

government and state heads in C a i r o , Egypt, October, 1964,

r e v e a l e d , 55 the granting nations should not expect "the

receiving countries ... to follow their politics in

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 52

international a f f a i r s . " 56 That was the spirit of espousing

non-alignment and, h enc e, possible relations with t h e U SSR,

a new venture for m o s t African states.

Soviet Aims

Prior to the Khrushchev era, relations between the

Soviet Union and Africa were l i m i t e d . 51 P r e v i o u s l y isolated

from colonial Africa, the USSR e m e r g e d as an important actor

in international relations in A f r i c a . The Cold War, which

coincided with the transformation of numerous African

nations to independent status, spurred on a c t i v i t y and the

ideological polarization between socialist and capitalist

blocs. Both sides showed a keen interest in the rebirth of

Africa. The competition between t he United States and t he

Soviet Union resulted in what U.S . government policy-makers

and other observers have called "the battle for the m i n d s of

men". As the ideological battle-lines were being drawn

between East and West, the Soviet leadership signed dozens

of economic, diplomatic, political, and cultural agreements

with African governments. In recognizing the importance of

Africa and other Third World nations as "a b a t t l e g r o u n d in

the great historical struggle between the new revolutionary

order (socialism) and the old reactionary world of t he W e s t

( c a p i t a l i s m ) , " 58 Khrushchev acknowledged, though implicitly,

Soviet motives of self-interest in the Cold War. At the

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 53

United Nations, the Soviet Union voted with A f r i c a 59 and

went so far as to initiate resolutions on a number of

Third-World issues, including the famous 1960 resolution

calling for immediate decolonization.

At the sa m e t ime , many African nationalists began to

embrace certain aspects of anti-imperialist ideology. While

from time to time there may have been differences between

Soviet and African ideologues, they often came to share a

common language — a Marxist vocabulary. One characteristic

of m a n y African nationalists — regardless of their colonial

location or national origin — was their ability to g i v e a

particular African meaning to Marxist-Leninist l a n g u a g e . 60

Kwame Nkrumah and Sekou Toure, as examples, pointed to the

"intelligentsia" as the "vanguard of t he revolution." Up to

the 1955 Bandung Conference, however, Soviet theoreticians

believed that the proletariat would lead the struggle

against colonial rule. Another example of Africans using

Marxist terminology to explain their colonial situation was

*•

the p h r a s e "economic imperialism." The orthodox Leninist

definition of it in Imperialism: the Hiqhest Stage of

Capitalism refers to "finance capital" (i.e., expanded

investment outlets) as t he motivating force for European

expansion in t o the Third World. Whereas some African

leaders, including Azikiwe, applied the p h r a s e to mean the

search for ra w m a t e r i a l s and new markets. These are just

two examples of the tendency of many African nationalists to

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 54

take Marxist slogans and ideas that were "appropriate for

their needs, wherever they happened to find t h e m , 61 a n d to

give them local, African meanings.

Historical Antecedents:
Solidarity with Third-World Liberation

While it is acknowledged that frigid relations

between t he socialist and capitalist blocs during the Cold

War ignited new interest in Africa as a potential

ideological ally, t he Soviet Union's interest had its

antecedents even before the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Reference to the Third World was infrequently made in

Lenin's widely distributed publication, Imperialism: The

Highest Stage of Capitalism. Caribbean Africanist Walter

Rodney reminded us that although "Lenin rarely mentioned

Africa in h i s writings on colonialism, ... inferences about

Africans can be drawn from I m p e r i a l i s m , the H i g h e s t Stage of

Capitalism, and other w o r k s . " 62 Moreover, Lenin himself

proclaimed at the Second Comintern Congress:

If the v i c t o r i o u s revolutionary proletariat carries

ou t s y s t e m a t i c p r o p a g a n d a a m o n g them a n d the Soviet
g o v e r n m e n t c o m e s to t h e i r a i d w i t h a l l t h e m e a n s at
its d i s p o s a l , t h e n it is i n c o r r e c t to su ppose that
t he c a p i t a l i s t s t a g e of d e v e l o p m e n t is inevitable
for th e b a c k w a r d c o u n t r i e s . 63

Later, in October, 1 928, at the Communist

International, Moscow and some of its allies saw A m e r i c a n s

of African descent as playing a leading role in the

national-1iberation movements ' in Africa. A resolution

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 55

passed by t he Sixth Congress of the Communist International

documents Soviet interest in Third World affairs and their

struggles:

The Negro race everywhere is an o p p r e s s e d race.

W h e t h e r it is a m i n o r i t y ( U.S .A. , etc.), m a j o r i t y
(South Africa), or inhabitants of a so-called
independent state (Liberia, etc.), Negroes are
oppressed by imperialism. A strong Negro
revolutionary movement in th e U . S . A . will be a b l e
to i n f l u e n c e and d i re ct the revolutionary movement
in a l l t h o s e p a r t s of the world where the N e g r o e s
a r e o p p r e s s e d b y i m p e r i a l i s m . 64

While issues might have changed during the Khrushchev

era, at least one theme persisted among Soviet leaders and

commentators. That was the id e a of solidarity between t he

peoples fighting fo r freedom (including African nations) and

the world socialist movement. Emphasis was placed on the

need f or united action among what the Soviet writers called

"The G r e a t Revolutionary Forces of our Time." These forces

were defined as the national-liberation movements of the

Third World, the international revolutionary movement, and

the countries of the world socialist system. Soviet

commentators expressed confidence th a t this coalition would

"guarantee the success of the struggle against

impe rialism." 65

In praising the CPSU for its h i s t o r i c a l struggle on

behalf of the national liberation of oppressed peoples,

Soviet writers indicated direct types of assistance to the

national-liberation movements, including th e supplying of

arms to groups engaged in a "just struggle." Their

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 56

government was also given credit for assisting

anti-colonialist peoples in the development of their

.economies and in h e l p i n g them in t he international arena:

what the Soviets called assistance "against all and any

forms of n e o - c o l o n i a l i s m . " 66

So, while the Soviet g o v e r n m e n t ’s relations with

Africa may have been somewhat limited prior to the

Khrushchev era, there was a consistent concern for A f r i c a n

liberation, both on the African continent and in th e African

diaspora.

Soviet Objectives in A f r i c a

In keeping with its international interests, the USSR

formulated a variety of objectives to be m e t in A f r i a . The

short-term goals tended to be pragmatic: minimizing African

Western ties in th e cultural, linguistic, educational,

political, military, and economic a r e a s . 67 The USSR was

interested in depriving the We s t of continued economic

control of the decolonizing African n a t i o n s , 68 in fostering

African n e u t r a l i s m ,69 and on demonstrating to the African

elites a positive picture of Soviet economic, social,

political, and cultural l i f e . 70

Long-range goals had "a more ideological orientation

and involved fundamental changes in th e political and

economic organization of the African s o c i e t i e s , " 71 making

Africans predisposed to M a r x i s t - L e n i n i s t ideology and to a

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 57

scientific-socialist model of development.

To implement its objectives, the Soviet leadership

was faced with developing new techniques for dealing with

new states whose cultures had been denigrated by occupying

colonial powers. High-level conferences served as

springboards and as forums for articulating Soviet concerns.

International and Communist Party Meetings

In the p o s t - W o r l d War II era these objectives — and

new techniques for implementing them -- w e r e on th e agenda

of various CPSU Congresses, high-level international

communist and non-communist gatherings in the USSR, and

African-Asian nationalist conferences. A perusal of

literature about these gatherings illustrates the high

priority accorded to T h i r d World struggles for independence

and allows us to gauge Soviet rhetoric, behavior, and

political motivation during this period. Major events chosen

for scrutiny, in c h r o n o l o g i c a l order, are:

1) April, 1955: Bandung Conference

2) February, 1 956: Twentieth Congress of the CPSU

3) November, 19 57: Communist Summit Conference

4) January-February, 1959: Twenty-First Congress of t he

CPSU

5) November, 1 960: 81 Communist and Workers' Parties

Congress, Moscow

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 58

6) October, 1 96 1: Twenty-Second Congress of the C PSU .

Bandung Conference. Soviet politicians, ideologues,

and scholars emphasized the significance of th e Bandung

Conference in A p r i l , 19 55. Academician Potekhin labeled the

meeting "an important event in the history of the Asian and

African p e o p l e s . " 72 The Bandung Conference played an

important role in e v o l v i n g offical Soviet political analysis

of Third-World national-liberation struggles. The

significance of that international conference of Asian and

African peoples was indicated in the leading popular Soviet

journal in international relations, International Affairs,

in Ma y , 19 55, less than a month after the historic

conference. Georgi Zhukov, a major Soviet authority in

cultural matters, stated that the solidarity of African and

Asian peoples was, in fact, the greatest threat to

i m p e r i a l i s m . 73 At one point, Soviet Deputy Premier Mikoyan

used the Bandung Conference as a way of criticizing Soviet

international-education efforts for not keeping up with

decolonization efforts in A f r i c a a n d Asia.

Twentieth Congress of t he CPSU. In 1 956, th e

Twentieth Congress of the CPSU, highly publicized in the

West for K h r u s h c h e v ' s denunciation of Stalin, gave attention

to the Third World, an item that had not been on the agenda

of the previous Congress in 1 95 2. At the 1956 Congress,

Khrushchev expressed his observations about the

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 59

post-independence stage of African development in

relationship to international socialism and the USSR:

T h e c o n q u e s t by t h e p e o p l e s of t h e former colonies
a n d s e m i - c o l o n i e s of p o l i t i c a l f r e e d o m is t h e f i r s t
and most important p r e - r e q u i s i t e fo r t h e i r c o m p l e t e
independence, that is, for the achievement of
economic independence. ... F o r the c re a t i o n of an
independent national economy and fo r r a i s i n g the
l i v i n g s t a n d a r d s of t h e i r peoples, these countries,
even though they do no t j o i n th e w o r l d socialist
movement, can avail themselves of its
a c h i e v e m e n t s .'4

He pointed out the importance of Soviet assistance to the

developing areas for the restoration and further development

of their "ancient cultures" and in the training of technical

cadres. He referred to race in bemoaning the shaping of

international relations "primarily by people of the white

r a c e . " 15

1957 Communist Summit Conference. Increased interest

in t he anti-colonial movement became evident in the 1957

declaration of the International Communist Summit. The

statement asserted that the "fundamental content of o ur

epoch [was the] transition from capitalism to socialism,

begun by the Great October Socialist Revolution in R u s s i a . "

The result was a stimulation of "the rapid extension of the

post-war period." The communique praised countries that had

recently attained political i n d e p e n d e n c e . 16

Twenty-First Congress of the CPSU. Two years lat e r ,

the Twenty-First Congress of the CPSU, in January 1 95 9, the

ideological polarization between the East and West blocs was

increasingly apparent and t he Twenty-First Congress of the

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CPSU mocked Western efforts to avert growing nationalist

sentiment in A f r i c a and to half decolonization:

The imperialist states are making desperate efforts

to p r e v e n t the c o m p l e t e a b o l i t i o n of th e c o l o n i a l
system ... striving wi t h all their strength to
maintain th e r e m n a n t s of their coloni al empires,
h i n d e r i n g t h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n of t h e r i g h t of p e o p l e s
to self-determination, unleashing colonial wars,
crushing the legal striving of peoples for
independence. American i m p e r i a l i s m is playing a
very u n fa vo ra b le role h e r e , ' 7

With that observation was the implicit Soviet willingness to

counter-act pro-colonial forces and actors.

81 Communist and Workers' Parties Conference. The

Declaration of the Conference of the Representatives of the

Communist and Workers' Parties, meeting in Moscow in

November, 1960, gave attention to th e African decolonization

struggle and its need for cooperation in the cultural and

economic domains with socialist countries:

The urgent tasks of t h e national r e b i r t h in the

c o u n t r i e s w h i c h h a v e t h r o w n off c o l o n i a l o p p r e s s i o n ,
c a n be solved s u c ce ss f ul ly only on t h e b a s i s of a
determined struggle against imperialism, and the
remnants of f e u d a l i s m , by m e a n s of a combination
into a single d e m o c r a t i c front of a l l t h e p a t r i o t i c
f o r c e s of t h e n a t i o n , t h e s t r e n g t h e n i n g of p o l i t i c a l
independence, the carrying ou t of agrarian
t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s in t h e i n t e r e s t s of the pe a s a n t r y ,
the elimination of survivals and remnants of
f e u d a l i s m , t h e r o u t i n g o ut of t h e e c o n o m i c r u i n s of
t h e r u l e of i m p e r i a l i s m , r e s t r u c t u r i n g a n d e x p u l s i o n
of f o r e i g n m o n o p o l i e s f r o m t h e e c o n o m y , c r e a t i o n a n d
d e v e l o p m e n t of a nat io nal industry, raising of the
l i v i n g s t a n d a r d s of t h e i n d e p e n d e n t p e a c e - l o v i n g ???
... f o r e i g n p o l i c y , t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of e c o n o m i c a n d
cultural cooperation with th e S o c i a l i s t countries
and other friendly countries. Those general national
democratic tasks c o n s t i t u t e t he b a s i s on w h i c h t he
p r o g r e s s i v e f o r c e s of t h e n a t i o n c a n a n d a c t u a l y a r e
b e i n g u n i t e d in th e l i b e r a t e d c o u n t r i e s . 78

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Twentv-Second Congress of the CPSU. The Twenty-

Second Congress of the C PSU, October, 1961, reiterated the

concepts of "national democracy", that was introduced,

defined, and adopted at the December, 1960, meeting. The

recognition of non-alignment, as a published Soviet

guidebook, Fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism, said, "the

young independent [African and Asian] states, the [22nd

Congress] Programme of the CPSU points out, belong neither

to the system of imperialist states, nor to that of

socialist s t a t e s . " 75

Following this discussion of Soviet policy statements

about the new states of Africa and A s ia, what kinds of

actions did the USSR take in the area of c u l t u r e ?

International Cultural Relations:

A Concrete Soviet Action

The evolution of t he Soviet Union as a super-power

after Wo rl d War II, along with the c o i n ciding decolonization

of Africa over the subsequent decades, allowed for increased

Soviet attention to activity in international affairs,

particularly in the Thir d World:

Khrushchev broke out of the doctrinal shell

confining Soviet diplomacy .... [Its] global
strategy ... was designed to breach th e
n o n - c o m m u n i s t w o r l d at its m o s t v u l n e r a b l e p o i n t s --
in the M i d d l e E as t, S o u t h e a s t A si a, A f r i c a , a n d e v e n
Latin A m e r i c a .8 0

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 62

The Soviet political leadership recognized the

potential role of cultural diplomacy, including education,

in implementing its foreign policy. -Cultural affairs were

soon to become a cornerstone of Soviet foreign policy.

Philip H. Coombs, th e first U. S . Assistant Secretary of

State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, observed the

high priority of cultural relations in th e Soviet conduct of

international relations:

Soviet cultural relations are in a class by

themselves because they express Russia's unique
political system, traditions, nationalism, and
i n t e r na t i o na l aims. N o n a t i o n , not e v e n F r a n c e , h a s
made cultural affairs a more vital and integral part
of its f o r e i g n p o l i c y or i n v e s t e d m o r e g e n e r o u s l y in
t hem. ... In t h e decade since Stalin's death th e
Soviet c ultural p r o g r a m has g r o w n r a p i d l y in sc a l e ,
sophistication, and liberality. These recent
trends, if continued, are likely to produce
important changes n ot o n l y in the USSR's external
relations but within Soviet society i t s e l f . 81
(Emphasis mine)

While there was most certainly tangible Soviet

assistance directed at the decolonizing nations of Africa,

perhaps th e more influential support came in the f o r m of

cultural diplomacy: what political scientist Barghoorn

describes as "t h e manipulation of cultural materials and

personnel for propaganda p u r p o s e s . " 82 He added: "Central to

communist cultural diplomacy is t h e systematic utilization

of information, artistic, scientific, and other cultural

materials, symbols and personnel, and ide a s , as instruments

for foreign p o l i c y . " 83 Soviet objectives implemented by

cultural diplomacy w e r e, according to Barghoorn, "the

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 63

dissemination of a positive image of Soviet Socialist

civilization," "the courteous and sympathetic appreciation

of the achievements of other countries", and "th e

facilitation of the acquisition of useful k n o w l e d g e . " 84

American social-scientist chroniclers and analysts

generally pointed to the importance of anti-colonial

propaganda in th e Soviet Union's catering to

African-nationalist interests: "T h e salient feature of th e

Soviet approach to nationality problems is the

encouragement, exploitation, and, whenever possible, capture

of anti-imperialist, national liberation movements in

colonial c o u n t r i e s . " 85 The same author, Barghoorn,

recognized t he willingness of th e Soviet government to

support resistance to repressive, external rule: "A

prominent feature of Soviet propaganda on the

national-liberation theme is c o n c e r n e d with assurances of

aid, comfort, and support to c o l o n i a l peoples after they

have achieved political i n d e p e n d e n c e . " 86 Even a social

scientist hostile to t he USSR -- like Barghoorn, who was

arrested on a C.I.A. sp y charge in M o s c o w and released only

after intense pressure by President Kennedy -- recognized

the attention given by th e USSR to supporting mental

emancipation in t h e colonial world.

So far, this work has examined aspects of African

priorities in the context of decolonization. African

ideologues and scholars recognized th e need to correct

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 64

certain shortcomings: in scholarship, in formal education,

in self-concept, and in indigenous human resources.

Additionally, this work has discussed aspects of Soviet aims

and practices in relationship to A f r i c a n decolonization:

historical antecedents before the Khrushchev era, policy

formulation and evolution under Khrushchev, and increased

behavior in international cultural relations. If there were

African priorities of using Afro-centric training to

alleviate severe deficiencies in trained human resources and

Afro-centric research to m o v e towards mental emancipation,

then how did Soviet thrusts in international education

respond to those projected African priorities? It is to

specific aspects of Soviet "a id, comfort, and support ...

after [Africa's] political independence", particularly in

the education area, that this work now turns its attention:

Soviet research and training programs for A f r i c a .

Notes

1F o r the ingredients involved in a transfer of

bureaucratic power, see Da v id Apter, G h a n a in Transition
(New Y o r k : A n t h e n u m , 1 9 6 3 ) , p.

2M a r g e r y P e r h a m in K i r k w o o d , ed., African Affairs St.

A n t h o n y 's P a p e r s , No. 1, 1961.

3R u p e r t E m e r s o n , F r o m E m p i re to N a t i o n : T h e R i s e to
Self-Assertion of Asian and African Peoples (Cambridge:
H a r v ar d U n i v e rs it y Press, 1960).

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 4L. G ray Cowan, "The C u r r e n t Political Status and
N i g n i f i c a n c e of A f r i c a S o u t h of th e S a h a r a , " The J o u r n a l of
N e g r o E a u c a t i o n , X X X ( S u m m e r , 1 9 6 1 ) , p. 92.

5R u p e r t Emerson, "Crucial Problems Involved in

N a t i o n - B u i l d i n g in A f r i c a , " T h e J o u r n a l of N e g r o E d u c a t i o n ,
X X X (S u m m e r , 1 9 6 1 ) , p. 193.

6F r a n t z F a n o n , The Wretched of the Earth (Ne w Y o r k :

Grove Press, 1963).

’I m m a n u e l Wallerstein, Africa, the Poli tics of

Independence

8V i c t o r C. F e r k i s s , A f r i c a 's S e a r c h for Identitv (New

York: G e o r g e B r a z i l l e r , 1 9 6 9 ) , p. 157.

’P a t r i c e L u m u m b a quoted in K o h n a n d Sokolsky, e d s .,
African N a t i o n a l i s m (Princeton: Van No st ra nd).

10N d a b a n i u g i S i t h o l e , African Nationalism (New Y o r k :

Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press).

X 1 K.A. B u s i a , T h e C h a l l e n g e of A f r i c a , as q u o t e d in
Hans Kohn and W a l l a c e Sokolsky, A f r i ca n N a t i o n a l i s m in th e
T w e n t i e t h C e n t u r y , p. 13.

12A x i o m s of Kwame Nkrumah (London: Nelson, 1967), p.

24.

13 An e x a m i n a t i o n of t h e s o c i a l - s c i e n c e l i t e r a t u r e in
international relations r e v e a l s an abominable vacuum on
race. Exceptions i n c l u d e R o b e r t S. B r o w n e , Race R el at ions
in I n t e r n a t i o n a l A ff ai rs (Washington, D.C.: Public A ffairs
Press, 1967); R o n a l d Segal, The Race War (New Y o r k : V i k i n g
Press, 1967); Ro b e r t K. A. Gardiner, "Race and Color in
I n te r n a ti on al R e la t io n s , " D a e d a l u s , Vol. 96 ( S p rin g, 1 9 6 7 ) ,
296-311; and H a r o l d R. Isaacs, "Color in W o r l d Affairs,",
F o r e i g n A f f a i r s , V o l . 47 ( J a n u a r y 1 9 6 9 )

According to James N. Rosenau, Race in International

Politics: A D i a l o g u e in F i v e Parts (Denver: U n i v e r s i t y of
D e n v e r Press, 1 9 6 9 ) , p. 3, o n l y t w o t e x t s in t he f i e l d of
international politics li s t a n y sizeable number of " r a c e "
entries in the respective indices: W. W . Kulski,
International P o l i t i c s in a Revolutionary Age (2nd ed.,
Philadelphia: J.P. Lippincott, 1968) and Norman J.
Padleford and George A. Lincoln, The Dynamics of
I n t e r n a t i o n a l P o l i t i c s (2nd ed., N e w Y o r k : M a c M i l l a n , 19 6 2 ) .

Only three other texts even gave the subject a few

paragraphs: (1) H a n s J. M o r g e n t h a u , P o l i t i c s Among Nations

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 66

(4th ed., N e w Y o r k : A l f r e d A. K n o p f , 1 9 6 7 ) ; (2) C h a r l e s P.

Stoessinger, International R e l a t i on s (Englewood Cliffs:
Prentice-Hall, 1962); and (3) H a r l d and Margaret S p r ou t,
F o u n d a t ions of International Po l i t i c s (Princeton: Van
N o s t r a n d , 1 962).

A n u m b e r of w i d e l y u s e d t e x t s in i n t e r n a t i o n a l p o l i t i c s m a d e
a b s o l u t e l y no e n t r y of " r a c e " in t h e ind ex. A m o n g t h e s e a r e
Iv o D. D u c h s e k , C o n f l i c t a n d C o o p e r a t ion A m o n g N a t ions (New
York: Holt, R i nehart and Winston, Inc., I 9 6 0 ) ; K.J. H o l s t i ,
I n t e r n a t i o na l Politics (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall,
1967); A.F.K. Organski, W o r l d P o l i t i c s (2nd e d . , N e w York:
A l f r e d A. Kno p f , 1 9 6 8 ) ; C h a r l e s P. S c h l e i c h e r , I n t e r n a t i o n a l
Relations (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 196 2); and
V e r n o n V a n D yk e, I n t e r n a t i o n a l P o l i t i c s (2nd ed., N e w Y ork:
A p p l e t o n - C e n t u r y - Crofts, 1966).

The setting up of t h e International Institute of Race

R e l a t i o n s at the U n i v e r s i t y of D e n v e r , u n d e r F o r d - F o u n d a t i o n
sponsorship, and d i r e c t e d by a political scientist in the
African fi eld , Dr. George Shepherd, indicated both the
v a c u u m of r e s e a r c h in th e f i e l d a n d t h e p r o j e c t e d i m p o r t a n c e
of the v a r i a b l e of race in the study of international
political phenomena. The increasing attention paid by
Afro-American pressure g r o u p s to t h e African scene in the
1960's and 1970's was another indication of its growing
importance. In a d d i t i o n , the attempts by P r o f e s s o r Fred
Burke, now C ommissioner of Education in N e w Jersey, to
d e v e l o p at the S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y of N e w Y o r k at B u f f a l o an
i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m p l e x for g a t h e r i n g d a t a a b o u t t he s u b j e c t ,
p o i n t to t h e i n c r e a s e d a t t e n t i o n g i v e n r a c e by p o l i t i c a l a n d
o t h e r s o c i a l s c i e n t i s t s in the U.S.

14S e e Nmandi Azikiwe, Renascent Africa, (London:

Cass, 1968 reprint).

15A l b e r t Memmi, The Colonized and the Colonizer

(Boston: B e acon P r e s s , 196 0 ) .

16F r a n t z F a n o n , T h e W r e t c h e d of t h e E a r t h , (New York:

Grove P r e s s , 1963) and Black S k i n s , White M a s k s (New York:
Grove P r e s s , 1967).

170. Mannoni, Prospero and Caliban (New York:

P r a e g e r , 1964).

ieR i c h a r d Wright, "The P h y c h o l o g i c a l Reactions of

O p p r e s s e d P e o p l e s , " in R. W r i g h t , W hi te Man , Li st e n * (New
Y o r k : D o u b l e d a y , 19 5 7 ) .

19J a m e s S. Coleman, "The Politics of Sub-Sahara

A f r i c a , " in G a b r i e l A. A l m o n d and J a m e s S. C o l e m a n , eds.,

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 67

Th e P o l i t i c s of the D e v e l o p i n g A r e a s (Princeton: Princeton

U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 6 0 ) , p. 334.

2 0 P. Freire, The Pedagogy of th e O p p r e s s e d , p. 13.

21F r e i r e , The Pedagogy of_ t h e O p p r e s s e d , p. 14.

22E m e r s o n and Kilson, The Political Awakening of

Africa.

23Pr e s id e n t Kwame Nkrumah, Address to the First

I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n g r e s s of A f r i c a n i s t s , U n i v e r s i t y of G h a n a ,
Legon, D e c e m b e r 12, 1 9 62. Q u o t e d in Emerson and Kilson,
e d s ., T h e P o l i t i c a l A w a k e n i n g of A f r i c a , pp. 25-6.

2 4K.O. Dike, "History and African Nationalism,"

Proceedings of t h e First Annual C o n f e r e n c e of the West
African Institute of S o c i a l a n d E c o n o m i c R e s e a r c h (Ibadan:
I b a d a n U n i v e r i s t y C o l l e g e , 1 9 5 2 . R e p r i n t e d 1 9 5 7 ) , p. 31.

25J . F . A . A j a y i , "T h e P l a c e of African History and

C u l t u r e in t he P r o c e s s of N a t i o n - B u i l d i n g in A f r i c a S o u t h of
t he Sahara (I960)," Immanuel Wallerstein, ed., S oc ial
C h a n g e ; The Colonial Situation (New Y o r k : John Wiley and
Sons, Inc., 1 9 6 6 ) , p. 612.

2 6 I. Wallerstein, ed., The Colonial Situat i o n ,

A c a d e m i c i a n s J.W. F e r n a n d e z , V. M o n t e i l , J . F . A . A j a y i , R.C.
M a j u m b a r , B. O e t o m o , F.J . W e s t a n d G . E . von G r u n e b a u m also
have d iscus se d t h i s r e l a t i o n s h i p in other arti cl es in the
W ol l e r s te i n volume.

27M a r t i n Carnoy, Education as Cultural Imperialism,

p. 82

28A d d r e s s of P r e s i d e n t Kwame Nkrumah to t he First

I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n g r e s s of A f r i c a n i s t s , U n i v e r s i t y of G h a n a ,
Legon, D e c e m b e r 12, 19 62, q u o t e d in Emerson and Kilson,
eds., T h e P o l i t i c a l A w a k e n ing of A f r i c a , p.

2 , K.M. Panikkar, The Afro-Asian States and Their

P r o b l e m s (New Y o r k : J o h n Day, 1959).

3 0 Sir E r i c A s h b y , " W i n d of C h a n g e in African Higher

Education," Africa R e p o r t , V o l . 7, No. 3 (March, 1 9 6 2 ) , p.
23.

31P h i l i p Curtin, African Hi s t o r y (Washington, D.C.:

American Historical Association, 1964).

32Prof. K ,0. D i k e , p r o m i n e n t Nigerian historian, gave

the course in N i g e r i a ; w h e r e a s an E n g l i s h m a n , P rof. John

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 68

Fage , offered t he course in G h a n a .

33M a r t i n L. Kilson, Jr., "Trends in Higher

Education," Africa and the Uni ted States: Images and
R e a l i t i e s (Washington, D.C.: N a t i o na l C om m i s s i o n for U N E S C O ,
1 9 61) .

34K i l s o n , o d . c i t . , p. 70, K i l s o n , p. 71, i n d i c a t e s

that of those studying at African universities, t he
following are statistics regarding female percentages:
U n i v e r s i t y of Sie rr e Leone, 11 p e r c e n t ; Haile Selassie I
University, 8 percent; University College of Ghana, 6
percent; Ibadan, 7 percent.

35K i l s o n , o d . cit. The problem of staffing is

admirably covered in A . M . Carr-Sanders S t a f f ing Af r i c a n
U n i v e r s i t i e s (London: O v e r s e a s D e v e l o p m e n t Inst., 1963).

3 6T h e Development of H i g h e r E d u c a t ion in Africa:

Report of the C o n f e r e n c e on the Development of Higher
E d u c a t i o n in A f r i c a , T a n a n a r i v e , September, 1962. The only
Soviet educator presenting a paper at t h i s c o nf e r e n c e was
Prof . A. F. S h e b a n o v , D e a n of t h e F a c u l t y of Economics and
Law, P a t r i c e L u m u m b a F r i e n d s h i p U n i v e r s i t y , M o s c o w .

31 T h e e x a m p l e of t he d o r m i t o r i e s 'at the U n i v e r s i t y
College of Ibadan clearly demonstrated the elite role
intended for t he university educated. All students had
single rooms with terraces. A student revolt occurred over
the introduction of self-service into the cafeteria,
f o r m e r l y s e r v i c e d by w a i t e r s .

38J u s t i f i c a t i o n for o n e - t h i r d of t he total education

budget for h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n in G h a n a .

3 ’N u m e r o u s A f r i c a n political figures have commented

on t h i s problem. S ee Haile Selassie, "An A d d r e s s by the
E m p e r o r of E t h i o p i a at t h e I n a u g u r a t i o n of H a i l e S e l a s s i e I
University, 1961"; Julius Nyerere, "An Address by the
P r e s i d e n t of the R e p u b l i c of T a n g a n y i k a at t h e I n a u g u r a t i o n
of t h e U n i v e r s i t y of E a s t A f r i c a , 1 9 6 4 " ; K w a m e N k r u m a h , "T he
R o l e of a U n i v e r s i t y , 1 9 6 3 " ; a n d F e l i x H o u p h o u t - B o i g n y , "Ou r
Students Must Participate in the Development of their
C o u n t r y , 1 9 6 3 " in L. G r a y Cowan, James O'Connell, and D a v id
G. S c a n l o n , ed s., E d u c a t ion and Nat ion-Bu iI di ng in A f r i c a
(New Y o r k : P r a e g e r , 1965 ) and K en neth Kaunda, "In stall at io n
Address by H i s Excellency the P r e s i d e n t K.D. Kaunda as
Chancellor of t he University of Zambia, 1966" at the
U n i v e r s i t y of Z a m b i a .

4 ° F r e a e r i c k H a r i b s o n a n d C h a r l e s A. M y e r s , E d u c a t i o n ,
M a n p o w e r , a n d E c o n o m i c G r o w t h (New Y o r k : M c G r a w - H i l l , 1 9 6 4 ) .

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 69

4 1 F o r a c r i t i q u e of H a r b i s o n a n d M y e r s , se e E.R. R a a o
a n d A .R . J o l l y , " T h e D e m a n d for M a n p o w e r - An E a s t A f r i c a n
Case Study," J o u r n a l of D e v e l o p m e n t Studies, A p r i l , 1965,
pp. 2 2 6 - 5 0 .

4 2 Cowan, O'Connell, and Scanlon, op. c i t . , p. 23.

43 M a r t i n Carnoy, Education as Cultural Imperialism,

p. 32.

44Coleman, E d u c a t i o n , pp. 38-9.

4 5N a t i o n a l i s m in C o l o n ial a n d P o s t - C o l o n ial A f r i c a .
( W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . : U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s of A m e r i c a , 1 9 7 7 ) , pp.
21 - 2 2 .

4 6A l e x Q u a i s o n - S a c k e y , S t a t e m e n t to G e n e r a l A s s e m b l y
of t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s , A p r i l 15, 1 95 8, as q u o t e d in L e g u m ,
P a n - A f r i c a n i s m , p. 118.

4 ’K w a m e N k r u m a h , A d d r e s s to t h e th e Ghana National
A s s e m b l y , M a y 30, 1 9 6 1 , as q u o t e d by Legum, Pan-Africanism,
p. 119."

4 8 K w a m e N k r u m a h , S t a t e m e n t to t h e F i r s t C o n f e r e n c e of
Independent African S t a t e s ( A c cr a, A p r i l , 1 9 5 8 ) , as q u o t e d
by L e g u m , P a n - A f r i a n i s m , p. 119.

4 9G r a y Cowan, "The Current Political Status and

S i g n i f i c a n c e of A f r i c a S o u t h of t h e S a h a r a , " T h e J o u r n a l of
N e g r o E d u c a t ion X X X ( S u m m e r , 1 9 6 1 ) , p. 92.

5 “K w a m e Nkrumah, "Address to the Belgrade

C o n f e r e n c e , " 1 961 . Quoted in C o l i n Legum, Pan-Africanism,
p. 113.

52P r e s i d e nt M o d e i b o Keita, speech in B a m a k o , Mali,

August 22, 1961, as q u o t e d in C. Lequm, P a n - A f r i c a n i s m , p.
112.

S3P r e s i d e n t Julius Nyerere, Africa D i g e s t (London),

O c t o b e r , 1 961, as quoted in C. Legum, P a n - A f r i c a n i s m , p.
114.

54P r e s i d e n t Sekou Toure, Africa Speaks (Princeton:

V a n N o s t r a n d , 1961), as q u o t e d in C. L e g u m , P a n - A f r i c a n i s m ,
p. 114.

5 5A s an accredited correspondent for UPI at the

Conference, I w a s p r i v y to th e p r e l i m i n a r y draft.

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 70

56P r e s i d e n t M o d e i b o Keita, "Address to the Royal

I n s t i t u t e of I nt ern at io na l Affa ir s, " London, June 7, 1961,
a s q u o t e d in C. L e g u m , P a n - A f r i c a n i s m , p. 114.

5 ’’A l e x a n d e r D a l l i n , "The Soviet Union: Political

Activity," in Zbigniew B r z e z i n s k i , ed., Afrlea and the
C o mm u n i s t W o r l d (Stanford: S ta n f o r d U n i v e r si t y Press, 1964),
p. 48, a n d D a n C. Heldman, The U S S R and Afr ic a (New Y o r k :
P r a e g e r , 1 9 8 1 ) , p. 77.

58N i k i t a K h r u s h c h e v q u o t e d in M o r t o n S c h w a r t z , "T he
M o t i v e F o r c e s of Soviet Foreign Policy: A Reappraisal,"
Annual Meeting of the American Political Science
A s s o c i a t i o n , N e w Y o r k , 2 S e p t e m b e r 1969, p. 21.

59T h o m a s Hovet, Africa and the United Nations.

60V e r n o n M c K a y , A f r i c a in W o r l d P o l i t i c s (New Y o r k :
H a r p e r a n d Row, 1 9 6 3 ) , p. 191. For a t ho ughtf ul a r t i c l e on
t h i s s u b j e c t , s ee H o d g k i n , n e x t n o t e .

61T h o m a s H o d g k i n , "A N o t e on the L a n g u a g e of A f r i c a n

Nationalism," in Kenneth Kirkwood, ed., S_t. A n t h o n y 's
P a p e r s : Number 1 0 . African A f f a i r s . Number One. (London:
C h a t t o a n d W i n d u s , 1 9 6 1 ) , p. 23.

62W a l t e r Rodney, "The Imperialist Partition of

Africa," Monthly R e v i e w , V o l . 21, No. 11 (April , 1 9 7 0 ) , p.
103. Hamilton Fish Armstrong, "Close View of the
N o n a li g ne d, " The New York Times M a g a z i n e , October 1, 1 96 1 ,
p. 75.

63G e o r g e A. V o n S t a c k e l b e r g , "Soviet Afri ca n Studies

as a W e a p o n of S o v i e t Po l i c y, " B u l l e t i n (Munich), Vol. VII,
No. 9 (September, 1960), p. 8. Quoted from Lenin
Sochineniya ( W ork s) (4th ed., Moscow: 1950), p. 117;
P r o b l e m y v o s t o k o v e d e n i y a , No. 2 (1960) , p. 25.

6 4 "Extracts from the T h e s e s on the Revolutionary

M o v e m e n t in C o l o n i a l a n d S e m i - C o l o n i a l C o u n t r i e s A d o p t e d by
the Sixth Comintern C o n g r e s s , " in Jane D e g r a s , ed., The
Communist International, 1919-1943, Vol. II: 1923-1928
( L o n d o n : O x f o r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 6 0 ) , p. 555.

tiSSee, for e x a m p l e , T h e R o a d to C o m m u n i s m : D o c u m e n t s
of t h e 2 2 n d C o n g r e s s of t h e C o m m u n i s t P a r t y of the Soviet
U n i o n ( M o s c o w : F o r e i g n L a n g u a g e s P u b l i s h i n g H o u s e , 1 9 6 1 ) , p.
25.

6 6V . I . Pavl ov and B. R e d k o , "Leninist Alliance of

World Socialism with the National-Liberation Movement,"
Peoples of A s i a and Africa (A p r i l , 1 9 6 4 ) , p. 256. Under

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 71

Khrushchev, Soviet writers criticized the C h i n e s e leaders

"who distort the Leninist idea of alliance of world
socialism with the national-liberation movement." Also
Donald Zagoria, The S ino-Soviet Conf1 ict: 1956-1961
( P r i n c e t o n : P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y P re s s , 1 9 6 2 ) , p. 245.

6 7 See M i r r e h , Soviet Foreign Policy in Sub-Saharan

Africa.

6 8Mi r r e h , Soviet Foreign P o l icy in Sub-Saharan

A f r i c a , p. 26.

6 9 Ibid, p. 25.

70I am g r a t e f u l for d i s c u s s i o n s w i t h Hassan Mirreh,

former Minister of E d u c a t i o n in S o m a l i a , for frequent and
friendly discussions in N e w Y o r k , 1 9 6 0 - 1 9 6 1 a c ad e m i c year.
W e a g r e e w i t h h i s p e r c e p t i v e c a t e g o r i e s of S o v i e t s h o r t - a n d
l o n g - t e r m o b j e c t i v e s in A f r i c a . His is the o n l y m a j o r w o r k
on USSR-African relations with which I agree with the
assumptions, methodology, and findings. This p ar a g r a ph draws
h e a v i l y f r o m M i r r a h , pp. 1 8 - 2 0 .

71H a s s a n Mirreh, "Soviet Policy in Sub-Saharan

Africa,"

7 2 1.1. Potekhin, P r i m e r , p. 47.

73G. Z h u k o v , " T h e B a n d u n g C o n f e r e n c e of A fr i c a n and

Asian Countries and its Historic Significance,"
I n t e r n a t i on al A f f a i r s , No. 5 (May, 19 5 5 ) , pp. 1 8 - 3 2 , as
c i t e d in A r t h u r K l i n g k o f f e r , S o v i e t P e r s p e c t i v e s on A f r i c a n
S o c i a l i s m , p. 45.

74A l v i n Z. R u b i n s t e i n , The Foreign Policy of th e

Sov-iet U n i o n , p. 385.

75Q u o t e d in B a r g h o o r n , Soviet Foreign Propaganda.

76 See communique International Communist Summit

77G e o r g e A. V o n S t a c k e l b e r g , "Soviet African Studies

as a W e a p o n of Soviet Policy," B u l l e t i n (Munich), p. 13.
Q u o t e d f r o m V n e o c h e r e d n o i XXI sezd K o m m u n i s t i c h e s k o i p a rtii
Sovetskoqo Soyuza: Stenografichesky otchet (The
E x t r a o r d i n a r y XXI C o n g r e s s of the S o v i e t C o m m u n i s t Party:
S t e n o g r a p h i c R e p o r t ) , M o s c o w , 1959, V o l . I, p. 339.

7 8 1.1. Potekhin, P r i m e r , pp. 219-20.

7 ^F u n d a m e n t a l s of M a r x i s m - L e n in i s m , 2 nd rev. ed.
(Moscow: F o r e i g n L a n g u a g e s P u b l i s h i n g H o u s e , 1 963), p. 418.

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 72

8 0V .U . A s p a t u r i a n , " F o r e i g n Policy Perspectives in

the S i x t i e s , " in Alexander Dallin anc T h o m a s B. Larson,
ed s., S o v i e t Politics Since Khrushchev (Englewood Cliffs:
P r e n t i c e - H a l l , 1 9 6 3 ) , p. 134.

8 1 P h i l i p C o o m b s , E d u c a t i o n a n d F o r e i g n P o l i c y , p. 87.
A s an A m e r i c a n a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l p u b l i c - p o l i c y a d v o c a t e and
p r a c t i t i o n e r , he a p p e a r s to have over-stated the case in
order to secure greater funding for American
international-cultural programs.

82Barghoorn, The Soviet Cultural Offensive

8 3 Idid.

84 B a r g h o o r n , Soviet Foreign P r o p a g a n d a , p. 123.

8 51 bid, p. 143.

8 61 b i d .

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 C H A P T E R II

SOVIET AFRICAN STUDIES

Before describing, in the next two chapters, t he

nature of Soviet training programs for Africans, this

chapter will examine th e aims and nature of Soviet research

on Africa in response to political developments in A f r i c a .

To be discussed are the importance of research on Africa as

indicated by the Soviet political leadership; t he

organization, objectives, research directions, and

methodologies of Soviet African studies; and the Soviet

treatment of t he ideologies of African nationalism.

The Soviet Polity and Academic Research on Africa

During the Khrushchev era, the major responsibility

for the organization and character of research on Africa in

the USSR was under the government. Totally subsidized,

African studies and research were policy-oriented. This did

not mean, however, that a central clearinghouse of

politicians approved all research or that findings

necessarily followed a common line. Rather, research was

expected to fit in t o a broad framework of Soviet foreign

policy towards Africa. Of particular importance was the

severing of African dependence upon, and friendship with,

73

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Western nations. In p r a c t i c e , this le f t a wide scope for

individual and institutional initiative and exploration.1

The importance of scholarship to the Soviet political

leadership was shown in statements by two leading Soviet

ideologues and high-ranking Party members. A. A . Arzumanian,

former director of the Institute of W o r l d Economy, observed

in 1962 the need "immediately to inform the higher organs of

the Communist Party of the Soviet Union of the results of

research undertaken" because the "value of research is

determined by the extent to which {it becomes}

o p e r a t i o n a l . " 2 L.L. Ilichev, a major ideological spokesman

for the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, stated in 1963:

"The development {of the social sciences] is n o t a monopoly

of separate scientific collectives and scholars, but the

business of the whole Soviet people, th e whole Party, its

theoretical (i.e., general) staff — the Central Committee

of t he CPSU."3

Revival of Eastern studies in the p o s t- St a l i n era

appears to have coincided with -- perhaps been stimulated by

-- the Bandung Conference in A p r i l , 1 95 5. At the 20th CPSU

Party Congress in 1956, Mikoyan was reported to have

criticized Soviet Orientalits for their neglect of 'Asia a n d

Africa. The All-Union Conference of O r i e n t a l i s t , in J u n e ,

1957, in Tashkent, found B. C. Garurov asserting th e

necessity of Soviet scholars to express understanding and

even sympathy for the a n t i - imperialist struggle being le d by

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 75

the national bourgeoisie on behalf of t he workers.4

Between 1956 and 1959 no less than twelve new

departments were set up in the Institute* of Oriental

Studies, including a separate department specializing in

African affairs. The national All-Union Conference of

Orientalists, meeting in June, 1957, in Tashkent, was

highlighted by the following phenomena: (1) an exchange

program between Eastern and Soviet scholars was to be given

special attention; (2) an increase of experts on Oriental

studies was required for use by youth organizations, tourist

organizations, trade-union organizations, Soviet publishing

houses, Soviet Central Asian Republics, and for cultural

relations with foreign c o u n t r i e s ; and (3) Soviet scholars on

the Orient were to c o n c e n t r a t e considerably more attention

on the disintegration of imperialism and on th e struggle of

those colonized peoples for political and economic

i n d e p e n d e n c e .5

African studies was a part of the non-Western area

studies prodded by M i k o y a n at the 1956 20th Congress of the

CPSU. 1955 had seen the resumption of the publication

Sovetskoe Vostovedenie (Soviet O r i e n t a l o g y ). For the first

t i me, an Asian, B.G. Gafurov, former First Secretary of the

Tadzijkikistan Communist Party, became director of Soviet

Afro-Asian S t u d i e s . 6 By 1958, four journals on Asia and

Africa were flourishing.'1 Plans were announced for a new

Oriental Institute in the Central Asian city of Tashkent.8

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 76

Meanwhile, graduate and undergraduate students had begun in

African area studies in M o s c o w and Leningrad.

Later, in welcoming delegrates to the 25th

International Congress of Orientalists, Moscow, August,

1960, Mikoyan, Deputy Chairman of the Council of M i n i s t e r s

of th e U SSR , spelled out the major task of scholars in

African and Asian affairs as aiding th e peoples and

countries under study:

T h e d u t y of o r i e n t a l i s t s is t o r e p r e s e n t o b j e c t i v e l y
in t h e i r w o r k s the most important processes which
have taken p l a c e in the past and are. p a r t i c u l a r l y
taking place t o d a y in t he A f r o - A s i a n c o u n t r i e s , to
further the creative working out of the main
p r o b l e m s in t h e s t r u g g l e of t h e p e o p l e of t he E a s t
for national and social freedom a n d to overcome
economic backwardness. It c a n be t r u l y said that
Eastern studies c a n o n l y c o u n t on wide re cognition
and success when they serve the i n t e r e s t s of th e
p e o p l e s of t h e E a s t ♦ 9 ( E m p h a s i s ou rs)

T hu s, it can be se e n that leading Soviet political

figures and t he CPSU it s e l f were prominent in p u s h i n g for an

urgent expansion of A f r i c a n studies — and other Third-World

studies -- at the same time that African and Asian countries

were in th e throes of decolonization.

Organization: Institutes and

Universities after Reorganization

The geographical centers of Soviet African

scholarship were Moscow and Leningrad. Moscow's foremost

African research center w as the Africa Institute (founded in

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 77

1959}, th e USSR's only research center concerned solely with

A f r i c a . 10 Other key Moscow centers for African studies

included the Institute of World Economics and International

Relations ( 1924), whose department of economics of

contemporary capitalism dealt partly with national

l i b e r a t i o n ; 11 Moscow University's Institute of Oriental

Studies (1956), which offered a six-year course in the

philosophy and history of Africa and Asia; and the

Miklukho-Maklay Institute of Ethnography (1933), which was

concerned with research on culture, ethnic origins, modes of

life, and t he formation of nations under colonial r ule .

While Moscow institutes were interested primarily,

through not exclusively, in t he "dynamics of social change,"

African research in Leningrad focused on t h e p ast,

particularly on pre-colonial history, archaeology, and

linguistics. The major center in Leningrad was the

Institute of Ethnography, whose special section on Africa

had already compiled dictionaries of Hausa and Swahili to

and f r o m R u s s i a n . 12 Also in Leningrad were the Lomonsov

Museum (founded in 1 9 4 8 ) , which contained the USSR's largest

collection of exhibits on A f r i c a n material culture, and the

Eastern Faculty of Leningrad University (founded in 1855,

reorganized and expanded in 1 94 4 ) , with chairs in the

history of colonial territories, Arabic studies, African

studies, and A fr ic a n languages -- including Swahili, Hausa,

Amharic, Luganda, Arabic, and Manaingo.

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There was both cooperation and competition between

the Leningrad Africanists and their Moscow counterparts.

The key M o s c o w Africanists, in particular, were more likely

to have contact with official African visitors and

dignitaries, scholars and non-scholars. Individual rivalry

between top Africanists in each city in the late 1 9 5 0 ' s, led

to a d i p l o m a t i c s o l u t i o n : 13 Professor Olaerogge of Leningrad

was given the coveted title of Doctor of Science by the

Academy of Sciences, while Professor Potekhin of M o s c o w w as

named director of th e Africa I n s t i t u t e . 14

The Africa Institute. The USSR Academy of Sciences set up a

separate Africa Institute in O c t o b e r , 1 9 5 9 . 15 I ts modest

beginnings were announced by Radio "Moscow in E n g l i s h to

Africa", October 21, 1959, with a statement by the new

director, Dr. Potekhin. Potekhin pointed out what the

Institute was to do. The importantareas of research were

to be (1) the national question and the question of

development of a national culture of the African peoples,

(2) the study of the African Middle-Ages when the African

peoples were setting up their independent states and

developing their original culture, and (3) a greater focus

on the history of Africa in t he nineteenth century, the

colonizing century. He also made a special plea for

cooperation between Soviet scholars and African scholars,

indicating that "the Institute [intended] to establish

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 79

contact with foreign scientific institutions, and, in t h e

first place, with scholars in the African c o u n t r i e s . " 16

The aims of the Institute were to study past and

present phenomena:

A f r i c a ’s history in the 19th century must be

rewritten. Bourgeois historiography distorted
beyond recognition the history of the African
peoples in th e 19th century. In the works of
b o u r g e o i s h i s t o r i a n s , A f r i c a ' s h i s t o r y in t h e m o d e r n
p e r i o d looks l i k e p a r t of t he h i s t o r y of B r i t a i n ,
France and other colonial powers of E u r o p e . The
h i s t o r y of the s t r u g g l e of t h e imperialist powers
for t h e p o s s e s s i o n of A f r i c a , t h e h i s t o r y of t h e i r
colonial policy, has been thoroughly studied and
w r i t t e n up. In t h e s e w r i t i n g s th e African peoples
are only mentioned when they resisted the
colonialists, and then they are represented as
savages who do not u n d e r s t a n d th e b l e s s i n g s that
European colonization brings them. S c i e n t i s t s are
under a big o b l i g a t i o n to he A f r i c a n peoples. They
must write a history of 1 9 t h century Africa as a
history of t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of her peoples, their
s elfless s truggle against the European col oniali st s.
It is q u i t e n a t u r a l t h a t t h e a t t e n t i o n of s c i e n t i s t s
should be primarily focused on contemporary
problems, the s t r u g g l e fo r independence and the
b u i l d i n g of a n e w li f e in t h e i n d e p e n d e n t states,
the abolition of survivals of colonialism, the
c o n s t r u c t i o n of a n a t i o n a l e c o n o m y , th e d e v e l o p m e n t
of t h e nat ional culture, an d so on. T h e s e a r e , in
their general form, only some of the problems
focusing the a t t e n t i o n of scientists a n d of t he
general public. Soviet A f r i c a n is t s are studying
t h e s e p r o b l e m s to t h e b e s t of t h e i r a b i l i t y a n d a r e
h e l p i n g t h e i r r e a d e r s to g e t a d e e p u n d e r s t a n d i n g of
t h e e v e n t s d e v e l o p i n g on t h e A f r i c a n c o n t i n e n t . 17

To carry ou t those aims, the Institute was initially

divided into three sections: (1) history, (2) contemporary

problems, and (3) information. Vosrosy Istor i i (No. 10 of

1960) pointed out that "th e task of Soviet Africanists is to

expose, together with African scholars, the notion of t he

age-long backwardness of African peoples disseminated by

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 80

reactionary bourgeois h i s t o r i o g r a p h y . " 18

Realising the problem of isolation to be a serious

one, the V o p r o s y Istori i statement a d d ed:

T h e I n s t i t u t e i n t e n d s to e s t a b l i s h w o r k i n g r e l a t i o n s
with A fr ic an i st s of f o r e i g n countries, and in t h e
f i r s t p l a c e w i t h s c h o l a r s in the A f r i c a n c o u n t r i e s .

An e s s e n t i a l c o n d i t i o n for the f u l f i l l m e n t of t h e
plan is t h e organization of field work. It is
i m p o s s i b l e to w o r k on many subjects without field
material. In t h i s c o n n e c t i o n it is i n t e n d e d to s e n d
individual research w o r k e r s to different countries
of A f r i c a on m i s s i o n s , a n d the o r g a n i z a t i o n of a
c o m p l e x A f r i c a n e x p e d i t i o n is p r o p o s e d . 15

The official publication of the A c a d e m y of Sciences

of the USSR, Vestnik Akademi i Nauk S S S R , used a different

focus to report on the founding of the Institute. It

preferred to emphasize contemporary matters, rather than

historical studies:

T h e I n s t i t u t e w a s o r g a n i z e d w i t h i n the d e p a r t m e n t of
H i s t o r i c a l S c i e n c e s in t h e U S S R A c a d e m y of S c i e n c e s
to s t u d y t h o r o u g h l y t he c o n t e m p o r a r y political and
e c o n o m i c p r o b l e m s of A f r i c a as w e l l as the h i s t o r y
and culture of A f r i c a n p e o p l e s . More specifically,
t he t a s k s of th e I n s t i t u t e i n c l u d e the s u t d y of t h e
following matters: t he m e a n s of d e v e l o p m e n t of t he
A f r i c an c o u n t r i e s w h i ch h a v e become independent; the
political and economic position of t he remaining
colonies in Africa, with regard to t he
disintegration of the colonial system and the
national liberation struggle of the enslaved
peoples; the w o r k e r and peasant m o v e m e n t in the
African countries; the contradictions of
imperialistic governments and the new forms of
c o l o n i a l i s m in A f r i c a ; a n d th e m e a n s of m a k i n g the
reactionary ideological cur r e n t s . To m a k e the most
extensive studies possible of the problems of
Africa, the institute will make contacts w i t h the
scientific and cultural establishments of t he
African countries, as well as with individual
s c h o l a r s a n d c u l t u r a l w o r k e r s of t h e s e c o u n t r i e s . 20

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Objective involving p a st, present, and future

phenomena, were clearly defined by Professor Potekhin:

Objective Number O n e :
R e - w r i t i n c of A f r i c a ' s H i s t o r y .

It is well known that the proponents of the

colon ia list ideology spread false racist c o nj ec tures
in r e g a r d to the " n o n - h i s t o r i c a l " c h a r a c t e r a n d th e
"organic incapacity" of th e African peoples for
independent development. A scientific u n m a s k i n g of
t he e s s e n c e of r a c i s m , a study of t h e h i s t o r y of
African soci e t y as w e l l as the p o p u l a r i z a t i o n of
native African c u l t u r e - all these are w i t h i n the
sphere of Soviet scholars' research. And Soviet
scholars hope that their efforts will in some
measure h e l p the struggling peoples in A f r i c a to
gain greater confidence in their powers and
reinstate their human dignity.

O bjecti ve N u mb er T w o : The Fight against

I m p e r i a l i s t C o l o n i a l Pol i c y .

T h i s is of p a r t i c u l a r significance today w h e n the

imperialist powers are a w a r e that the end of t h e i r
sway is a p p r o a c h i n g , and mask their true designs
b e h i n d the t r u m p e r y of p r o g r a m m e s for the e c o n o m i c
d e v e l o p m e n t of t h e A f r i c a n c o u n t r i e s , t h e r u f f l e s of
constitutional reforms and the smokescreen of
propaganda. Experience has shown that only the
o v e r t h r o w of th e c o l o n i a l r e g i m e s o p e n s b e f o r e th e
countries of Africa prospects of economic and
cultural development.

Objective Number T h r e e : Critical Study of

National Liberation Movements.

Objective Number F o u r : Influencing the Future.

Soviet s c h o l a r s do not m e r e l y c o n f i n e t h e m s e l v e s to
the s t u d y of the p a s t a n d p r e s e n t of A f r i c a . They
l o o k i n t o the f u t u r e . H o w a r e the s u r v i v a l s of the
colonial regime being overcome? How is the
structure changing w i t h i n th e c o u n t r i e s which have
gained independence? H o w is th e n a t i o n a l question
b e i n g s o l v e d in t h e n e w s t a t e s ? 21

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We now turn to an overview of research in v a r i o u s

disciplines.

Research Directions: An Overview by D i s c i p l i n e s . In

pre-colonial h i s t o r y , Professor Potekhin stated th e purpose

of Soviet research: "The task of Soviet Africanists is to

expose, together with African scholars, the notion of the

age-old backwardness of A f r i c a n peoples disseminated by

reactionary bougeois historiography." History was explored

within a strict framework of scientific socialism: the

natural evolution of societies, regardless of organization,

racial origin, or geographical setting, was traced through

identical socio-economic stages.

In linguistics a major attempt was made to reduce, by

regrouping, the categories of African languages espoused by

Western scholars. Emphasis was on the unity of African

societies, rather than on linguistic divisions and

fragmentations. Languages given special attention included

Amharic, Hausa, Arabic, and Swahili. At least one African

scholar, an Etheopian, was known to be d e v o t i n g himself

full-time in the U S S R to A f r i c a n languages.

In the field of e c o n o m i c s , the tendency prior to 1956

had been to paraphrase Lenin's Imperialism to the effect

that the expansion of imperialist monopolies was motivated

by "finance capital," i.e., expanded investment outlets.

Later topics included the role of Africa in supplying

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non-ferrous metals for atomic development, the metropolitan

financial administration of colonies, and attempts at a

"Euro-Africa" (African Common Market).

The subject of nation-building dominated t he writings

on contemporary politics. There was a notable adaptation to

political realities in conclusions about the

nationalist-1iberation movements. Particularly noticeable,

for example, was the shift from condemnation of Dr.

Nkrumah's first government in G h a n a ( then the Gold Coast) as

"bourgeois" to praise of political developments in G h a n a .

Methodology: From Isolation to A c c e s s . 22 The fact that

Russia had never been a colonial power in A f r i c a proved, for

a while, a disadvantage to Soviet Africanists. They had

been isolated from the first-hand experience on the African

continent, except for Ethiopia, with which there had been

direct contact since Czarist days. As a result, Soviet

scholars, except in the area of ideology (Lenin and, for a

while, Stalin), depended largely on Western sources,

including missionary and official colonial reports

(including census reports), accounts of early Arab and

Portuguese travellers, and works of scholars from colonial

countries.

A noteworthy characterization of Soviet African

research during the period under study is that Soviet

researchers increasingly gained direct access to their

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subject matter. Earlier, their procedure was expensive. It

involved, first, a brief trip as a tourist or as an advisor

to a cultural delegation (generally, sports, women's or

academic), and then, with direct contacts established,

intensive field work. One leading ethnographer, Yablochkov,

headed th e Soviet Cultural Center in Ghana, for example,

until the Ghanaian government closed i t . 23

In addition, the USSR had seldom been represented

outside of the Soviet Union at Western, intellectual

conferences on Africa. To compensate for this gap in

contact with Westerners, the USSR Academy of Sciences hosted

th e 25th International Meeting of O r i e n t a l i s t s in A u g u s t ,

1960 -- a Soviet breakthrough in its international cultural

relations in the social sciences.

As Soviet political figures and scholars began to be

increasingly exposed to the realities of life outside the

Soviet Union, both in the West and in the E a st , they began

to show sharper perspectives about African political

realities, and not simply to interpret through Marxist,

Leninist, and Stalinist theories. The 1955 trip of

Khrushchev and Bulganin to A s i a , and Khrushchev's subsequent

trip in 1960 to th e U n i t e d States, elicited statements which

had never been uttered before by key Soviet political

figures. Similarly, when Potekhin and others were able to

be exposed to A f r i c a , their published notions of Africa and

Africans began to shew a noticeable change. After visiting

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Africa for the A l l - A f r i c a Peoples' C o n f e r e n c e , 24 Potekhin,

the noted Africanist, attacked, for the first time, certain

African institutions, including some of the traditional

i n s t i t u t i o n s . 25

Ideologies

This section will examine how Soviet scholars looked

at two peculiarly African ideologies. One , n e q r i t u d e , was

related primarily to internal nation-building; the other,

pan-Africanism, was external in its t h rus t.

Neqritude. One concept of special concern to Soviet

scholars was that of neqritude. An acceptance by the

Soviets would be an acceptance n ot in keeping with (1) their

ideology, (2) their emphasis on environment over heredity,

and (3) their conflicts with C h i n a . 26

The ideological contradictions between

Marxism-Leninism and neqritude can be stated as follows.

Proponents of neqritude fel t that:

There are certain e s se nt ia l l y N egro-African values,

wheic’ n can be d i s c o v e r e d b y an i n s p e c t i o n of the
Negro-African past; that these values, suitably
reinterpreted, should be m a d e the basis of
Negro-African societies in the f u tur e; an that
Negro-African civilization has its o wn specific
contributions to m a k e to h u m a n i t y - by renewing
i ts elf , it can renew the world.... From a Marxist
s t a n d p o i n t , t h i s i n s i s t e n c e on the n e e d to r e a s s e r t
traditional African values is s u r e l y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c
of p e t t y - b o u r g e o i s r o m a n t i c n a t i o n a l i s m . 27

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There was a specific condemnation of neqritude. Two

Soviet writers indicated that although the cultural

t r a d i t i o n s of Northern Africa and Black Africa were

different, those two African geographical areas did have a

similarity of t a s k s and aims: to struggle against t he

attempts of certain African intellectuals to d e a l with such

abstract themes as "the so-called 'Negro S o u l ' . " 28 Praise

was given to c e r t a i n Nigerian and Angolan writers for

attempting to c o m b a t this tendency.

Predictably, th e environment-oriented Soviet response

to a concept of special hereditary characteristics

attributed to race was d a m n i n g . 29 O n e could speculate that

one of the reasons was not ideological, bu t rather

pragmatic: that an espousal of neqritude would mean a

rejection of the Russian Soviets as whites, a rejection

advocated for that very reason by th e Chinese during their

quarrel with the Soviets since the 1 9 5 0 ' s . 30

Professor Potekhin, in th e Soviet monthly journal

Internat ional Affairs, made the following criticism of

neqritude:

The term of " n e g r i t u d e " is s o m e t i m e s e x p l a i n e d by

th e f o l l o w i n g e x a m p l e : a l l N e g r o e s , i n d e p e n d e n t f r o m
the c o n d i t i o n s in which they live, h a v e general
psychological viewpoint, one world outlook, and
unique ideology. O u t of t h i s s i t u a t i o n it f o l l o w s
t h a t it is n o t the social e nv ironment and n ot t he
common existence of man b ut th e biological
p e c u l i a r i t i e s , in p a r t i c u l a r t he b l a c k c o l o r of t he
skin, t h a t d e t e r m i n e s t h e c o n s c i e n c e of m a n . 31

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Potekhin concluded his long article with the following

c o n d e m n a t io n :

T h i s is t h e s h o r t , as y e t u n f i n i s h e d , h i s t o r y of a
contemporary movement f o u n d e d on a racial concept:
it s t a r t e d with anti-racialism and c o n d e m n a t i o n of
French colonial policy and e n d e d in alliance with
oppressors because they reject an alliance between
the oppressed peoples of Africa and European
w o r k e r s .32

In a d d i t i o n , Potekhin called it a direct threat to

peaceful coexistence and said it could be used by its

opponents to b r i n g about black-white racial c o n f l i c t s . 33 T h e

need for Africans to draw upon "progressive forces"

throughout t he world was frequently present in Soviet

writings on A f r i c a .

Pan-Africanism. Several articles by Potekhin between 1959

and 1964 allow us to observe the Soviet scholar's attitudes

towards Pan-Africanism. After returning from the

All-African Peoples' Conference, in Accra, in December,

1958, Potekhin gave his reaction to Pan-Africanism:

T h e i d e o l o g y of P a n - A f r i c a n i s m h a s m a n y t h i n g s w h i c h
a r e f o r e i g n to o u r w o r l d o u t l o o k . But P a n - A f r i c a n i s m
p u r s u e s the a i m of r a l l y i n g a l l A f r i c a n p e o p l e s to
fight ag a i n s t c o l o n i a l i s m and i m p e r i a l i s m fo r t h e i r
national liberation. From this point of view
P a n - A f r i c a n i s m d e s e r v e s the s u p p o r t of a l l p e o p l e of
g o o d w i l l . 34

He expressed his concern that Pan-Africanism, as an

ideology, contained ingredients alien to scientific

s o c i a l i s m . 35 He did, however, express some reservations

about its necessarily containing an element of the

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philosophy of non-violence which a number of African leaders

had linked to the id e a of Pan-Africanism. In 1960,

Potekhin, praising the proposed Ghana-Guinea-Mali union,* w a s

to express his backing for regional unity. He indicated,

however, that he thought there were a number of obstacles in

th e way of continental political u n i o n . 36

In 1 961, Potekhin wrote in the W o r l d Marxist Review

his reservations about certain concrete expressions of

Pan-African unity. After praising the Ghana Constitution

and the preamble to the Constitution of Guinea, as well as

th e subsequent signing by t he presidents of Mali, Guinea,

and Ghana of the Charter of the U n i o n of African States, he

criticized the Afro-Malagasy Organization for Economic

Cooperat i o n :

Not all unity is useful and progressive. The

A f r i c a n p e o p l e s n e e d a u n i t y t h a t w o u l d h e l p t h e m to
put an end to colonialism and obtain genuine
national freedom. That is n o t the aim of the
Afro-Malagassy union. Its leaders are
pro-imperialist and the u n i o n ' s p u r p o s e is n ot to
u ntie the African people to a c h i e v e final v i c t o r y
over imperialism a n d c o l o n i a l i s m , b u t to s p l i t the
continent and w e a k e n the united a nti- imperialist
f r o n t . 31

In the only article he ever wrote with

"Pan-Africanism" in the ti t l e , which significantly, was

published not only in the CPSU theoretical magazine

K o m m u n i s t , 38 b ut also in the internationally distributed

I n t e r n a t i o n al A f f a i r s 3 9 (published in several languages),

and in the African-oriented Af r i c a n C o m m u n i s t ,4 0 Potekhin

went into great detail no t only about scientific socialism

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but also about other African ideologies, such as African

socialism and neqritude. His article was also important

because it was his last significant writing prior to h i s

death in O c t o b e r , 1964. Potekhin presented a history of the

Pan-African movement, with its active participants from

Africa, the W e s t Indies, and the United States. He praised

such New-World Blacks as W . E . B . DuBois (U.S.) and Sylvester

Williams (Trinidad), and such African politicians as Kwame

Nkrumah (Ghana), Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), and Nmandi Azikiwe

(Nigeria). Significantly enough, the man with whom he

worked closely in the early days and the man whom he

collaborated with in a n u m b e r of articles, George P a d m o r e , 41

was omitted from any mention in that particular article.

Potekhin did not fully reject Pan-Africanism. He did

no t shy away from the important racial aspects of

Pan-Africanism. In fact, he labeled Pan-Africanism "a

reaction to colonial enslavement in Africa and racial

discrimination against the descendants of African slaves in

America; it is an ideological and political means of

fighting racialism a n d . c o l o n i a l i s m . " 42 B ut he did cast

negative aspersions upon it w h e n he linked positive European

and American reception of it, implicitly if not explicitly,

as an alternative to socialism:

By i n t e r p r e t i n g P a n - A f r i c a n i s m in the w a y t h a t s u i t s
t h e m b est , th e E u r o p e a n and American imperialists
a r e t r y i n g to i s o l a t e A f r i c a f r o m its t r u e f r i e n d s ,
to s t r e n g t h e n t h e i r own ideological influence and
make to an instrument for retaining political
control in order to ensure their further,

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essentially colonial, exploitation of A f r i c a . 43

Perhaps t he best summary of his remarks, however, was that

Pan-Africanism is no t a s i n gl e, integral whole

e i t h e r in the p o l i t i c a l or th e i d e o l o g i c a l s e n s e . A
fierce battle between the f o r c e s of r e a c t i o n and
progress is being fought around the concept of
Pan-Africanism. Some understand Pan-Africanism as
u n i t y of th e A f r i c a n p e o p l e s in t h e s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t
imperialism, for abolition of the vestiges of
c o l o n i a l i s m , a n d for e c o n o m i c a n d s o c i a l p r o g r e s s . 44

It is worth noting, in closing, that a general

history of Africa in the twentieth century, pulling together

the leading historians in the African field in the Soviet

Union and published in 1 9 6 8 after Potekhin's death, was not

critical of the Pan-African m o v e m e n t . 45

Conclusion. In conclusion, it is important to n o t e that

when Khrushchev came to power in 1955, there was no

specialized research institute on A f r i c a , Soviet scholars --

isolated by colonial authorities — had done little field

work in A f r i c a , and published works were generally based on

Western secondary sources. By the time of his political

demise nine years lat er, there had been a tremendous

increase in the quantity and quality of Soviet research on

Africa, Soviet scholars were recognized by their peers in

Africa and abroad, a specialized institute on A f r i c a had

be e n created, Soviet researchers were no longer merely

dependent on secondary sources, and, finally, much research

-- p o l i c y - o r i e n t e d -- appeared to be a i m e d at aiding the

decolonization efforts of A f r i c a n p e o p l e . 46

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Having discussed Soviet research on Africa, this work

now turns cc an examination of Soviet training programs for

Africans; first, a general chapter on th e various channels

used for Soviet educational assistance to A f r i c a , and then a

specific case study of a ne w Moscow university created

primarily for Third-World students.

Notes

1H.D. Weaver, "Soviet Research on Africa," The

A m e r i c a n B e h a v i o r a l S c i e n t i s t , V ( A p ri l, 1962).

2A.A. A r z u m a n i a n , "Vzahnyevoptosy razvitiia mivovoi

ekonomiki" (Important Problems of t h e D e v e l o p m e n t of the
W o r l d Economy), V est ni k A k a d e m i i N a u k S S S R , No. 8 (Augus t,
1962), p. 15. Quoted in William Zimmerman, Soviet
Perspectives on International R e l a t io n s (Princeton:
P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 6 9 ) , p. 10.

3L.L. Ilichev, "Metodologicheskie problemy

eststvoznaniia i obshchest vennykh nauk" (Methodological
P r o b l e m s of th e Natu ra l and Social Sciences), V e s t n i k , No.
11 ( N o v e m b e r , 1 9 6 3 ) , pp. 3-46. Q u o t e d in W i l l i a m Z i m m e r m a n ,
S o v i e t P e r s p e c t i v e s on I n t e r n a t i o n a l R e l a t i o n s , p. 13.

4F . B a r g h o o r n , The Soviet Cultural O f f e n s i v e , p. 191.

5M i z a n , No. 12 (December, 1959), p. 10.

6F. Barghoorn, The Soviet Cultural O f f e n s i v e , p. 180.

7S o v e t s k a y a K u l t u r a , J u l y 19, 1957, as r e p o r t e d in F.
B a r g h o o r n , T h e S o v i e t C u l t u r a l O f f e n s i v e , p. 181.

8T a s h k e n t o c c a s i o n a l l y c r o p p e d u p d u r i n g our 1963-64
field work in the Soviet Union as h a v i n g the a p p r o p r i a t e
c l i m a t i c l o c a t i o n for a n e w b r a n c h of L u m u m b a U n i v e r s i t y .

9G e o r g A. v o n S t a c k e l b e r g , " S o v i e t A f r i c a n S t u d i e s as
a Weapon of S o v i e t P o l i c y , " B u l l e t in ( M u n i c h ) , VII , No. 9
( S e p t e m b e r , 19 60) , p. 4. Quoted from P r a v d a , August 10,

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1960.

10U . G . S o l o d o v n i k o v , " A f r i c a n S t u d i e s in the U S S R , "

T h e J o u r n a l of M o d e r n Af r i c a n S t u d i e s , IV, N o v e m b e r , 1 966 ,
p. 361.

12 U . G . Solodovnikov, "African Studies," pp. 360-361 .

12M a r y Holdsworth, Soviet African S t u d i e s , pp. 3-4.

13Interviews with Soviet Africanists, Moscow and

L e n i n g r a d , A u g u s t , 1962.

14L ily Golden, "African Studies in the USSR,"

F r e e d o m w a y s , X ( S e c o n d Q u a r t e r , 19 7 0 ) , p. 149.

1 5 R a m D e s a i , "T h e Explosion of A f r i c a n S t u d i e s in t h e
Soviet Union," African Studies Bulletin, XI (December,
1968), p. 250.

16 "
Moscow in English in A f r i c a , " October 21, 1959.

1 ’R a d i o M o s c o w in E n g l i s h and Radio Moscow in F r e n c h ,

N o v e m b e r 14, 1 9 59 .

1 8M i z a n , III (February, 1961), p. 11.

1 9M i z a n , III (February, 1961), p. 11.

2 °V e s t n i k A k a d e m i i Nauk U SS R (Herald of th e Academy

of S c i e n c e s of t h e U S S R ) , D e c e m b e r , 1959, p. 83.

21 H a n d - o u t g i v e n the author at the Africa Institute,

Moscow, J u l y 19 61.

22T his section uses h ea vily H.D. Weaver, "Soviet

R e s e a r c h on A f r i c a , " A f r i c a T o d a y , M a r c h , 1 96 2.

23Interview with L.D . Yablochkov, Moscow, August

1959.

24See I.I. P o t e k h i n , " S o m e T a s k s of the African

Studies B e a r i n g on the A ll-Af ri c an Peoples' Conference,"
(mimeograph), 12 p a g e s . Al l- Af ri c an Peoples' Conference,
A c c r a , G h a n a , D e c e m b e r 3-15, 19 58.

25See Ned M u n g e r ’s r e p o r t for the American

Universities F i e l d S e r v i c e s on t h e p a r t i c i p a t i o n of Potekhin
a n d o t h e r S o v i e t o b s e r v e r s at t h e 1 9 5 8 A l l - A f r i c a n Peoples'
Conference in Accra. Prof. Mung e r has been rec ently
mentioned in t h e p r e s s as a p o s s i b l e U.S. a m b a s s a d o r to
South Africa.

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2 6 F o r a d e t a i l e d a n a l y s i s of t h e c o n f l i c t , s e e D o n a l d
Zargoria, The Sino-Soviet C o n f l i c t : 1956-1961 (Princeton:
P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1962).

27 T h o m a s H o d g k i n , "A N o t e on the L a n g a u g e of A f r i c a n
Nationalism," Af r i c a n A f f a i r s : Number One. St. A n t o n y 's
Pape r s , Number 10. (London: C ’ natto and Windus, 1 9 6 1 ) , p.
36.

2 8 1 .D . N i k i f o r o v a a n d J. V . P a l i e v s k a y a , "Ne w H o r i z o n s
of A f r i c a n L i t e r a t u r e , " P e o p l e s of A s i a a n d A f r i c a (Ap ril ,
1 9 6 4 ) , p. 260.

29See Lily Golden, "African Studies in t he USSR,"

Freedomways, X (Spring, 1970), 146-156, for such a
condemnation.

3 °.I t h a s not, of c o u r s e , b e e n o n l y the Soviets who

have c r i t i c i z e d the c o n c e p t of neqritude, b ut a l s o such
African w r i t e r s as Ezekiel Mphahlele, The African Image
(London: F a b e r n ad Faber, 1962), a n d the N i g e r i a n p l a y w r i t e
W o l e S o y i n k a : "If a t i g e r w o u l d not e xplain his tigritude,
w h y d o e s t h e b l a c k m a n n e e d t o e x c l a i m h i s n e q r i t u d e ? ".

3 1 1.1 . P o t e k h i n , " P a n - A f r i c a n i s m a n d th e S t r u g g l e of
the Two I d e o l o g i e s , " I n t e r n a t i o n a l Affairs ( M o s c o w ) , No. 4,
( J a n u a r y , 1 9 6 4 ) , p. 73.

3 21 b i d , p. 73.

3 3 1.1 . Potekhin, Africa's Future: A Soviet View

( L o n d o n ) , p. 16.

3 4 1.1. P o t e k h i n , I n t e r n a t i o n a l Af f a i r s , N o 2 (19 59) ,

p. 88. See also Laqueur, " C om mu nism and N a t i o n a l i s m , " p.
617. Q u o t e d in Z. Brzezinski, Africa a n d th e Communist
W o r l d ( S t a n f o r d : S t a n f o r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 19 6 4 ) , p. 35.

3 5M e z ’
ndyarodnaya Z h i z n •( I n t e r n a t i o n a l Affairs), No. 2
(195 9), p. 118.

36Potekhin, A f r i ka s m o t r i t , pp. 5 6 - 6 1 as q u o t e d by Z.
Brzezinski, Africa a n d th e C o m m u n i s t W o r l d , p. 35.

37Potekhin, "Some A s p e c t s of t h e N a t i o n a l Q u e s t i o n in
Africa," World Marxist Review, V o l . 4, No. 11 (November,
1 9 6 1 ) , p. 45.

3 8K o m m u n i s t , J a n u a r y , 1964.

3 91 n t e r n a t i o n a l A f f a i r s , April, 1 964 .

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 94

4 "A f r i c a n C o m m u n i s t , October/December, 1 96 4.

4 1 Indeed, Padmore, in his Pan-Africanism or

C o m m u n i s m ? , w a s to o m i t a n y m e n t i o n of Potekhin.

42Potekhin, " Pan -A fr i ca ni sm a n d the S t r u g g l e of the

Two Id e o l o g i e s , " I nt e r n a t ional A f f a i r s , A p r i l , 1964, pp.
49-50.

43Potekhin, I nt er na ti on al A f f a i r s , p. 54. T h i s can

a l s o be i n t e r p r e t e d as an i m p l i c i t a t t a c k on G e o r g e P a d m o r e ,
Nkrumah's close advisor a n d f o r m e r l e a d e r in the Communist
I nt e r n at i o n a l who broke with Moscow o v e r its W o r l d W a r II
a l l ia nc e with B r itain and France.

4 4 I b i d , p. 54

45U S S R Aca de m y of Sciences: Institute of Africa,

4 6 I n t e r v i e w w i t h I.I. P o t e k h i n , M o s c o w , A u g u s t , 1963.
A History of A f r i c a , 1 9 1 8 - 1 9 6 7 . Moscow: Nauka Publishing
House, 1968. Russian edition o r i g i n a l l y p u b l i s h e d in 1964.
S e e P o t e h k i n ' s c h a p t e r on G h a n a , pp. 2 7 9 - 2 9 1 . P r o b a b l y the
most sensitive a r e a s that the Soviet scholars had to d e a l
w i t h w e r e the v a r i o u s " s o c i a l i s m s " e s p o u s e d by the A f r i c a n
ideologues, from Senghor to Kenyatta to Nkrumah. As
Potekhin r e v e a l e d to m e in private conversations, master
a c a d e m i c d i p l o m a c y w a s r e q u i r e d h e r e.

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 C H A P T E R III

'SOVIET EDUCATION ASSISTANCE TO AFRICA:

ALTERNATIVE CHANNELS

Soviet education assistance to A f r i c a , though limited

when compared with that of its Western adversaries, took

several forms and had several geographical locations.

Continued African dependence on the metropole and its

economic, military, and diplomatic allies limited Soviet

options. Sometimes aid was material; other ti m e s , merely

psychological, spiritual, or propagandistic. Outside the

USSR, the Soviet government was able to p r o v i d e aid through

the U n i t e d Nations System -- the T r u s t e e s h i p Council, the

Committees on Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories, and

UNESCO — and by m e a n s of Soviet-built and Soviet-staffed

technical institutes in A f r i c a . Inside th e USSR, t he Soviet

authorities made available to Africans a variety of formal

and nonformal training programs.1

Outside t he USSR

United Nations System

The Soviet Union exploited available international

channels to d r a w attention to the sorry state'of education

95

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 96

in Africa, in colonized nations and in those which had

recently achieved constitutional independence. In the

Trusteeship Council th e Soviet Union played the role of

"agent provocateur", denouncing European trust

administrators for their racially discriminatory practices

in their respective trust territories: the United Kingdom

(Tanganyika, British Togoland, British Cameroons), and

Belgium (R w a n d a - U r u n d i ). The European trustees came under

fi r e for failing to p rovide adequate educational facilities,

and the Soviet delegates admonished Britain in particular

for refusing to a l l o w Africans to accept scholarships to

study in the Soviet Union: "W h y cannot passports be p r o v i d e d

to A f r i c a n s from Tanganyika to study in M o s c o w ? Why can an

Englishman study in M o s c o w [referring to the British-Soviet

student-exchange program] bu t an African in Tanganyika

cannot?"2

Inadequate educational facilities and racial

discrimination were inextricably linked. The Soviet

delegates pointed o ut that by c h a r g i n g even minimal fees for

primary and secondary education, the European trustees were

essentially denying the majority of Africans access to

education, and by exercising their authority in this way,

were practicing racial discrimination in their trust

territories. Given that most Africans were caught in t he

squeeze of a subsistence economy, the number who could

afford the luxury of even a primary education would be

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 S7

inf i n i t e s i m a l . 3

The Soviet representative on the Trusteeship Council,

Mr. V.I. Obermko, was particularly critical of British

indifference to modernization in the British Cameroons

during forty years of British rule:

The result of this 'trusteeship' is that t he

territory has almost no industry, agriculture
remains backward, there are no railways, and th e
s t a n d a r d s of education and public health services
a r e v e r y low. ... T h e r e a r e o n l y t h i r t y d o c t o r s for
a p o p u l a t i o n of 7 7 4 , 0 0 0 . 4

In fact, Obermko accused the British of deliberately

impeding the African movement toward self-determination and

independence. He noted that a significant extension of

facilities was a necessary precondition for the economic,

social, and political advancement prerequisite to political

independence, and by withholding that assistance the British

were impinging on the rights to self-determination.

The Soviet delegate urged the Council to r e q u e s t the

administering authorities to end this f o r m of racial

discrimination by making primary, secondary, and higher

education a high and urgent priority and by dramatically

increasing their education budgets.5 Failure to d o so, the

Soviets argued, would amount to an abdication of t h e "sacred

trust" of the United Nations C h a r t e r . 6 A plea was also made,

as had been done in t he case of British Tanganyika, to a l l o w

African students the option to take advantage of Soviet

educational facilities, especially in higher education.7

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 98

The Soviet delegate could have easily pointed to the

following to b u t t r e s s his argument:

When UNESCO l a u n c h e d its m a j o r c a m p a i g n five y e a r s

ago, it e s t i m a t e d th at, in t r o p i c a l A f r i c a alone,
about 17,000,000 chi ldren were without classroom
s p a c e , a n d t h a t e v e n so, f e w e r t h a n 5 p e r c e n t of the
c h il d re n who did a t t en d pr im ar y school could go on
to s e c o n d a r y s c h o o l ; while fewer than 1 p e r c e n t of
all those attending school could enroll in
vocational institutes. At t h e s a m e t i m e, b e t w e e n 80
and 85 percent of the adult population was
illiterate.8

There were a number of international forums the

Soviet Union took advantage of to advance its case in

support of the A f r i c a n liberation movement. Among them was

th e United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural

Organization (UNESCO). Professor K.I. Ivanov, Pro-Rector of

Moscow University, was the Soviet delegate on th e UNESCO

Advisory Commission for the Establishment of the U n i v e r s i t y

of Lagos. Basing its report on t he inadequacies noted in

the Ashby R e p o r t 9 and a subsequent Nigerian government White

Paper, the Commission made a series of recommendations

regarding admissions policies, curriculum content, and

year-round and full-time utilization of facilities, as well

as pre-Universitv testing and counselling, financial support

based on n eed, and a pre-University curriculum, especially

in t h e area of natural s c i e n c e s . 10 T h e cornerstone of the

Commission's report was a recommendation calling for the

appointment of a National Universities Commission to be

responsible for the overall coordination of higher education

in th e F e d e r a t i o n . 11

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Professor N .S. Torocheshnikov was yet another Soviet

participant in an international study of African education,

this one sponsored jointly by U N E S C O and the International

Association of Universities. The study dealt with the

question of access to education. Torocheshnikov was the

sole dissenter of the Commission's decision to publicize the

pro-government, anti-African report submitted by the

Republic of South Africa. Ironically, only Torocheshnikov

(on a C o m m i s s i o n that included Third World academicians from

Chile, Brazil and Lebanon) ardently questioned t he

objectivity of the South African government report and

suggested that the South African government was whitewashing

what was, in fact, a deplorable situation regarding

educational opportunities available to B l a c k s . 12

Technical Institutes in A f r i c a

Although the Soviet Union exhibited a willingness,

and indeed a desire to provide educational assistance

offshore, in Africa the realities of colonialism and

neo-colonialism appeared to be a major constraint. Former

colonial powers, especially t he French, still maintained

control in this domain. However, the USSR did have a

measure of success. Among the African countries that

benefited from Soviet assistance in establishing technical

institutions were Guinea, Ghana, and Ethiopia. A

Soviet-Guinea cultural agreement, drawn up in the summer of

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 100

1959, about a year after Guinea opted our of the proposed

French Community of General DeGaulle's Fifth Republic,

mandated th e USSR to d e s i g n and build a polytechnical

institute for 2,500 students in C o n a k r y . At the outset, the

entire staff was Soviet. Three of the fo u r buildings

constructed contained laboratories; there were also sports

facilities and a library. In addition, th e Institute

offered academic studies in four key areas: geology,

agriculture, construction, and engineering. As a result of

this assistance, Guinea, deserted by France and her allies

when she opted for independence in 1958, finally was able to

graduate trained personnel sorely needed for nation bulding:

personnel with the skills in such crucial areas as

industrial and civil engineering, manchine building and

metal-cutting, geology, water conservation, and agronomy.

The Soviets also began building a similar technical

institute for 1000 students in Ethiopia in 1960, ju s t

outside the town of Bahar-Dar. Students were trained for

Ethiopia's woodworking, textile, mechanized farming, and

chemical i n d u s t r i e s . 13

Inside the U.S.S.R.

In addition to the offshore education aid the Soviet

Union provided, there were significant training programs

available to A f r i c a n students wishing to study in the U S S R .

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 101

Two broad categories of study were offered. First, there

were short-term cultural exchange programs. African youth

delegations and students were invited to p a r t i c i p a t e in a

variety of special events -- f or ums , conferences, and

festivals (examples of this are t he various Soviet-sponsored

youth festivals s u c h as those that occurred in Moscow in

1957, in V i e n n a in 1959, and in H e l s i n k i in 1962). Forums

included t he W o r l d Youth Forum held in 1 9 6 1 an the A f r i c a n

Students' Conference in Moscow in 1964 which brought

together Africans from throughout Europe. Secondly,

students would take part in a variety of formal and

non-formal education programs of either long- or short-term

duration-cycle.

Youth Delegations and Special Events

When travelling African youth delegations visited the

USSR, they usually stayed from ten days to one month. They

were invited by their hosts for a variety of reasons but

perhaps the key purpose is best illustrated at the fourth

anniversary of the 1955 Bandung Afro-Asian Summit Conference

in Moscow. Students from Algeria, I ra q , Cameroons,

Madagascar, and West Africa came to Moscow for a month to

celebrate with Soviet students in "the international

solidarity of youth against c o l o n i a l i s m . " 14 The

International Union of Students footed t he entire bil l.

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 102

Perhaps th e most dramatic special event co-sponsored

by the USSR was the Youth Festival. The first si x were held

in c a p i t a l s of Eastern European countries; th e next one was

held in th e summer of 1959 in V i e n n a ; and the 1962 festival

took place in Helsinki. According to the Soviet press,

thousands of young people from around the world, including

Madagascar, Algeria, South Africa, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria,

Sudan and the United Arab Republic came together to

demonstrate the international desire for world peace and

f r i e n d s h i p . 15

In addition to attending a variety of seminars,

delegates to the Youth Festival were entertained by leading

cultural ensembles from the USSR, China and a host of other

countries. In t u rn, the students reciprocated with dance

and musical performances of their indigenous cultures.

There were also sports competitions, regional meetings, and

events such as "The Demonstration of Friendship and

Solidarity with the Youth of Colonial and Newly Independent

C o u n t r i e s " . 16 The non-Communist, Third World students

interviewed unamimously agreed t h at , even though they were

aware that the Festivals were Soviet-sponsored, they came

parimarily to have fun and exchange views with students from

around th e world, both those whose countries had recently

gained independence from foreign domination and those whose

countries were in the process of doing s o . 17 The Communist

delegates interviewed shared this view and also appeared to

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 103

be politically motivated.

Although the non-Communist students exhibited a

deeply rooted concern in e a c h other's common problems, many

of them apparently shied away from organized seminars th a t

criticized Western policies and practices. At the same time

though, they were angered by those American students (U.S.

government supported, they said) who attended for the sole

purpose of disrupting the Festival. Later exposes revealed

C.I.A. involvement through various front organizations such

as the ITT and foundations (i.e., the Asia F o u n d a t i o n ) . 18

Following th e Festival, participants were invited to

visit individual Eastern European Socialist countries

(including the U S S R ) or C h i n a , on totally subsidized trips.

They were take to tourist sights much the same as those to

which almost any tourist from any country would be taken.

Particular emphasis was placed on examples of the economic

and cultural advancements since 1917 under Communist Party

rule.

The abridged statement of a Ghanian, with the L L . B.

(Honours) from L o nd o n University, sums up the impressions of

Africans and Asians with whom I spoke:

Our r e c e p t i o n at the Vienna railway station was

e x c e p t i o n a l ly warm. We were g r e e t ed with s h o u t s of
'Peace and Friendship', and we reciprocated by
p l a y i n g this g r e e t i n g w i t h t a l k i n g drums. We e n j o y e d
e v e r y m o m e n t of o u r s t a y in V i e n n a . W h a t s t r u c k us
most was that d e s p i t e the fact that m a n y of the
p a rt ic ipants had come from ' c o l o r bar' countries,
there w as no sign whatsoever of racial
d i s c r i m i n a t i o n . T h e b l a c k s k in , w h i c h is l o o k e d u p o n
in some countries with indignity, a p p e a r e d to be

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 104

most inviting at the F e s t i v a l , for our d e l e g a t i o n

and those from other parts of Africa were
ov er wh e l m e d with invitations from other delegations.
The Russian gifts were scientific and political
symbols — m o d e l s of S p u t n i k and statues of t h e i r
great men like Lenin an d Stalin. V e r y fe w of us
a p p e a r e d to a p p r e c i a t e t h e s t a t u e s as we a s s o c i a t e d
them with Communist propaganda and not well
i n t e n t i o n e d gifts.

In addition to inter-delegation meetings, our

de le gation took p a r t in t he c u l t u r a l performances
and rallies, a n d a few of us a t t e n d e d s o m e of the
s e m i n a r s . B u t a l l of us a g r e e d th a t t h e V i e n n a Y o u t h
F e s t i v a l w a s far f r o m a f a i l u r e . T h e e s s e n c e of s u c h
a meeting w a s to e n a b l e y o u t h of al l c o u n t r i e s to
meet together, with a view to establish
u n d e r s t a n d i n g a m o n g all nations.

I h a v e n o d o u b t t h a t e v e r y o n e le f t the F e s t i v a l w i t h
an a r d e n t d e s i r e to o r g a n i z e y o u t h in A f r i c a a n d to
urge them to play their part in the socia l,
economic, and political development of their
cont ine n t .

Th er e was one g r e a t i m p r e s s i o n w h i c h we might have

left on the minds of our European and American
friends, n am e l y that the A f r i c a n w a n t s to be a
S o c i a l i s t , n o t a C a p i t a l i s t or C o m m u n i s t

After the F e s t i v a l , the Ghana delegation, and I

understand other African delegations as well,, had
many invitations to visit Russia, Yugoslavia,
Czechoslovakia, Poland, and East Germany. ... On
t h e i r return, they spoke of g r e a t h o sp i t a li t y and
were favorably impressed. Most members of our
delegation had wished to visit China, but
u n f o r t u n a t e l y , no i n v i t a t i o n s w e r e e x t e n d e d to u s . 15

Formal and Nonformal Education

In vo lving Ext en ded Sojourn

I turn now to A f r i c a n students who participated in

academic study programs in the USSR. As already noted, a

misconception was perpetuated th a t all African students in

th e USSR were "segregated" in M o s c o w at Lumumba People's

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 105

Friendship University. But th e fa c t is that of approximately

3,000 Africans reported to have been enrolled in higher

education institutions in t he Soviet Union during t he

1963-64 academic yar, only 572 were studying at Lumumba

Friendship U n i v e r s i t y . 20 The overwhelming majority of

students were studying throughout several of t he fifteen

union republics from the Baltic to t he Black Sea, and from

Lvov, on the Polish border, to T a s h k e n t , several thousand

miles away in C e n t r a l Asia's Uzbekistan.

Furthermore, there was a wide variety of formal and

nonformal training programs to c h o o s e from — from atomic

energy to zoology, and from banking to y o u t h leadership.

Additionally, there was on-the-job training in all aspects

of industry, agriculture, and fishing; piloting, servicing

and navigating jet planes; military leadership; party and

youth leadership. In formal higher education, African

students were generally streamed into the regular structure:

universities, technical institutes (both polytechnical and

branch technical), as well as specialized institutes of law,

physical culture, arts (including those specializing in

music, cinema studies, visual and plastic a r ts , drama),

economics, pedagogy, medicine and a g r i c u l t u r e . 21 After

thorough investigation it d o e s not appear that there were

any cases of African students officially enrolled in Soviet

secondary schools though the Preparatory Faculty of Moscow's

Lumumba Friendship University de facto served a function for

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 106

a number of under-prepared students from the Third World.

African students were involved in a number of

specific areas of nonformal and formal education in the

Soviet Union in the academic years between 1956-57 and

1963-64. These study areas included:

1. On-the-job training in industry

2. Vocational agriculture for farms

3. Programs in t he mechanization of agriculture

4. Aircraft training -- piloting, navigating, servicing of

Illyshin-18 aircraft

5. Fishing industry

6. Military institutions

7. Higher education

8. Teacher-training institutes

9. Trade-union institutes

10. Party institutes (both C o m m u n i s t Party and Komsomol)

11. Cinematographic i n s t i t u t e s 22

A study commissioned by t he Intelligence and Research

Division of t he U. S . State D e p a r t m e n t 23 reveals the

diversity of higher education institutions African students

were enrolled in d u r i n g their sojourn in th e USSR. A small

sample of thirty-three disaffected African students from

seven countries (Ken ya, Uganda, South Africa, Tanzania,

Morocco and Cameroons) were surveyed about their stay in t he

Soviet Union. The respondents attended a variety of

educational institutions throughout the USSR. In Moscow:

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 107

Patrice Lumumba Friendship University, Moscow Institute of

Automotive and Road Construction, and t he Moscow State

University; in L e n i n g r a d : Leningrad State Univeristy; in

Kharkow: Kharkow University; in Kiev, Ukraine: Kiev

University; and in Baku, A z e r b a i d z h a n : Baku Chemical and Oil

Institute.

Africans were able to take advantage of the fact that

the applied sciences -- especially agronomy, industrial

chemistry, and engineering -- received much greater

attention in the USSR than in other industrial and

non-industrial countries. At the world-wide meeting of

educators and scientists attending the U.N. sponsored

Conference on the A p p l i c a t i o n of Science and Technology for

th e Benefit of the Less Developed Areas (Geneva,

Switzerland, February 4-20, 1 9 63) American-trained Nigerian

educator Dr . A. Babs Fafunwa estimated that in 1959 in h i s

own country, Nigeria, only 5 of more than 350

teacher-training colleges offered proper facilities for

teaching science or, for that matter, any science courses

w h a t s o e v e r . 24 As Professor Nigel Grant of Scotland pointed

out, "In accordance both with the needs of the national

economy and th e importance laid by M a r x i s m on the unity of

theory and practice, the weight of numbers is strongly in

favor of the practical and applied s t u d i e s . " 25 According to

Soviet sources 39.4 percent of African students attended

technical institutions, 10.8 percent were enrolled in

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 108

agricultural schools and 8 .5 percent were at medical

colleges. The remaining 41.3 percent were studying the

" h u m a n i t i e s " . 26 (It -is important to note that these figures

include all university students, science and arts al i k e , as

well as those in a r t colleges, as well as teaching-training,

music, law, and economics institutes.)

The Soviets were late in starting higher educational

exchange programs involving Africa, although a University of

T o i l i n g Masses, with a political curriculum, had been set up

shortly after th e 1917 Revolution. A yearly summary of

African students studying in the USSR would begin in 1956,

when the 1956 edition of Study Abroad indicated that the

Soviet government, for the first time under General Assembly

resolution 845 (IX), offered scholarships to students from

non-self-governing and trust territories. The International

Union of Students, which had previously sent African

students to Romania, Poland, Hungary, and the German

Democratic Republic, made an additional ten scholarships

available to p e r s o n s from colonial and other developing

territories to study in the U S S R.

The fields of study, covering five-to-six-years (six

for medicine, fiv e for the others), plus a year for Russian

language st u d y , were medicine, agriculture, and various

technical and general university subjects. The Soviet

government guaranteed round-trip transportation between the

home country and the host country, plus travel to a rest

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 109

home or sanatorium during t he h o l i d a y s . Maintenance was a

sum sufficient to cover the cost of board and material and

cultural needs -- with fre e accomodations and medical ca re.

There w as a lump sum given for books , supplies and

e q u i p m e n t .21

The Permanent Mission of the USSR informed the

Secretary-General, in a note dated August 4, 1 9 5 9 , 28 that

the following African students had been awarded scholarships

to study at Soviet institutions of higher learning for the

1958-59 academic year: Albert Bwalia Mambwe (Northern

Rhodesia), Moscow Institute of Civil Engineering; and J.

Theuri ( Ken y a ) , Moscow State Univeristy. Of the three, only

one, O k u l l o , 25 a c t u a l l y studied in t he U S S R ; one of the

others (Theuri) had allegedly been refused exit permission

by the British administration; t he third (Mambwe) had

accepted a scholarship to c o n t i n u e studying in India. The

note indicated that all scholarships under Resolution 845

(IX) had been a l l o c a t e d . 30

The number of Africans studying in t h e Soviet Union

grew by leaps and bounds after 1956. From the fourteen

Africans in the USSR during the 1956-57 academic y e a r , 00

none of whom had come from sub-Saharan Africa, t he number

increased to over three thousand, from thirty-seven

countries, by the 1963-64 academic year. This coincides

with the massive, overall increase in foreign students in

the USSR during that same period from 12,565 to 2 3 , 0 0 0 . 31 W e

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 110

note that accurate statistics on Soviet training of foreign

students are hard to come by, both in the U S S R a n d at UNESCO

headquarters in Paris, where one would to find t hem.

Approximate figures for t he period under study are contained

in t he chart on th e following page.

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 111

E s t i m a t e d E n r o l l m e n t of A f r i c a n S t u d e n t s in th e
S o v i e t Union, 1 S 5 6 - 1 S 6 4 , bv S e l e c t e d Y e a r s ( a }

Sub-Saharan North
Academic (No. of African (Nc. of African African
vear countries) countries) total

1956-57 0 14 (1) 14 (1)

1959-60c 136 (10) 240 (5) 376,(15)
1961-62 2739
1962-63 2313e
1963-64 572 at Friend- 3000 (37)
shi? University
alone

aThe futility of using specific statistics is shown by

the differences, on the one hand, in the "Appendix-Free
World Students in Communist Block Countries," Free World
Students in the Soviet B l o c , SEATO documents No. 1-451-(12),
p. 11, as reported m Webbir.k, African Students, p. 5, and,
on the other hand, in a U.S. State Department Bureau of
Intelligence and Research report, "The Current Status of
Communist-31cc-Free World Student Exchanges," Intelligence
R e p o r t , No. 8132, December 21, 1959, p. 4. The most extreme
contrast occurs when the former lists the number of Guinean
students as "3," while the latter gives the number of 10 0.
&Confidential State Department printed matter.

c "Appendix-Free World Students," p. 11, as reported in

Webbink, African Students, p. 5.
£
A USIA report included students from preparatory
schools and universities, as well as those receiving on-the-
job- vocational training, including banking in Kiev, m e n ­
tioned the following figures: independent Ghana, 425;
Guindea, 600; Somalia, 240; Nigeria, 250; Mali, 160; Congo
(Kinshasa), Togo, and Sudan, 150 each; while colonial
Algeria and Kenya had 225 and 150, respectively.

eLetter from the Permanent Delegate of the U.S.S.R. to

UNESCO, dated September 24, 1963, signed by A. Pavlov.

Tass, Ccuoter 2c, 1963.

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 112

In 1961, only two M i d d l e African countries -- Guinea

and Sudan -- sent students to the USSR under official

intergovernmental scientific, technical, and cultural

agreements. Therefore, students from both independent and

dependent countries were r e c r u i t e d 33 through the sponsors of

Lumumba University for study at the University, including

the Soviet Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee, the Union of

Soviet Societies of F r i e n d s h i p with Foreign Countries, t he

All-Union Central Committee of Trade Unions, the M i n i s t r y of

Higher and Specialized Education, and th e Soviet Committee

of Youth Organizations. In a d d i t i o n , those from trust and

non-self-governing territories were eligible under U.N.

resolutions 5 5 7 (VI), 7 5 3 (VI II) , and 845(IX). In all cases,

students were asked to apply to the "Ministry of Education

and Culture in [the] candidate's c o u n t r y . " 34

Short-Cvcle Graduate Education

A special two-year post-graduate project in n u c l e a r

physics involving Ghanians, two of whom had American

undergraduate degress in chemistry and several of whom had

advanced degrees in the sciences from the U n i t e d Kingdom, to

prepare for manning the atomic reactor of the Volta River

Project. The participants were given lectures in E n g l i s h in

Radio Chemistry and Physics for six months. They spent the

next eighteen months in on-the-job training in their

specialties. Courses in th e Russian language, the history

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 113

of the USSR, and the philosophical aspects of dialectical

materialism were also part of their t r a i n i n g . 35

Conclusion

Though restrained by the colonial legacy in A f r i c a

from providing much education assistance on th e African

continent itself, the USSR was able to provide some

assistance through the UN system. Its most significant

contributions were th e formal and nonformal training

provided inside t he USSR. It is to a case study of aid in

post-secondary education that this study not turns its

attention, Moscow's Lumumba Friendship University.

Notes

^•Seymour R o s e n , U .S. O f f i c e of Education specialist

on S o v i e t education, lists t he f o l l o w i n g as t h e s c o p e of
Soviet programs in international education: (1) higher
e d u c a t i o n , (2) i n d u s t r i a l t r a i n i n g , (3) e x c h a n g e s w i t h the
United States, (4) international summer schools, (5)
i n t o u r i s t p r o g r a m s , (6) b o o k d i s t r i b u t i o n a b r o a d , (7) S o v i e t
t e c h n i c i a n s a b r o a d , (8) r e s e a r c h on e d u a t i o n a b r a o d , a n d (9)
establishing technical institutes abroad and training
foreign nationals in S o v i e t t e c h n i c a l institutes. Seymour
M. R o s e n , T h e P e o p l e 's F r i e n d s h i p U n i v e r s i t y in t he U . S . S . R .
(Washington: U.S. Department of Health, Education and
W e l f a r e , 1962 ) .

2U n i t e d Nat ions Document T/PV. 1100, J u n e 3, 1960.

3U n i t e d N a t i o n s Document T/OV. 1109, J u n e 10, 1960.

4U n i t e d Nat ions Document T/PV, 1109, J u n e 10, I960.

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 114

51 b i d .

6S o u r c e in t he U n i t e d N a t i o n s C h a r t e r : A r t i c l e s 75-91
cover the "International Trusteeship System" and "T he
T r u s t e e s h i p Council".

7U n i t e d Nations Document T / P V . 1 1 0 0 , June 3, 1960.

8J a m e s Avery Joyce, "Priorities in African

Education," Education in the D e v e l o p i n g N a t i o n s , a reprint
from Saturday R e v i e w , A u g u s t 15, 1964, pp. not n u m b e r e d in
reprint.

’T h e A s h b y R e p o r t w a s a t h o r o u g h , i n t e r n a t i o n a l s t u d y
by the C o m m i s s i o n on P o s t School Certificate and Higher
Education, Investigation in Education: Report ( Lagos:
Federal Ministry of Eduation, 1960). The study was
c o m m i s s i o n e d b y the N i g e r i a n government. The results paved
th e w a y for a h i g h e r - e d u c a t i o n e x p a n s i o n f r o m o ne u n i v e r s i t y
at t h e t i m e of i n d e p e n d e n c e ( O c t o b e r 1, 1 9 6 0 ) .

1 0 Se e R e p o r t of the UNESCO Aavisory C o m m i s s i o n for

the E s t a b l i s h m e n t of the U n iv e r s it y of L a g o s , W S / 0 9 6 1 . 7 8 .

xlT h i s c o m m i s s i o n w a s h e a d e d b y Dr. Akoi Aripo, until

his appointment, in 1 967, as Nigerian Commissioner of
F oreign Affairs.

12O t h e r m e m b e r s of t h e prominent Commission included

the l a t e P r o f e s s o r G a s t o n B e r g e r , f o r m e r D i r e c t o r of H i g h e r
I n s t r u c t i o n in t h e M i n i s t r y of N a t i o n a l E d u c a t i o n of F r a n c e ;
Dr. Juan Gomez Millas, Rector, Universidad de Chile,
Santiago de C h i l e ; Dr. Joseph A. O u w e r y s , Professor of
Co mp ar at iv e Education, Institute of E d u c a t i o n , U n i v e r s i t y o f
London, E n g l a n d ; Dr. Tasuto Morito, President, Hiroshima
University, Hiroshima C it y, J a p a n ; Dr. K.G. Saiyiddain,
E d u c a t i o n A d v i s o r to K a s h m i r G o v e r n m e n t , S r i n g a g a r , K a s h m i r ,
In d i a ; Dr. Anisio S. Teixeira, Companha Nacional de
A p e r f e i c o a m e n t o de P a s s o l de N i v e l C u p e r i o r ( C A P E S ) , R i o de
Janeiro, Baszil; M. Juan Thomas, Inspecteur General,
M i n i s t r e de l'Education National, France (Former A s s is t a n t
Director-General of UNESCO); Dr. D a l e Wolfe, Executive
O f f i c e , A m e r i c a n A s s o c i a t i o n for the A d v a n c e m e n t of S c i e n c e ,
W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . ; a n d C.K. Zurayk (Chairman), D i st i n g u i s h e d
Professor of History, American Univeristy of Beirut,
L e b a n o n . F r o m B o w l e s , op. c i t .

13Soviet News (No. 422 5), 3 M a r c h 1960, Interview

with First Secretarv, Ethiopian Embassy, Moscow, A u g u s t 13,
1963.

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 115

1^Moscow N e ws,

Moscow N e w s , April 15, 1959.

Moscow N e w s , August 9, 1 9 6 2.

17Interviews with m e m b e r s of various d e l e g a t i o n s to

the S e v e n t h W o r l d F e s t i v a l of Y o u t h and S t u d e n t s (Vienna),
in M o s c o w , A u g u s t 1 959 .

1 8 It later turned out in revelations by various

sources, including R a m p a r t s , that the Central Intelligence
Agency, throu gh various private foundations ( i n c l u d i n g the
I n d e p e n d e n t R e s e a r c h S e r v i c e at o n e p o i n t e d h e a d e d b y G l o r i a
Steinhem) had indeed financed disruptive e l e m e n t s at the
festivals and forums. Ceylonese a t t e n d i n g the 1961 World
Y o u t h F o r u m in M o s c o w r e v e a l e d to m e t h e A s i a n F o u n d a t i o n ' s
willingness to s u b s i d i z e them at the 1959 Vienna Youth
F e s t i v a l on c o n d i t i o n t h a t t h e y "walk out" and then condemn
the Fe s t i v a l .

1 ’I s a a c R. A b o a g y e , "N o Regrets," Youth and

C o m m u n i s m , II, No. 3, N o v e m b e r 1959, pp. 2 3 - 2 4 .

20P r o f e s s o r S.V. Rumyantsev, Rector, Lumumba

Friendship University, PressConference of December 3, 1963,
Moscow.

21A n e x c e l l e n t , b r i e f p a p e r b a c k on Soviet education

of the p e r i o d is N i g e l G r a n t , S o v i e t Educa t io n (Baltimore:
P e n g u i n , 1 9 6 4 ) . A d e t a i l e d s t u d y is to be f o u n d in N i c h o l a s
DeWitt, Education and Professional Employment in the
U.S.S.R. (Washington: U. S . Government Printing Office,
1961).

22I n t e r v i e w s with students studying in a ll

categories: Moscow, Leningrad, Tbilisi, USSR; between 1959
a n d 19 64.

23K e n n e t h E. Ba er, African S t u d e n t s in t h e East and

W e s t : An A n a l y s i s of Experiences and Att itudes (Syracuse,
N.Y.: S y r a c u s e Univer s it y , M a xw e l l School, n.d.).

2 4 Sc i e n c e a n d T e c h n o l o g y for Development R e p o r t , News

F e a t u r e , V o l . IV, No. 3.

25G r a n t , Soviet Education.

26P r o k o f i e v , Chilikin and Tulpanov, in Hiaher

E d u c a t i o n jjn t he U S S R (Paris: U N E S C O , 1961).

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 116

2 ’G e n e r a l Assembly Document Al/4196, Sept. 8, 1955,

p. 3 (A n n e x ) .

28 G e n e r a l Assembly Document Al/4196, Nov. 3, 1 9 59.

2 , Mr. O k u l i o later left the USSR, highly publicized

by European and American publications, i n c l u d i n g S. Omar
Okullo, "A N e g r o ' s L i f e in Russia -- B e a t i n g s , Insults,
S e g r e g a t i o n , " U.S. N ew s and Wo rl d Report, Vol. 49, A u q . 1,
1960, pp. 5 9 - 6 0 .

3 °General Assembly Document Al/5196, Nov. 3, 1959.

31Interview with Dr. S n y d e r , U.S. S t a t e Department

Official, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs,
W a s h i n g t o n , D.C., Sept. 1963.

32Tass, Oct. 25, 1963.

33W e w i l l discuss recruitment in g r e a t e r detail in

Chapter I V on L u m u m b a U n i v e r s i t y .

34UNESCO, Fellowships for Africans (Paris: UNESCO,

1961), p. 33.

3interviews with post-graduates from Ghana in

Moscow, O c t o b e r , 19 63.

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 C H A P T E R IV

LUMUMBA FRIENDSHIP UNIVERSITY

This chapter will examine Lumumba Friendship

University as a Soviet response to t he realities of African

and other Third World deficiencies. An initial discussion of

how this university differed from other Soviet universities

is followed by a description of Friendship University's

governance, recruitment and selection, and curriculum in

response to the A fr ic a n situation.

In order to help Third World countries overcome

deficiencies in human resources, Soviet authorities

established an experimental training center. This center,

to be called Lumumba Friendship University, was expected by

Soviet officials to become instrumental in the struggle

toward African decolonization and independence. The

intitial statement announcing Friendship University

indicated Soviet governmental intentions. During his first

visit to th e Third World, Indonesia, in F e b r u a r y , 1 S60, the

Soviet head of government, Nikita Khrushchev, stated why the

new University was needed:

Wishing to g i v e a i d to c o lo ni al and neo-colonial

Third-World countries in the training of their
national cadres of engineers, agricultural
specialists, doctors, teachers, economists, and
specialists in other b ra nc hes of knowledge, the
S o v i e t G o v e r n m e n t h a s d e c i d e d to set u p in M o s c o w a
u n i v e r s i t y of t h e f r i e n d s h i p of p e o p l e s . 1

117

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 118

A significant factor about the University was the

attention given to recruiting "talented young people coming

from poor f a m i l i e s . " 2 In h i s speech, Khrushchev recognized

so m e of the basic problems related to training in A f r i c a and

in o t h e r parts of the Third World. These issues included an

inadequate number of spaces in secondary education; a

tertiary-education curriculum oriented to t he humanities and

the social sciences (with little attention to technology and

the applied sciences); expatriates who were hostile to

national interests in k ey positions in government, th e

economy, and education; and limited access to higher

education.

What resulted was a University with a "basic skills"

faculty -- for those needing language, subject-matter, and

skills-and-attitude preparation for academic rigors -- a n d

six other faculties: Medicine; Engineering; Agriculture;

History and Philology; Economics and Law; and Mathematics,

Physics, and the N a t u r a l Sciences. A University Council,

its Board of Trustees, comprised the three founding

organizations: the Central Committee of Trade Unions, the

Soviet Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee, and the U n i o n of

Soviet Societies for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

Additional units represented were the Soviet Ministry of

Higher and Specialized Secondary Education, the Soviet

Committee of Youth Organizations, the Rector and

Pro-Rectors, and elected representatives of faculty and

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 119

students.

Friendship University vs. Other Soviet Universities

Why did the Soviets sense a need to build a brand new

university for Third-World students when it w a s already

hosting thousands of students from around th e world at

existing institutions? For foreigners, how was it e x p e c t e d

to d i f f e r from other institutions? Soviet higher education

curricula were aimed at meeting the needs of a Soviet

society. Industry was highly specialized; technology,

demonstrated by th e launching of "Sputnik" in 1957, was

internationally competitive. Agriculture, under

Khrushchev's new programs, became increasingly mechanized.

T he n, what kinds of programs were needed for students from

countries whose industry, technology, and agriculture w ere,

at best, in t h e i r rudimentary stages of development? Among

the differences between Frendship University and other

institutions of higher education in the USSR was its

recruitment, selection, and sponsorship; its governance; its

curriculum; and its degree awarded.

Lumumba students differed from foreign students at

other Soviet universities in that many did not meet formal

admission requirements. Like many Soviet students, whose

government revered the relationship between theory and

practice, they were likely to have interrupted their

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 120

schooling for work. B ut in m a n y cases, the schooling halt

w as compulsory, because of a shortage of places in A f r i a n

secondary schools or because of economic poverty, this

interruption did not measure th e intellectual abilities or

skills, b ut revealed constraining aspects of the African

colonial context. These factors accounted for a lack of

academic preparation for higher education on the part of

some African students.

Whereas bilateral agreements or home-government

sponsorship sent many foreign students to the USSR for

university training, Lumumba students often were dissidents

or, at least, did not adhere to the favor of their own

governments. Hence, many were in M o s c o w independently of

t he political machinery in their respective countries.

Other foreign students in the U S SR , especially from the U.S.

and Europe, were selected with at least the tacit approval

of their governments. Khrushchev knew this fact during his

initial announcement when he stated that though "the

majority of {foreign} students would be sent by government

programs," Friendship University should be a place that

would "train both those who are se n t by government organs

and those who express their personal wish to study at

{Friendship University}. 3

University students who were already in the USSR came

from Western, industrialized countries. They also came from

Socialist, European and Asian countries, and from

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 121

underdeveloped, Third-World countries. They were being

trained at the traditional Soviet universities. However, as

was initially announced, Lumumba was founded primarily for

Third-Worlc countries, with Soviet students complementing

the enrollment. (There was at least one case of an

Afro-American student, whose parents had been active in

CPUSA activities, studying and completing her medical

studies at Lumumba University.)

A curious fact about the University was that, though

students did not have a post-secondary school degree, they

received a Master of Science at graduation. This practice

made Friendship University unique among Soviet institutions.

In addition, foreign students at Lumumba, except for that

minority majoring in social and human sciences, did no t have

to follow required courses in p o l i t i c a l economy, scientific

socialism, Marxism-Leninism, and the history of the CPSU as

did students at other Soviet universities. Furthermore,

there was no compulsory physical education, and on-the-job

training at Lumumba was about half of that of other Soviet

universities. Hence, in comparison with the others, t he

Lumumba curriculum was able to lop o ne year o ff th e time

spent in the post-Preparatory Faculty. Another difference

wsa governance: Friendship University was uniquely governed

by diverse bodies. However, all of the governing

organizations were in the business of education, including

formal, nonformal, and informal.

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 122

Governance: The University Council

Soviet universities and institutes of higher learning

normally were overseen by a specific ministry. It was

either the Ministry of Higher and Specialized Education of

the USSR or another specialized department, for example, the

Ministry of Heavy Industry, concerned with specific aspects

of the economy. Yet Lumumba University had several

policy-makign co-sponsors, including (1) t he Soviet

Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee, (2) t he Union of Soviet

Societies of Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign

Countries, and (3) the Soviet Committee of Youth

O r g a n i z a t i o n s .4

The Soviet Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee.

The Soviet Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee was

organized in

s u p p o r t of the n a t i o n a l - l i b e r a t i o n s truggle of the

Afro-Asian p e o p l e s , in d e f e n s e of the v i c t i m s of
i m p e r i a l i s t i c r e p r e s s i o n s , for t h e s t r e n g t h e n i n g of
universal peace, fo r the prohibition of atomic
w e a p o n s , a n d in s u p p o r t of p r o p o s a l s for g e n e r a l a n d
complete disarmament.5

Its parent body was the non-governmental, international

Afro-Asian Solidarity Conference labeled by a Western

scholar as one of th e "regional groups that communists seek

to control or influence."6 The Committee sent

representatives to various African,Asian, and Afro-Asian

conferences and maintained contact with the various

liberation movements and political parties in A f r i c a and

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 123

Asia.7 The committee was the frequent h o s t of African

political figures with counter-dependence, radical, or

socialist political outlooks and of important Third-World

cultural conferences.8

The Soviet Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee was set up

as the Asian Solidarity Committee in May , 1956, after the

Delhi Asian People's Conference. An African Commission,

with Dr. Potekhin acting as C h a i r m a n , w as later

established.9 The functions of the Committee were t he

following:

... to d e v e l o p a n d s t r e n g t h e n the s o l i d a r i t y of the

peoples of the Soviet Unionwith the fraternal
peoples of A s i a and Africa who are fighting for
n a t i o n a l i n d e p e n d e n c e a n d p e a c e ; 1® to p r o m o t e u t m o s t
support by Soviet public o r g a n i z a t i o n s 11 to the
national-liberation movement of the oppressed
p e o p l e s ; to assist foreign r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s in
s t u d y i n g the life and w o r k of th e p e o p l e s of the
U. S . S . R . ; and also to h e l p t he Soviet peoples in
studying the s i t u a t i o n in A s i a a n d Africa, the
h i s t o r y of t he n a t i o n a l - l i b e r a t i o n m o v e m e n t , the w a y
of l i f e a n d c u l t u r e of t he f r a t e r n a l p e o p l e s of A s i a
a n d A f r i c a . 12

Three sub-committees, or commissions, comprised th e

Committee: (1) th e Commission on Africa headed by Prof. Ivan

Potekhin, Director of the Africa Institute until hi s death

in October, 19 64; (2) the Commission on Asian and Arab

countries, headed by Babjan Gufurov, corresponding member of

the USSR A c a d e m y of Sciences and Director of the Asia

Institute of the USSR Academy of S c i e n c e s ; and (3) t he

Information Commission, headed by Mukhildin Bakhitor, M.Sc.

( P h i l ) . 13

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Each of th e eight Union republics in S o v i e t Asia and

each of the three republics of the Soviet Caucasus (Georgia,

Armenia, and Azerbaizhan) had a branch. High-ranking

Committee delegations were present at each of t he Afro-Asian

Solidarity Conferences --’ Cairo, 1 956; Conakry, Guinea,

I960; and Moshi, Tanzania, 1 9 6 2 . 14 The Conference in C a i r o

found the leader of the Soviet delegation, Professor A.

Arzumanian, an Armenian professor at the University of

Moscow and Director of the influential research Institute

for W o r l d Economy and International R e l a t i o n s , 15 w r i t i n g out

a virtually blank check to A f r i c a . In his plenary speech,

Professor Arzumunian, speaking on behalf of his nation's

decision makers, spelled out the kinds of assistance th e

Soviet Union could offer to A s i a n and African regimes:

We t h e S o v i e t U n i o n c a n b u i l d for y o u an i n d u s t r i a l
plant or transport facilities, a research or
educational establishment, hospital or a cultural
institution, whichever you ma y need. We can send
ou r specialists to you or you may send your
specialists to us to se e our enterprises and
research institutions. We can send our p r o f e s s o r s
to y o u r e d u c a t i o n a l e s t a b l i s h m e n t s or y o u may send
y o u r s t u d e n t s to o u r i n s t i t u t e s . Do what you think
best. Say what you need and we s h a l l h e l p y o u by
rendering assistance in the form of credits or
gratuitous a i d , w i t h i n our economic possibilities.
We d o n o t se e k to get a n y advantages. We d o no t
need profits, privleges, controlling interest,
c o n c e s s i o n s or ra w m a t e r i a l s o u r c e s . We d o no t a s k
you to p a r t i c i p a t e in any blocs, r e s h u f fl e your
g o v e r n m e n t s or c h a n g e y o u r h o m e or foreign policy.
We are ready to h e l p y o u a s brotherhelps brother,
without any interest whatsoever, for we know from
o u r o w n e x p e r i e n c e h o w d i f f i c u l t it is to g et r i d of
n ee d. Our only condition is to aid without
c o n d i t i o n s at a l l . 16 ( E m p h a s i s m i n e . )

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 125

High-level personalities also played active roles at

th e more elitist Afro-Asian Solidarity Council meetings.

The Soviets were particularly active at a special session of

th e Afro-Asian Solidarity Council meeting in Cairo, in

January, 19 61. A meeting was called to d e a l with the grave

situations of W e s t e r n armed interference in A l g e r i a and t he

Congo. According to its own account, "the Soviet delegation

consistently supported all the proposals aimed at rendering

effective material and moral support to the fighting peoples

of the Congo a n d A l g e r i a . " 17 Its other reported activities

were its c o n t r i b u t i o n s of significant funds to the cause of

African-Asian solidarity and to specific international

projects in th e struggle against Western colonialism and

neo-colonialism. Multi-lateral aid went to various

international projects, including the A l g e r i a n fight against

French colonialism and Congolese efforts to maintain

national u n i t y . 18

The Union of S o v i e t S o c i e t i e s of F r i e n d s h i p and Cultural

Relations with Foreign C o u n t r i e s .

A second ke y organization represented on the

University Governing Council was the Union of Soviet

Societies of Fr iendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign

Counties. According to T h e Yearbook of the Great Soviet

Encyclopedia (1962), the Union of Soviet Societies for

Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries

had, by the end of 1961, thirty-eight affiliated

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 126

associations abroad. In 1961 alone, its H o u s e of Friendship

in Moscow played host to some fifty thousand foreign

visitors from eighty countries. The Union headquarters in

Moscow played a coordinating role for its fifteen

geographical and occupational s e c t i o n s . 19

Its specific Africa-oriented unit was the Soviet

Association of Friendship with African Peoples, which the

influential academician and activist I.I. Potekhin headed,

from its founding in A p r i l , 1959, to h i s death in O c t o b e r ,

1964. A key official, Mr . Matveev, admitted that a major

task was to help organizations in A f r i c a establish cultural

contacts with the USSR and to introduce Soviet life into

every branch of the African e c o n o m y . 20 T h e s e were tasks that

could be carried out through formal, nonformal, and informal

education schemes.

According to its first Executive Secretary, another

major objective was " to give Soviet and African peoples an

idea of each other's culture and li fe. This furthers better

understanding and encourages peaceful coexistence of states

with differing social s y s t e m s . " 21

The informal education mission was to educate the

Soviet public about African culture and the contributions

being made to Africa by the Soviet people through their

socialist government. The Association sponsored meetings

no t only in Moscow's Friendship House, b ut also in

collective farms and at factories and schools. In addition,

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 127

students appeared as guests over Radio Moscow. Books, art,

and photographs supplemented the oral presentations. The

Association also cc-sponsored socials, meetings, and forums

with other special-interest organizations, such as the

Africa Institute and Lumumba University. African

organizations sponsoring activities in Moscow with the

Association included the officially sanctioned Federation of

African Students in t h e U S S R (FASSU) and various unofficial

national student clubs. At t he inaugural meeting, Potekhin

stressed the Association's function of promoting friendship

and expanding cultural contacts between the peoples of

Africa and the peoples of the USSR.**'

The Association's original governing council was

composed of a number of prominent administrators,

academicians, political activists, and model agricultural

and industrial workers. They included Nina Popova,

President of the Presidium of t he Union of Soviet Societies

for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign

Countries; A.F. Garmashev, Chairman of the State Committee

on Inventions and Discoveries of the Council of M i n i s t e r s of

th e USSR; M.M. Musakhanov, Secretary of the All-Union

Central Council of Trade Unions; F. Yusubova, team leader of

the Stalin Collective Farm in the Azerbajdajan SSR; A.V.

Sofronov, writer; C.N. Zolotov, worker in Moscow's Hammer

and Sickle Factory; a n d Dr. I.I. Potekhin, then Director of

th e Institute of Ethnography and later t he first director of

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 130

for Soviet and foreign youth inside and outside the U SS R.

I ts contacts were numerous. Its extensive involvement in

recruitment and selection was immeasurable.

Recruitment, Selection, and Sponsorship

T he Soviets used a variety of personnel and

organizations to publicize and to recruit for t he

University. The recruitment campaign was aggressive,

relying heavily on Third-World students themselves, who

often worked together in congenial teams. Minimal

bureaucracy, a focus on subjects obviously geared to m e e t

African manpower needs, and an emphasis on opportunities for

training in fields which African were not receiving at home

or in the W e s t , were among the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of recruiting

efforts. The Pro-Rector for A d m i s s i o n s , Professor Yerzin,

travelled throughout Africa and Asia to recruit high-quality

students. Soviet consulates and embassies in A s i a , Africa,

and Latin America were also used for t he dissemination of

information and th e reception of applications. The home

offices of international organizations, including t he W o r l d

Federation of Democratic Youth (Budapest) and the

International Union of Students ( P r a g u e ) , 28 plus their

national affiliates throughout the world, were also involved

in active r e c r u i t m e n t . 29

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 131

The University Admissions Office, which played a

coordinating role in a d m i s s i o n s efforts, used international

gatherings of youth and students for recruitment purposes.

Coming in for special attention were the World Festival of

Youth and Students in H e l s i n k i , Finland, August, 1962 .3 0 A

contingency of F r i e n d s h i p U n i v e r s i t y students, for example,

was sent to Helsinki to recruit and to propagandize

favorably on the University's behalf. Morning meetings of

the delegation were held to plan each day's activities.

Attention was directed to A s i a n and African delegations,

less to A r a b s in those days when oil was apparently abundant

to all. The student recruiters were given daily spending

change ($18.00) for individual pleasure and as an informal

expense account. Most of their time wa s spent in group

proselytizing, often accompanied by their rhythmic musical

b an d. Discussion centered around th e themes of "peace and

friendship," Soviet conduct of international affairs, and

the virtues of the U n i v e r s i t y and of th e Soviet people; "the

peace and friendship" of Soviet people, t he warm rapport

between faculty and students, and distortions about the

University in the Western press. Souvenirs handed o ut

included flags with the University emblem, pamphlets about

the U n i v e r s i t y , and poster-size p h o t o s . 31 W h e n e v e r possible,

the group spokesman at any particular meeting reflected the

ethnic predominance of the audience, i.e., when visiting an

African group, an African was appointed the leading

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 spokesperson. Russian and Soviet songs and poems, including

Yevtushenko's "Do the Russians Want War?", were standard

recitations of the University delegation.

Each student-recruiter was selected because of an

inclination to favor t he Soviet system; for they spoke

favorably about t he University and passed out pamphlets

describing the University curriculum in relation to African

needs. Discussions of curriculum content focused on

scientific and technical training — the development of

badly needed cadres for newly independent, presumably

industrializing, nations.

The University Council invited successful applicants

to Moscow in August for entrance examinations. Those

students desiring to study chemistry, physics, mathematics,

geology (reconnaissance, extraction, and utilization of

mineral resources), civil engineering, and the construction

and exploitation of machinery and mechanism, for example,

were tested in c h e m i s t r y , physics, and mathematics. Tests

were given in literature, geography, and history for the

potential specialists in international law, economic

planning, economics, Russian language, literature, and

history. The University reserved the right to a c c e p t or

reject on t he basis of those academic tests and medical

examinations; in reality, one the long tri p was made, few

were rejected. The University specified that there were no

religious or racial restrictions. An age restriction was

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 133

that no one over 35 w a s admitted. A health certificate,

education documents, and an autobiographical sketch with two

photographs were to a c c o m p a n y the official application form

to be submitted tothe Admissions Committee. Chaired by th e

Rector, the Committee comprised high-level personnel: the

Pro-Rector for academic affairs, selected instructional

staff, and deans of the seven faculties.

Once accepted, the students were guests of the Soviet

government, which took care of all expenses. Tuition and

medical care were free f or all -- citizen and non-citizen.

In addition to expense money of ninety rubles per month, the

African student, apon arrival in Moscow, received about

three hundred rubles to purchase winter c l o t h e s . 32 The

ninety rubles included board money, but costs at the school

cafeterias did not exceed several rubles per month. During

the summer months, students were given an a d d i t i o n a l sum of

one-hundred-fifty rubles and often a free stay at one of the

rest homes on the Black Sea .

Students from Africa were at Friendship University

under varying sponsorship. Some went under scholarships

offered directly by the USSR. Usually those students were

without permission of their home governments and required

clandestine travel, which after students surfaced in t he

USSR, they would, t h en , write home to indicate their

l o c a t i o n . 33 Another group was under U.N. programs, both in

trust territories and in non-self-governing areas, in which

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 134

t he Soviet Union participated. Under a third sponsorship

were those students with scholarships subsidized by home

governments or dominant political -parties. A fourth

sponsorship was non-governmental international organizations

with close ties to the USSR, as for example the

International Union of Students.

In t he last category, as in t he f irst, students did

n ot have permission from their home governments. However,

th e number was small. In fact, in t he early days of t he

University, some students, especially those from countries

still under colonial rule, had to do as the early

revolutionaries trained at Moscow's Lenin International

School: "Most of the students who attended ... traveled on

false passports, under assumed names, and reached the Soviet

Union via indirect r o u t e s . " 3,4 In a f ew cases, students of

visiting delegations were actually offered scholarships on

t he spot and stayed on to study in t he U S S R .

The early days of the U n i v e r s i t y , especially before

t he achievement of constitutional independence by individual

African countries, were marked by a lack of coordination in

t he recruitment-selection process. E a st , South, and Central

Africans, for example,had to find their way to Cairo, where

John K a l l e , 35 a Ugandan killed in an I L - 1 8 flight on th e way

to Gary Powers' showpiece U-2 trial, made the necessary

preliminary arrangements and secured their air passage to

Moscow. Students from countries with "moderate" regimes,

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 135

without Soviet embassies and consulates, got Soviet visas in

"radical" c o u n t r i e s 36 or in those countries with diplomatic

relations with th e U S S R. This meant that students left

Africa without the knowledge and permission of their

governments. They were studying subjects without regard to

t he n e e d s - of the national economy, at least as defined by

their respective national governments or by the p o l i t i c a l

party in p o we r .

By the end of the Khrushchev era, 1964, a significant

shift occured away from the fragmented, uncoordinated

recruitment-selection process to a more centralized,

coordinated process (by government agency or dominant

political party) in keeping with national manpower or

political needs of African countries. The signing of the

O.A.U. Charter, in May , 1 9 63 , helped to ensure this by

encouraging inter-African cooperation and discouraging

subversive attempts from other African c o u n t r i e s . 37

Curriculum

Curricular Aims and Structure.

The University's Board of Trustees (University

Council) spelled out six m a j o r a ims, t he first of which was

related to t he curriculum:

To t r a i n h i g h l y - q u a l i f i e d e n g i n e e r s , s p e c i a l i s t s in
agriculture, doctors, teachers, economists, jurists

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 136

and other specialists familiar with the latest

d e v e l o p m e n t s of s c i e n c e a n d t e c h n o l o g y , a n d w i t h the
p r a c t i c a l a s p e c t s of t h e subjects, who are e d u c a t e d
in a s p i r i t of h u m a n i s m a n d f r i e n d s h i p of n a t i o n s . 38

To implement those objectives, the University was

organized into one general, preparatory faculty and s ix

other faculties, based on clusters of academic disciplines

and specialties: (1) Engineering; (2) Physics, Mathematics,

and the National?? Sciences; (3) Economics and International

Law; (4) History and Philology; (5) Medicine; and (6)

Agr i c u l t u r e .

A graphic breakdown of students by F a c u l t y , for the

final year of o ur s tu dy , follows:

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 137

A p p r o x i m a t e E n r o l l m e n t by F a c u l t y ,
L u m u m b a F r i e n d s h i p U n i v e r s i t y , 1963-5U-39

Faculty Approximate Number

Engineering 500

Medicine 100

Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry,

Biology 200

Agriculture 100

Philology and History 125

Economics and International Law 400

Total, less preparatory faculty 1,425

Preparatory 900

Grand Total 2,325

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 138

The Transitional Period: Preparatory or "Basic Skills" Facu­

lty.

Prior to undertaking study in their regular,

specialized fields, Afrian students were exposed to an

innovative educational experiment, in the vanguard of

special programs that later came into existence in the

United States: S EEK, the Transitional Year, the Urban

University, and others. The Preparatory Department served a

transitional function for those neither linguistically n or

academically prepared for the regular university curriculum.

Because of their Russian-language deficiency, the students

had to spend at least one year in the Department. The

specific length was determined by a c h i e v e m e n t s during t he

first year. The authorized range was between one and three

years as initially set by the University. The length of

s t ud y , curriculum, student-teacher relations clearly were

based on student needs as perceived by the administrators

and teachers.

All students spent the first three months in

intensive training in the Russian language, especially

vocabulary related to their intended specialty. T he n ,

language training was combined with secondary school

mathematics (with emphasis on algebra), physical geography,

and the political history of the world as related to o n e ’s

own continent. African students in w o r l d political history,

for example, dealt with Africa's historical resistance to

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 Europe. In addition, th e preparatory course was expected to

provide:

1. Study skills -- discipline. Complicated by the

f ac t that studying was to be done in a new and totally

different language, e.g. word endings in verb conjugations

and adjectival and noun declensions in R u s s i a n that were not

present in m a n y languages.

2. Intensified capsule of secondary- and, in some

cases, primary-school education that was necessary for

successful college study and often not accessible in A f r i c a .

3. Acclimatization to Soviet society — including

the social system (with folkways, mores, and codes of

behavior peculiar to the Soviet state and system). In the

absence of a formal orientation program, an on-going,

informal orientation occurred.*®

Considering the limited technological training in

African secondary schools, students coming from that

continent were faced with a severe limitation in their

competition with Soviet students. In t he eight-year schools

of Soviet pre-university education, scientific subjects took

u p an average of some 3_5 percent of the formal class time**1

and increased to fifteen hours per week in t he last year of

secondary s c h oo l. ** 2 A f r i c a n students, on t he other hand,

with f ew exceptions, had an entirely humanistic primary- and

secondary-school education -- in most c a se s , only minimal

training in m a t h e m a t i c s and the natural s c i e n c e s . 1'.3

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 140

Natural Resources: Geology Department.

The Lumumba University curriculum that reflected the

concern of Soviet political, research, and training

personnel with African control of its natural resources was

the Geology Department of the Faculty of Engineering.

Students of Geology were among the approximately 1725

students studying in t h e regular faculties at the University

during t he 1963-64 academic year. Significantly,

approximately 1 20 0 — or 70 percent of all Lumumba students

were majoring in the natural, physical, or medical

sciences. The percentage of Africans in medicine,

engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, and agriculture

was a_t l e a s t 75 p e r c e n t , and possibly higher.'* ^

All engineering students were required to m a k e a

preliminary decision during their first year about a

concentration. Options were (1) geology, (2) civil

engineering, or (3) mechanical engineering. It w a s t he

geology major who received training in th e prospecting,

extracting, and utilization of natural resources. At t he

end of a four-year course, a successful geology major left

with a Master's degree in m i n i n g engineering.

Certain subjects were required of geology majors

during their course of study in the natural and mathematical

sciences: the organization and economics of mining

operations, crystallography and mineralogy, petrography,

heat engineering, hydraulics and hydrodynamics, the strength

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 141

of materials, theoretical mechanics, physics, higher

mathematics and chemistry. The luxury of selecting a major

within the Department was not deferred until the junior

year, as in theU.S., but had to be decided during the

freshman year. Students also had to m a k e a further decision

on specialization within geology itself the first year. The

options were (1) the mining of solid minerals, (2) o il and

gas extraction, or (3) geological prospecting and surveying.

The curriculum of mining solid minerals included

other specialized courses such as t he supply of electricity

to m i n i n g operations, ore concentration, projecting mining

enterprises, and the technology of mechanization of

underground and open-pit mining. Those choosing to m a j o r in

oil and gas extraction took the following to fulfill degree

requirements: the geology of oil and gas deposits, the

planning of oil and gas fields, o il and gas production

equipment, the processing and chemistry of oil and gas, the

technology and mechanization of oil and gas transportation,

the technology and technique of drilling, and the geology

and geophysics of oil and g as extraction. Required courses

in the area of geological prospecting and survey included

engineering geology, mineralogy and crystallography,

petrography, structural geology and geological mapping, and

analytical, physical, and colloidal chemistry.

Training was n ot limited to the classroom. Practical

work was gained through work in m i n e s and oil f i e ld s, in

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 142

laboratories, and on geological expeditions. The training

wound up with a special research project, which the

officialsencouraged, but apparently did not require, on

one's country of origin.

Charts of the subjects taken and the total number of

classroom hours appear on subsequent pages of this chapter,

followed by charts dealing with the subjects studied and the

total number of classroom hours fo r (1) the special subject

of geology and the drilling of hard-mineral deposits and (2)

the special subject of producers' geology and the refining

of oil and gas deposits. Following t hat, we turn to examine

the relationship between the curriculum in geology, o n the

one h an d, and African realities, on the other, as

pin-pointed by the Soviet political leadership and senior

research spokesmen.

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 143

Major in G e o l o g y and the M i n i n g of N a t u r a l M i n e r a l Deposits

of t he F a c u l t y of Engineerings"

Subject Total Number of Classroom

Hours

Russian and foreign languages 292

Higher mathematics 356
Phys ics 276
General chemistry 118
Analytical chemistry 120
Physical and colloidal chemistry 72
Descriptive geometry and drawing 118
Theoretical mechanics 82
Technical mechanics 90
General electrotechnology 72
Fundamentals of construction 54
Geodesy, topographical drawing and
mining geometry 124
General geology 72
Paleontology 90
Crystallography 56
Mineralogy and geochemistry 164
Structural geology and fundamental of
geocartography 96
Historical and regional geology of the
countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America 168
Mining 220
Natural deposits (including deposits in
Asia, Africa and Latin America) 90
Economics of the national economy 56

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 144

S p e c i a l S u b j e c t of G e o l o g y an d D r i l l i n g of Hard Mineral De­

p o s i t s ir. t h e G e o l o g y M a j o r of the F a c u l t y of E n g i n e e r i n g 4,6

Subject Total Number of Classroom

Hours

Geyser drilling 98
Natural mineral deposits (including
deposits in Asia, Africa and Latin
America) 168
Prospecting and excavation 182
Geophysical methods of drilling 98
Hydrogeology and engineering geology 84
Enrichment and technology of hard
mineral resources 70

SPECIAL SUBJECT OF PRODUCERS' GEOLOGY AND REFINING OF OIL

AND GAS DEPOSITS IN THE GEOLOGY MAJOR OF THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

Subject Total Number of Classroom

Hours

Rotork drilling 112

Oil and gas deposits (including
deposits in Asia, Africa and Latin
America) 98
Producers' geology and hydrogeology 98
Prospecting and excavation of oil and gas
deposits 84
Geophysical prospecting methods 84
Producers' geophysics 84
Producers' economy and refining of oil
and gas 112
Oil and gas refinement techniques 70

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 145

What was t he relationship between the curriculum in

geography and African needs as pinpointed by the Soviet

leadership and research spokesmen? Key Soviet political

leaders expressed the need for diffusing technological

skills in mineral extraction. In h i s speech to the 15th

session of t he U.N. General Assembly on September 18, 1959,

Premier Khrushchev noted his government's concern about t he

exploitation of T h i r d - W o r l d resources by W e s t e r n interests:

The p e o p l e s of m a n y of these countries have won

political independence, b ut t h e y a r e sti.ll c r u e l l y
e x p l o i t e d by f o r e i g n e r s e c o n o m i c a l l y . Their oil and
other natural resources are being plundered. They
are being t a k e n o u t of their countries for a l m o s t
n o t h i n g in return, e v e n while they yield huge
p r o f i t s to t he f o r e i g n e x p l o i t e r s . 41 ( E m p h a s i s o u r s )

Prior to this 1959 speech, Khrushchev and his government,

through its Permanent Delegate, had used t he U.N. as a forum

to c o m m u n i c a t e its concern about t he manifest influence of

the W e s t in m i n e r a l exploitation. The Soviet representative

at t he U .N . had earlier accused Western prospectors, under

the guise of United Nations sponsored surveys, of

prospecting to a i d private Western business at the expense

of the countries for whom the prospecting was carried out.

In addition to the General Assembly, Soviet delegates

also used the Trusteeship Council as a forum to expose the

administering powers' economic policies and practices in t h e

trust territories: Cameroons (British and French), Togoland

(British and French), Southwest Africa (South Africa),''8

Somalia (British and French), Tanganyika (British), and

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 146

Rwanda-Burundi (Belgium). The European trust administrators

Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom -- were

specifically accused of allowing foreign, private companies,

with official licenses, to prospect and to exploit the

mineral resources of Africa.

The reasons given for the Soviet criticism concerned

the division of Africa at the Congress of B e r li n- (1884 - 1885)

that began the territorial scramble for A f r i c a and resulted

in European colonialism and territorial occupation. The

colonial practice was n ot to consult th e local population

nor to secure their consent on such vital matters. 9 This

meant that even after African political/constitutional

independence, the European governments would still retain

significant economic influence, through natural resources,

and, thus, inhibit self-determination and eventual autonomy.

This is a classic example of neo-colonialism, t ha t

phenomenon of outside economic control, of remote control,

after independence which insures continued cultural and

political domination from t he outside.

Soviet scholars also reiterated in their published

works the same charges made by their diplomats in

international political forums. The widely respected

Academician I.I. Potekhin accused Western prospectors of

intentionally under-estimating the mineral potential of

African c o u n t r i e s . 50 The result of such distortions was

two-fold. One w as that it misled African political and

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 147

economic decision-makers into under-estimating their own

resources available for economic development. Another was

that the nations received smaller remunerations for their

r aw m a t e r i a l s than those to w h i c h they were entitled. One

specific example reported by Potekhin was Guinea: Whereas,

French specialists ahd estimated iron ore reserves to be

between 2.5 and 3 .5 billion t o ns , "Soviet geologists, who

visited Guinea, following only a preliminary s t ud y ,

estimated iron ore reserves at 20 to 30 billion t o n s " 51 or

up to 10 times what the French experts had estimated. What

effect did Potekhin feel that the development of mining and

other industries had on African leadership coping with

post-independence problems? To what extent was his writing

prescriptive?

The main c o n d i t i o n for the c o n q u e s t of economic

independence, and for the creation of an
harmoniously developed e c o n o m y , is the d e v e l o p m e n t
of i n d u s t r y . T h e s l o g a n of i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n is o n e
the most p o p u l a r slogans in c o n t e m p o r a r y Africa.
B u t the e c o n o m i c a l l y - w e a k s t a t e s of A f r i c a d o n t o at
present have the strength of a creation of
l a r g e - s c a l e e n t e r p r i s e s of t h e v a r i o u s m e t a l l u r g i c a l
or machine-building industries. Therefore,
i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n is b e g i n n i n g wi th the e n l a r g e m e n t
of a m i n i n g i n d u s t r y , t h e b u i l d i n g of h y d r o e l e c t r i c
stations, and e n t e r p r i s e s of l i g h t industry plants
for the processing of agricultural p r o d u c t s . 52
(Emphasis mine)

Did the Lumumba University curriculum respond to that

need? The University gave high priority to diffusing

technological data to African students through the n a t u r a l ,

physical, and medical sciences. Students were free to

select, or were coerced into selecting, the sciences in at

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 148

least 70 percent of the c a s e s , 53 a sharp contrast to the

small number of African students who were majoring in the

sciences in W e s t e r n countries and in sharp contrast to

reports in U .S . scholarly and public media.

D i s e a s e Control, Health, Fiet, and L a n d: Faculties of

A q r i c u l t u r e and M e d i c i n e .

The Faculty of Agriculture, headed by Assistant

Professor Ustimenko, offered a specialty only in a g r o n o m y .

Certain facts about the soils of Africa made this major

understandable. Among these facts are:

1. The largest arid mass of land in t h e world is the

Sahara Desert, which stretches from t he Red Sea to the

Atlantic Ocean. Its area, in square miles, is approximately

that of t he United States. At no point is the Sahara less

than one thousand miles w i d e . 5''*

2. Both human and animal life have been destroyed and

incapacitated by tropical pests, including mosquitoes,

tsetse f l ie s , and l o c u s t s . 53"

G r a d u a t e s . in agriculture were trained to become

teachers, researchers, experimenters and breeders, managers

of agricultural enterprises, and inspectors. Management of

cooperatives and state farms was given special attention.

Students received practical work at model Soviet farms in

the Soviet sub-tropical areas in the Caucasus, including the

Republics of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaizhan.

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 149

Among th e specialized courses offered to the students

were tropical fruit-growing, genetics, the processing of

fruits and vegetables, plant and seed breeding, and the

protection of plants against pests (phytopathology). Aa.so

in the curriculum were courses on scientific methods of

agricultural production, the economics of world

agriculuture, and farm mechanization and electrification.

Training in a g r i c u l t u r e was especially important if the

African countries — overwhelmingly rural — were to c o n q u e r

their low level of efficiency in a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n . 56

This would be an obvious step in overcoming the serious

problem of m a l n u t r i t i o n . 57

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 Russian and foreign languages 516 hours
Higher mathematics 90
Physics and fundamental meteorology 180
Inorganic and analytic chemistry 162
Organic chemistry 90
Physical and colloidal chemistry 72
Botany 144
Zoology 90
Plant biochemistry 72
Agricultural microbiology 90
Plant physiology 120
Soil science and fundamentals of geology 138
Geodesy and fundamentals of land tenure 54
General agriculture and experimental methods 132
Agricultural chemistry 132
Plant protection 96
Plant cultivation 174
Fruit and wine growing 114
Cultivation of meadows 48
Genetics, selection and seed growing 120
Protection of agricultural products by
basic processing techniques 66
Anatomy and physiology of farm animals 108
General zootechnics 114
Specialized zootechnics 96
Economics and the fundamentals of
rational agriculture 144
Automation and electrification of
agricultural production 318
Agricultural land improvement and irrigation 126
Disciplines with narrow specializations 612
Selected disciplines 366

Practical Work

Practical work in biological subjects

and geodesy 4 weeks
Practical work in education and production 10 weeks
Practical work in production (pre-diploma) 16 weeks
Special diploma work 7 weeks

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 151

Planning t he Economy: the Study of E c o n o m i c s .

This section of the Faculty of Economics and Law

focused on the training of economists. As tn e curriculum of

t he Faculty demonstrates, even in the social sciences and

humanities, t he emphasis was on practical w o r k or, more

precisely, the relationship between theory and practice.

Headed by H. D . Chernogolovkin, candidate of J u d i c i a l

S c i e n c e , 55 the Faculty of Economics and Law, like the

Engineering Faculty, trained specialists, no t generalists,

in t he respective fields of th e two professions. The

Economics department was concerned mostly with the practical

aspects of economics and economic planning. The department

of law offered training only in international law.

As w e r e other specialists, economists were prepared

to make pragmatic contributions to their home countries.

They were, therefore, taught to be jack-of-all-trades in

economics, presumably without sacrificing mastery of their

specialities. Among the vocations for which graduates in

economics and economic planning were being prepared were

teaching economics at the university l ev e l , conducting

research at appropriate educational institutes, and working

as administrators, statisticians, planners, accountants, and

economic theorists in industry, farming, banking, and

g o v e r n m e n t . 60 In preparation for these potential jobs, the

students involved themselves in a s p e c i a l i z e d curriculum. A

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 152

major in either agricultural economics and planning or in

inausirial economics and planning came in the final year.

Before t h a t, all students took the same courses and even had

the same practical work. The comparative approach was

typical, with examples from the Soviet style of socialism,

American capitalism, and the economic systems of various

developing n a t i o n s . 61 Throughout the course, economics was

studied from a mathematical and statistical perspective.

Specific courses included during the first three years were

the analysis of economic activities of enterprises,

accounting and bookkeeping, finance and credit, theoretical

economics, and economic planning. Added to these were more

general courses in the history of economic theories,

economic geography, comparative economic history, and

political economy. In addition, there was language training

in at least one Western European language, as well as

mathematical statistics and other higher mathematics, and

production processing of various industries (chemical,

mining, f oo d, building materials, and others). Courses on

labor relations ana civil law were also part of the

curriculum.

Clearly graduates received a practical, technical

education. They were taught to function in a planned

economy, atypical of the Western training in economics.

Planners, statisticians, and accountants were prepared to

aid in the national efforts in d e v e l o p m e n t .

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 153

A chart follows which shows course requirements of

economics majors preparing to aid their national

economies.

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 M a j o r in E c o n o m i c s a n d P l a n n i n g of the
N a t i o n a l E c o n o m y of t h e E c o n o m i c s a n d L a w Faculty6

Total Number of
Subject Classroom Hours

Russian 228
Foreign languages 264
Political economy 268
History of economic sciences 72
Philosophy 180
Economic history 108
Economic geography 164
Higher mathematics with a basis of statistics 272
General theoretical statistics 72
Economic statistics 126
Bookkeeping and accounting 123
Analysis of economic activities 108
Planning of the national economy 192
Planning of local economies (areas and regions) 108
Economics of industry 144
Economics of agriculture 108
Finance and credit 126
Fundamentals of the automation of accounting work 64
Application of mathematical methods in planning
and economic calculations 72
Application of computers in planning and
economic accounting 54
Fundamentals of the technology of the major
branches of industry 164
Fundamentals of agriculture 114
The basic concept of the law and the state 108
Economics of trade 54
Economics of construction (by faculty) 36
Specialized courses and special seminars (general) 300
The economics in developing countries 72
Finance and credit in developing countries 54
International economic relations 60
International organization of national economic plans 36
The balance of national economy 24
Price formation 34
Specialized courses as chosen 234

Practical Work

Technological work in industry 2 weeks

Technological work in agriculture 2 weeks
Practical economics (general) 6 weeks
Practical economics (specialized; 11 weeks

. . .(in accordance with the diploma) 10 weeks

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 155

Human Sciences: History and Philology. The Faculty of

History and Philology, headed by Professor M. Molchanov,

Doctor of History, was divided i n to two departments: (1)

history and (2) Russian language and literature. Majors,

however, could select from one of the following three

subjects: (1) history, (2) Russian language and literature,

and (3) journalism. History students were trained for

teaching at institutions of higher learning and secondary

schools, as well as f or work in archives, museums,

libraries, and research institutes.

History, as a discipline, was actually a combination

of archeology, anthropology, art history, museum

administration, and history. The history courses on t he

peoples of Africa supported the official Soviet contention

that Western contacts in the course of the slave-trading,

colonial, and post-colonial eras had one overall effect: the

destruction of African political institutions, social

customs, and religious beliefs. All students took general

courses during the first two years: contemporary history,

Soviet history, medieval history, ancient history, t he

history of primitive society, archeology, and ethnography.

What was novel about th e course s tu d y , during the 1960-63

period, was the f ou r hundred and thirty (430) classroom

hours that all students spent on the history of t he

developing nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.* 3

Other required courses were comparative literature, the

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 156

fundamentals of state law a n d state management, and a

Western European language (English, French, or Spanish) — a

conspicuous absence of the classical languages of German,

Latin, a n d Greek.

At the conclusion of the required courses, students

selected special seminars, including individual research, on

countries of special interest to t h em . They were encouraged

to use their own nations as case studies. Other highly

specialized courses open to them included the arrangement of

museum collections, the study of archives, the art of

excavations and, more typical by American standards of

historiography, the h i s t o r y of art and literature, and

bibliography. As in t he c a s e of other specialties, history

majors had to spend a certain amount of time in individual

and practical work: eight weeks in student teaching,

thirteen weeks in p r o d u c t i o n , and twelve weeks in a research

project in o n e ' s specialty. A breakdown by hours or weeks

follows on the next page.

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 137

Curriculum of t h e •1'&ior in H i s t o r y of the

F a c u l t y of H i s t o r y and P h i l o l o g y 63

Russian language 264

Political economy 150
Philosophy 186
English, French, and Spanish 164
Logic 56
Psychology 54
Pedagogy 56
Methods of teaching history 54
Archeology 56
Ethnography 90
History of primitive society 72
History of the ancient world 150
History of the middle ages 160
History of the countries of Asia,
Africa, and Latin America 430
Modern history 340
History of the USSR 286
Historiography 72
Tracing of sources 72
Archive research 72
Fundamentals of state law and
state management 92
Russian and Soviet literature 164
Foreign literature 110
Economic and political geography 132
Museology 36
History of international relations 162
History of art 100
Specialized courses and seminars in
selected special subjects 288

Practical Work

Educational practical work 8 weeks

Production practical work 13 weeks
Research project in specialty 13 weeks

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 158

Conclusion

This chapter has discussed M o s c o w ’s innovative

Lumumba Friendship University. As case s tudy, t he

University was examined for its uniqueness in Soviet higher

education, its governance, its recruitment and selection,

its curriculum, and its orientation to Third World

development problems.

Following these largely descriptive chapters, this

study now turns to an analysis of Soviet training and

research programs for Africa.

Notes

1R o s e n , P e o p l e 's F r i e n d s h i p U n i v e r s i t y , n.d., p. 4,
quoting from a text c a r r i e d by Radio Moscow, 22 F e b r u a r y
1 9 60 .

2 I b i d . , p. 4.

3 I b i d . , p. 4.

8T h e o t h e r t w o w e r e t he A l l - U n i o n C e n t r a l C o u n c i l of
Trade Unions and t he M i n i s t r y of Hi g h e r and Specialized
Education.

5S e e interview with the P r e s ide nt of the Soviet

A f r o - A s i a n S o l i d a r i t y C o m m i t t e e in N e w T i m e s , No. 15, 1 960,
pp. 1 6 - 1 7 .

6F r e d e r i c k C. Barghoorn, Soviet Foreign Propaganda

(Princeton: Princeton University P r e s s , 1 96 4 ), p. 245.

"’Ibid.

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 8A m o n g the prominent guests h o s t e d by t he C o m m i t e e
and interviewed by us d u r i n g our seven-month, 1963-64,
research stay was the Secretary-General of the Uganda
P e o p l e ' s Party.

’M a r y H o l d s w o r t h , " A f r i c a n S t u d i e s in t he U . S . S . R . " ,
in K e n n e t h K i r k w o o d , ed., St_. A n t o n y ’s P a p e r s , Number 1 0 .
African Affairs, Number One ( Lo n d o n : Chatto and Windus,
1 9 61 ) .

10T h i s m e a n s t h a t it c o u l d and, i nd e e d , did support

opposition movements in p o l i t i c a l l y independent countries,
as well as political movements in African countries
r e m a i n i n g u n d e r t he d o m i n a t i o n of f o r e i g n rul e. It was, to
use General Haig's term, involved in "international
ter r o r i s m , " class warfare, a nd national liberation.

11A "public organization" is an organization

su p p o r t i n g g o v e rn men tal p o l i c y and su ppo rte d by g o v e r n m e n t a l
financing but o p e r a t i n g outside t he formal f r a m ewo rk of
diplomatic relations and formal diplomatic sanctions in
international affairs.

1 2S o v i e t Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee (Moscow,

162), p . 8.

1 3 1 b i d ., p. 9.

1 8 Z i m b a b w e n a t i o n a l i s t l e a d e r N. S i t h o l e i n d i c a t e d to
me in an interview in New York in April, 1963, his
d i s p l e a s u r e at the S o v i e t c o n c e r n w i t h t he l u x u r y of w o r l d
d i s a r m a m e n t at the M o s h i , A f r o - A s i a n Solidarity Conference
when Black Southern Africa, including his own Zimbabwe,
n e e d e d a r m s for m e r e s u r v i v a l in t h e m i d s t of an o p p r e s s i v e
white-minority regime. For a full report of Soviet
i n v o l v e m e n t , i n c l u d i n g p u b l i c s p e e c h e s m a d e at t h e i n a u g u r a l
c o n f e r e n c e , see Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity C o n f e r e n c e :
(C a i r o , December 2 6 , 1 9 5 7 , to January 1, 1 9 5 8 ) (Moscow:
F o r e i g n L a n g u a g e P u b l i s h i n g H o u s e , 1 9 58 ) .

15T h e p a r t i a l p u r p o s e of t he I n s t i t u t e is t he s t u d y
of t he b r e a k - u p of t h e c o l o n i a l s y s t e m a n d t he role A s i a n
a n d A f r i c a n c o u n t r i e s a r e to p l a y in w o r l p o l i t i c s .

16 A f r o - A s i a n P e o p l e s ' S o l i d a r i t y C o n f e r e n c e (Moscow:
Foreign L a n g u a g e P u b l i s h i n g H o u s e , 1 9 5 8 ), p. 158.

1 7I b i d

18O b s e r v e d l i b e r a t i o n h e a d q u a r t e r s of v a r i o u s A f r i c a n
c o u n t r i e s in C a i r o in 1 9 6 4 ( N o n - A l i g n e d C o n f e r e n c e ) a n d in
A l g i e r s in 1 9 6 5 ( a b o r t i v e A f r o - A s i a n S u m m i t C o n f e r e n c e ) .

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 160

15F. Barghoorn, Soviet Foreign Propaganda.

20P e r s o n a l i n t e r v i e w w i t h Mr. Matveev, Director of

Middle Eastern and African Division of t he S o v i e t S o c i e t i e s
of F r i e n d s h i p a n d C u l t u r a l R e l a t i o n s w i t h F o r e i g n Countri-es,
F r i e n d s h i p Ho use, Mo s c o w , A u g u s t , 1959. F r i e n d s h i p H o u s e is
a l s o u n d e r the s p o n s o r s h i p of t h e U n i o n .

21P r e s s r e l e a s e ,n .d ., p. 3, given us by Mr. Matveev.

2 21 b i d .

2 3I bia.

24I n f o r m a t i o n Bulletin, Committee of Youth

O r g a n i z a t i o n s of t h e U.S.S.R. (n .d . ) , p. 9.

2 5I bid, p. 8.

26F o r a b r i e f a c c o u n t of t h e first W o r l d Y o u t h Forum,

Moscow, A u g u s t , 1 9 6 1, which this writer attended as an
o b s e r v e r , s e e O d u m , p. 241.

2 ’Y o u t h and Freedom ( Ne w Y o r k )

2 81 b i d .

28H e a d e d for s o m e y e a r s by. an I r a q u i yo u t h leader,

Razik, seen most recently by the w r i t e r at a May, 1 9 6 9,
m e e t i n g of e x p e r t s in h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n , s p o n s o r e d in P a r i s
by UNESCO; surprisingly, no Africans were among the
educational administrators participating.

2 ’S e y m o u r R o s e n , T h e P e o p l e s F r i e n d s h i p U n i v e r s i t y in
the U.S.S.R. ’W a s h i n g t o n ; U.S. Department of Health,
E d u c a t i o n , a n d W e l f a r e , 1 9 6 2 ° , pp. 6-7.

3 “D e s c r i p t i v e i n f o r m a t i o n on t he H e l s i n k i festival
co m e s from per so n a l o b s e r v a t i o n s as w e l l as f r o m a n A f r i c a n
participant, a member of t h e f i r s t g r a d u a t i n g c l a s s of t h e
Univ ers ity , now p u r s u i n g g r a d u a t e st udies in t he W e s t . The
d e l e g a t i o n was u n d e r t he d i r e c t i o n of A l e x i a n d two other
Soviets, one a top Komsomol official whom the writer
r e c o g n i z e d as Pavel P a v l o v , a v i s i t o r to the U n i t e d States
in 1959 on a cultural exchange program involving this
writer.

31A f r i c a n students at work and at play were

p r o m i n e n t l y d i s p l a y e d in t he p h o t o s in b u i l d i n g s , especially
set a s i d e t h r o u g h o u t H e l s i n k i .

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 161

32Sources for this material include personal

interviews and a University-issue d booklet e nt i tl ed "Rules
of E n r o l m e n t to the P e o p l e ' s Friendship University named
after Patrice Lumumba for t h e 1963-1964 Academic Year"
(M o s c o w , n . d . ) p. 1. P r o b a b l e d a t e : 1 963.

33E d w a r d A. R a y m o n d , " E d u c a t i o n of F o r e i g n e r s in the

S o v i e t U n i o n " ( a d v a n c e p a p e r for t he 6 6 t h A n n u a l M e e t i n g of
th e A m e r i c a n Political Schience Association, Los Angeles,
C a l i f o r n i a , S e p t . 8-12, 1 9 7 0 ) , p. 7.

341b i d .

3SInterview with John Kalle, United Nations, New

York, O c t o b e r , 1 9 59 .

36 "Radical" in this sense refers to th e

self-proclaimed socialist governments in Ghana, Guinea,
M a i l , a n d th e U n i t e d A r a b R e p u b l i c .

3 7 It is c l e a r t h a t t h i s w a s not t o t a l l y i m p l e m e n t e d ,
b u t it d i d t e n d to l e s s e n t e n s i o n s , at least temporarily,
between certain neighboring countries. G h a n a , for e x a m p l e ,
stopped processing travel documents for Nigerian youth
d e s i r i n g t o s t u d y in t h e S o v i e t U n i o n .

3 81 9 6 4 Spravochni k (C a t a l o g u e : P e o p l e 's
Friendship University Named After Patrice Lumumba) (Moscow,
19 64) , p. 4. T h e o t h e r five o b j e c t i v e s w e r e 91° to c a r r y
out urgent scientific research w or k, including designs,
technologies, and cultures of Asian, African, and
L a t i n - A m e r i c a n c o u n t r i e s , w h i c h w o u l d e n a b l e t h e m to d e v e l o p
their national e c o n o m i e s ; 92° to p r o d u c e h i g h - q u a l i t y text
books and educational and graphic aids in Russian and
foreign languages for s t u d e n t s of the U n i v e r s i t y or o t h e r
e d u c a t i o n a l e s t a b l i s h m e n t s ; 93 0 to t r a i n s c i e n t i f i c t e a c h i n g
s t a f f for w o r k in t he U n i v e r s i t y a n d in high educational
establishments abroad; 94° to popularize scientific
disciplines; and 95° to c o o p e r a t e on the b a s i s of m u t u a l
h e l p on q u e s t i o n s of educational and sc ientific research,
with high educational scientific establishments, scientific
societies, go ve rnment al establishments, social or ga ni za ti o ns
a n d e n t e r p r i s e s of the S o v i e t U n i o n a n d a b r o a d by m e a n s of
exchange of information and participation in national,
regional, and international m ee ti n gs and conference.

39 P r e s s c o n f e r e n c e of t h e Rector, L um u mb a F r i e n d s h i p
U n i v e r s i t y , M o s c o w , D e c e m b e r 3, 1 9 64. A l s o s e e J. W e b b n i k ,
A f r i c a n S t u d e n t s , p. 1A. T h e R e c t o r g a v e t h e t o t a l n u m e r as
2 ,5 82, but g a v e t he b r e a k d o w n by f a c u l t y a s s t a t e d a b o v e . I
c a n n o t a c c o u n t for th e d i s c r e p a n c y b e t w e e n t h e t o t a l in t he
c h a r t - - 2 , 325 — a n d t he t o t a l f i g u r e he g a v e — 2, 5 8 2 - - e x c e p t

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 162

that the Rector indicated that his figures were approximate.

4 ’C a l l e d "Personal Adjustment" at some American

universities.

41Nigel Grant, Soviet E d u c a t i o n , p. 39.

4 2 1 b i d . , p. 38.

4 3 K. M . Panikkar, The Afro-Asian States and Their

P r o b l e m s (London: G. A L l e n a n d Unwin, Ltd., 1959) and Ken
P os t, T h e N e w S t a t e s of W e s t A f r i c a n (Penguin Books, 1964),
a r e a m o n g t h o s e w r i t e r s d e a l i n g w i t h th e s u b j e c t .

44Press Conference for foreign correspondents

a c c r e d i t e d by U . S . S . R . M i n i s t r y of Foreign Affairs, by t h e
Rector of L u m u m b a U n i v e r s i t y , at the U n i v e r s i t y , Moscow,
D e c e m b e r , 1 9 63 .

4 51 9 6 4 S p r a v o c h n i k of P e o p l e 's F r i e n d s h i p U n i v e r s i t y
named after Patrice L u m u m b a . (M o s c o w , 1 9 6 4 ) . Translated
f r o m R u s s i a n , pp. 2 7 - 2 8 .

4 61 9 6 4 S p r a v o c h n i k of P e o p l e 's F r i e n d s h i p U n i v e r s i t y
named after Patrice L u m u m b a . ’M o s c o w , 1 9 6 4 ° . Translated
f r o m R u s s i a n , pp. 2 7 - 2 8 . T r a n s l a t i o n by H.D.W.

47H as s a n Mirreh, Soviet Policy, p p . 50-51.

4 8Ibid.

4 ’Ibid.

5 0 I.I. Potekhin, P r i m e r , p. 308.

5 1 I b i d . , p. 308

5 2 1 b i d ., pp. 184-185.

5 3A s t u d e n t ' s m a j o r f i e l d of c o n c e n t r a t i o n w a s o f t e n
a joint decision, involving t he s t u d e n t ' s s u c c e s s in the
preparatory studies, his personal preference, African
national manpower needs, a nd the availablity of Soviet
t r ai n in g resources.

5 4H a n d b o o k on Africa (New York: Foreign Policy

A s s o c i a t i o n , 196 6), p. 58.

55 J a m e s Coleman, "Subsaharan African," in A l m o n d and

C o l e m a n , e ds., Politics of D e v e l o p i n g N a t i o n s .

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 163

“ George Kimble, Tropical Africa.

“ "Economic Commission for African Studies

D e v e l o p m e n t P r o b l e m s of th e R e g i o n , " U n i t e d N a t io n s Review,
V o l . 8, No. 4 ’A p r i l , 19 6 1 ° , p. 22.

5 81 9 6 4 S p r a v o c h n i k of P e o p l e 's Fr i e n d s h i p U n i v e r s i t y
named after Patrice L u m u m b a . ( Mo sco w, 1 9 6 4 ). My translated
f r o m R u s s i a n , pp. 64.

5 ’1 9 6 4 Spravochnik (C a t a l o g u e ), 1 964, p. 5.

6 °1 9 6 4 Spravochnik (C a t a l o g u e ), 1 964, p. 18.

“ Interviews with Tanzanian Jackson Kessi, Lumumba

U niversity, Moscow, J a n u a r y 19 64, and Glasgow University,
G l a s g o w , A u g u s t 1967.

“ 1964 Spravochnik (Moscow, 19 6 4 ) , p. 69-70.

6 3S p r a v o c h n i k . This contrasted sharply with the

l i m i t e d n u m b e r of n o n - W e s t e r n c o u r s e s a v a i l a b l e at t h a t time
t o s t u d e n t s at A m e r i c a n a n d o t h e r W e s t e r n u n i v e r s i t i e s .

6 4 1 9 6 4 S p r a v o c h n i k of P e o p l e 's Fr i e n d s h i p U n i v e r s i t y
named after Patrice Lumumba. ( Mo sco w, 1964). My
t r a n s l a t i o n f r o m R u s s i a n , pp. 7 8 - 7 9 .

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 C H A P T E R V

SOVIET TRAINING AND RESEARCH PROGRAMS FOR AFRICA:

A CRITICAL REASSESSMENT

In this critical reassessment of Soviet training and

research programs for Africa, there are four sets of

analytical questions to w h i c h this chapter will respond: (1)

Why ha s the scholarly and popular literature in t he U.S.

persisted in reporting on Soviet training programs in a

negative manner? (2) To what extent were Soviet aims and

African priorities similar? (3) To what extent was Soviet

research on Africa responsive to A f r i c a n priorities? And,

(4) to what extent were Soviet training programs for

Africans relevant to A f r i c a n priorities?

Coverage in U.S . Media and Scholarship

The interpretation of Soviet training programs for

Africa has been produced by a triumverate composed of the

press, scholarship, and government. The persistence of

myths about those Soviet programs may be attributed to "the

political influence of those people producing it rather than

... to truth or a c c u r a c y . " 1 It m a y be concluded, as Said

further asserts, that "what makes knowledge accurate or

inaccurate, bad, better, or worse, has to do m a i n l y with the

needs of the society in w h i c h th a t knowledge is produced."2

164

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 165

Social scientists have been in the business of

disseminating misinformation for many years. A rash of

studies supporting very particular foreign, as well as

domestic, public policies has appeared. In a sense it is a

disservice to the educated that "knowledge [about other

societies] has generally proceded not only from

confrontation b ut also from cultural a n t i p a t h y . " 3 Hence, t he

framework for much Western knowledge about the the Third

World has come o ut of the context of colonialism and, hence,

from a position of power. This is a b u n d a n t l y evident in

Western scholarship concerned with African area studies.

Power -- and specifically the Cold War with the USSR -- has

also, p r o v i d e d f.he c o n t e x t for Soviet area studies in-U.S. •

The print medium probably propagates the greatest

amount of misinformation about Soviet training programs.

That the Western-controlled media persistently projected

negative images of A f r i c a n student life in the U S S R is w e l l

documented. As Robert Scalapino observed, "Clearly th e many

stories of discrimination in the Soviet Union against

African students have done t he Soviet image some harm."4

There is a possibility that the murder-protest-

march-demonstration of December, 1 963, was as damaging to

the Soviet foreign ima ge, especially in the Third World, as

any Soviet event during the Khrushchev era. The messages in

the A f r i c a n , Caribbean, Asian, and Western European press

demonstrated the similarity of coverage to which local

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 166

populations were exposed about the incident. News in A f r i c a

and the Caribbean was in a press that remained under

expatriate European control and, more significantly, often

originated from Western news agencies. This no doubt had

some bearing on what was reported. Regardless, alternative

channels of sources did not appear to h a v e been available or

to h a v e been used. This situation was just one of several

manifestations of neo-colonialism in post-colonial

societies. UNESCO, at the initiative of the Third World and

under Third World leadership (including the Senegalese

UNESCO Secretary-General, Monsieur M'Bow), has joined the

struggle fo r a more equitable collection and distribution of

international news^5

No doubt the major dysfunctional event associated

with an African student presence in the USSR was the Red

Square demonstration of disapproval related to internal

happenings in the USSR, in this case the death of a Ghanian

medical student. Repercussions could be observed among

ordinary Soviet citizens, Party members, the Party and

Government political leadership, and the international media

in c o u n t r i e s both adversarial and friendly to the USSR. The

event enabled the'Western international news agencies, which

collect and disseminate 70 percent of all news that crosses

international b o u n d a r i e s , 6 to make use of this atypical

event and to d i s t o r t it. The Reuters correspondent, for

example, who sent out th e first release and was later

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 167

expelled, transmitted reports in exaggerated form to

subscribers around the world. That newspapers even in

countries f-riendly to the USSR, for example, Ghana,

published distorted stories about t he incident reveals

something about t he nature of international newspaper

ownership and th e collection and dissemination of data

through the "free flow of information".7

Despite the existence of American correspondents in

Moscow, reporting on Soviet training programs for A f r i c a n s

was often sensationalized, fragmented, and f o c a l i z e d . 8 The

print media tended to practice the "journalism of

e x c e p t i o n " , 5 often in the form of sensational tones sought

by editors back home. By and large, the fo u r major Western

news agencies -- AP, U P I , Reuters, and AFP -- p r o v i d e d much

of the public, non-intelligence data about Soviet training

programs for A f r i c a n s .

What is significant about this is that, in many

cases, the myths of yesteryear have been incorporated int o

the thought patters, teaching, and research assumptions of

scholars, teachers in the social sciences and educational

studies, and government policy-makers. Mainstream

reporting, like orthodox scholarship, appears to reflect

official U.S. government policy and interpretations of

international events. This, in tu rn, means that government

policy-makers have internalized th e Big Lie about socialism

and t he USSR. So, at least on the subject of coverage of

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Soviet training programs for A f r i c a n s , t he U.S. press h as

revealed itself as the "fourth branch of government"

after the judiciary, the executive, and the legislative —

by its institutionalization of ignorance in perpetuating

myths internalized by government policy-makers and

spokespersons.

It is significant that reports on Soviet training

programs for Africans reported by the popular media — along

with undocumented intelligence reports -- were repeated by

scholars and by h i g h e r education organizations (for example

th e American Council on Education), often without

c i t a t i o n .10

What t he Fourth Estate had already institutionalized

as misinformation was scientifically sustained by the

Academy. Indeed, an unholy alliance of media, government,

and scholarship in the collection and dissemination of

information perpetuated errors of commission and errors of

omission in the Academy's search for knowledge and

enlightenment. Orthodox scholars sponsored by government,

by and large, chose no t to d e a l with the subject of Soviet

training programs for Africans in normally acceptable

scientific means of primary-source data collection, but

rather through t he regurgitation of intelligence and media

myths.

There are specific reasons for gaps and distortions.

Government is a m a j o r sponsor of research and publications,

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 169

as well as a key source of information. This includes

direct research in t h e U.S. Office of Education; sponsored

research by t he U. S . State Department/External Research,

which used non-experts on the subject; and publications in

official government-sponsored journals (e.g.

Problems of C o m m u n i s m .11 Karbel and Halsey point out that 70

percent of proposed research projects not receiving

government support were eventually dropped by their

proposers,1d e m o n s trating a staggering dependence of

scholars on g o v e r n m e n t for financing research.

Furthermore, there is a tendency among researchers to

subscribe to uncritical, mainstream myths about socialism in

general, and about the USSR in particular, as inherently

evil forces. Hence, whatever products, including foreign

trainees, result from programs sponsored by the U S S R and

other socialist states would also be expected to be

negative. This, combined with the preceding observation

about government as a major funder, would leave scholars to

be oriented to the prevailing orthodox views (i.e., in the

Cold War context, uncritical supporters of government

policies towards the Soviet Union).

A meticulous search of sources reveals th a t not one

serious, methodologically so u n d , empirical piece of research

was ever reported in t h e literature on Lumumba Friendship

University. The customary description by American

academicians discredited th e University, training programs

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for Africans, Soviet international cultural relations,

Soviet society, and Marxism. Fredrick Jameson reminds

readers of "t he p r o f o u n d difference in scholarship between

the American and E urope an context ... for in E u r o p e , Marxism

is o m n i p r e s e n t , a living mode of thought, one with which

every intellectual is bound to come int o contact with in o n e

way or another, and to which he is obliged to r e a c t . " 13 In

the U.S., on t he other hand, many social scientists simply

reject Marxism a priori as irrelevant. Therefore, Lumumba

University, as a university in a Marxist-Leninist st a t e ,

was, by and large, presented as a university of and for

propaganda and terrorism. Overlooked, or disregarded, was

t he reality of science, technology, skills for a new African

society, and the optimism that flourished among both guests

and hosts. This is a concrete example in scholarship where

t he idea triumphed over the r e a l i t y . 14

After discussing why Soviet training programs have

been so p o o r l y covered in b o t h scholarship and media in the

U .S ., this work turns to a discussion of to w h a t extent

there was a similarity between Soviet aims and African

priorities.

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 171

African Priorities and Soviet Aims

Collected data reveal a common barrier to

implementing both African priorities and professed Soviet

aims in Africa. A major obstacle to full African

independence was also a barrier to Soviet interaction with

Africa: continued Western control of economic, diplomatic,

and cultural institutions, including industry, large-scale

commerce, inter-governmental relations and diplomacy,

official language, higher education, an d , in the French

Community, even secondary e d u c a t i o n . 15 F o r the Soviet Union,

this resulted in limited, almost non-existent, access to and

communications with African societies. Hence, in theory at

least, sharing a common enemy, who obstructed both Soviet

aims and African priorities. could form a basis for

cooperation and collaboration in areas of similar or

complementary interests, This similarity of purpose in

countering continued African dependence on the West was, for

the Soviet government, a way of tryin to gain greater access

to African political, intellectual, and lay persons. In

t urn, for African nations, it c o u l d lead to an assertion of

expanded autonomy and sovereignty.

Some positive factors were present to facilitate

Soviet aims in Africa. First, socialism had a special

appeal to much of t he anti-colonial African political

leadership. Second, because it h a d no h i s t o r y of colonial

domination and exploitation of Africa, t he Soviet Union was

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 172

able to offer its goodwill without strings. Finally, in

both material and spiritual terms, the USSR, especially

through its Central Asian Republics, could present itself as

a model for the agrarian and highly illiterate Third-World

s o c i e t i e s .16

African states were involved in a multi-faceted

struggle that involved political, economic, and cultural

decolonization. The perceptive observations of African

ideologues and practitioners -- Nkrumah as p r e s i d e n t of

Ghana, Azikiwe as regional political leader of Nigeria,

Fanon as ambassador in his adopted Algeria, the

Senghor-Cessaire-Damas triumverate in their advocacy of

negritude -- recognized that political, constitutional

autonomy was insufficient without other forms of liberation,

including economic and cultural.

In keeping with African-defined priorities of

breaking dependence on former colonial masters, the USSR was

aiming at providing assistance that would lead to sustained

counter-dependence and independence from the West. Hence,

in education, both formal and nonformal, Moscow's efforts

were made to intervene with training programs challenging

the status quo of continued dependence and to laying the

groundwork, in a number of areas, for international

interdependence between a socialist USSR and a decolonized

or decolonizing Africa. This was not similar to the actual

international dependence that had existed under classical

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 173

colonialism and continued to exist under neo-colonialism.

Given the apparent similarity of interests of A f r i c a n

priorities and Soviet aims -- in a word, " e m p o w e r m e n t " 17 for

Africa -- this work next turns its attention to w h a t extent

Soviet research was responsive to African priorities and

interests.

Research on Africa in the U S S R

What makes ... knowledge

a c c u r a t e or i n a c c u r a t e , bad,
b e t t e r , or w o r s e , h a s to do
m a i n l y w i t h t h e n e e d s of the
society in which th a t
k n o w l e d g e is p r a c t i c e d .

- Edward S a i d 18

Knowledge should be evaluated in its context:

ideological, t i m e, and historical circumstances. Certainly,

th e Cold War after World War II, the anti-imperialist

struggles of th e Third-World, the isolation of the U S S R from

most states of the world, the liberalized climate produced

in the U S S R by domestic reforms under Khrushchev (especially

in education and agriculture), and the long-term Soviet

committment to national liberation in A f r i c a and Asia -- all

of these contributed to an upgraded Soviet interest in

Africa in g e n e r a l and to A f r i c a n studies in p a r t i c u l a r .

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 174

When Khrushchev came to p o w e r in 1955, there was no

specialized research institute on Africa. Soviet scholars,

isolated by c o l o n i a l authorities, had done little field work

in Africa, and published works were generally based on

Western secondary sources. By the time of his political

demise ten y e a r s later, there had been a tremendous increase

in b o t h the quantity and the quality of Soviet research on

Africa. Soviet scholars were recognized by their peers in

Africa and abroad, a specialized institute on Africa had

been created in M o s c o w , Soviet researchers were no longer

merely dependent on secondary sources, and , finally,

research — critical and policy-oriented — appeared to be

aimed at aiding the decolonization efforts of African

states.

Coinciding with what African intellectuals Sembene,

Nkrumah, and Fanon were observing and advocating, Soviet

scholars were aiming at radically altering the basic

conditions in African countries, whose political economies

had changed only m i n i ma ll y since classical colonialism ended

and constitutional independence began. Soviet scholarship

during the K h r u s h c h e v era was a direct response to the

African decolonization movement: through its restructuring

of African studies, through a content focus that gave

increased attention to c o n t e m p o r a r y events, and through a

break-through in d i r e c t contacts with African ideologues and

field observation of African political evolution (ideology,

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 175

political economy, etc.).

At the public-policy level th e Soviet political

leadership is on public record as being concerned with

Soviet research on Africa, and its relationship and

application to A f r i c a n decolonization. At the 1956 20th

Party Congress of th e C P SU, t he Soviet policy-maker Mikoyan

reiterated the Soviet government's concern that Soviet

s c h o l a r s h i p was not keeping pace with political events in

Africa. Later, in 1 9 60, at the opening session of the 25th

International Congress of Orientalists in Moscow, he

proclaimed the need for Third-World area studies to serve

t he needs of Third-World peoples: "Eastern studies can only

count on wide recognition and success when they serve t he

interests of the p e o p l e s of the E a s t . " 19

One major step was the creation of a new African

research insititution. With reorganization in 1959, the

quasi- centralization of Soviet studies in M o s c o w under o ne

roof resulted from a direct appeal to K h r u s h c h e v by such

prominent observers and respected Africanists as W.E.B.

DuBois and Mrs. Paul (Eslanda) R o b e s o n . 20 Through the

popular scholar and Party activist I.I. Potekhin, th e

Institute's founding director, Soviet scholarship had access

to the Party and G o v e r n m e n t leadership. ( Even now in 1984,

it is of more than passing interest to note the direct

family links of the leadership of the Institute to th e

Soviet political hierarchy: the current director, Gromyko,

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 176

is the son of Politburo member and long-term Foreign Affairs

Minister A.A. Gromyko.)

In research, writing, and pronouncements, Soviet

scholars were reluctant to criticize African nationalist

ideologies even when those ideologies seemed contradictory

to M a r x i s m - L e n i n i s m or scientific socialism, as for example,

African socialism. In fa ct, only when African nationalist

ideologies came into direct conflict with Soviet foreign

policy implementation was there overt criticism, as, for

example, of negritude and Pan-Africanism discussed in

Chapter II, and similarly with the case of Soviet Africanist

Lily Golden, herself of African descent through her

Afro-American father, who was advised by a u t h o r i t i e s , in

late 1963, to c e a s e her anti-Chinese writing for th e popular

p r e s s . 21

The decolonization of African history and politics

has been the subject of concern of numerous politicians,

intellectuals, artists, and ideologues. Chapter I has

discussed the views of African politicians (Nkrumah,

Azikiwe, Nyerere, Senghor and others) and of African

scholars (Dike, Ajayi and others). They al l shared the view

that there was a need to c o r r e c t the African history written

from the colonizers' perspective. Similarly, the views of

an. African nonformal-education returnee from Moscow, the

Senegalese novelist and filmmaker Ousmane Sembene, have been

reiterated. Sembene, prolific communicator as

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 177

internationally known filmmaker and novelist, spoke of t he

need to d e c o l o n i z e h i s t o r y . 21

A similarity existed between some African ideologues

and scholars, on one hand, and Soviet scholars and

policy-makers, on the other hand, on the need for a

reinterpretation of African history. A shift from an

interpretation of history through the eyes of t he colonial

power holders to perspectives and points of v i e w of the

powerless victims of colonialism was undertaken by Soviet

scholars. A dialectical relationship existed between the

orthodox or m a i n s t r e a m s c h o l a r s h i p of most American

Africanists and t he antithetical or critical scholarship of

Soviet Africanists.

Antithetical scholars, as was noted in the

"Introduction", are those who explicitly and consciously set

o ut to challenge research assumptions, methodologies, and

conclusions of mainstream s c h o l a r s . 23 A notable assumption

among t he mainstream social scientists in the U.S. was --

and continues to be -- that research can be objective and

non-political, even when receiving g o v e r n m e n t or foundation

funding for research in foreign area studies. Antithetical

scholars, on t he other ha n d , recognize t he political nature

of al l scholarship in the social sciences and humanities.

Hence, there were similarities between some African

scholars, as discussed in C h a p t e r I, and Soviet scholars, as

noted in Chapter II, on t h e priority for an A f r o - c e n t r i c

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 178

research supportive of decolonization, not a continuation of

Euro-centric research supportive of European colonialism.

Using different assumptions, ideological frameworks,

methodologies, topics, and an institutional reorganization,

Soviet scholarship on A f r i c a came up with findings, about

African life and culture that could be interpreted as aiding

th e decolonization process by documenting African resistance

to c o l o n i a l i s m and paying attention to A f r i c a n interests and

priorities.

Among the similar assumptions of African-advocated

scholarship and Soviet research, in c o n t r a s t to m a i n s t r e a m

U.S. research, were (1) t he explicit link between

scholarship and politics versus mainstream Western

pretensions of objectivity; (2) t he immoral and exploitative

nature of European colonialism versus th e G o d - g i v e n morality

of W e s t e r n civilization, including its expansionist imperial

era in t he Third World; (3) for Soviet scholars and some

African scholars, the m o r a l i t y of scientific socia lism with

its adherence to the inevitability of the dissolution of

capitalism, versus the immorality of

socialism/Marxism-Leninism assumed by mos t U.S. scholars;

and (4) for Soviet as well' as some A f r i c a n Africanists, the

scientific validity of M a r x i s t scholarship, in contrast to

what Marxists have called th e "bourgeois historiography" of

much Western scholarship on Africa.

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 179

As a result, in c o n t e n t , Soviet scholars, like some

of their African counterparts, had, first, to confront th e

negative stereotypes in western historial literature. This

meant countering the scholarship pervasive throughout t he

colonial era as a scientific justification for overseas

conquest and expansion, a reflection of Tarzan stereotypes

and of th e mentality of K i p l i n g ’s " w h i t e man's burden".

Similarly, Soviet scholars se t out to d e m o n s t r a t e the

unity of African languages, not the fragmentation of African

"dialects" as W e s t e r n scholarship (a n d e v e n continuing today

in t he American popular press) used to a s s e r t . In the same

ve i n, Soviet scholars set out to d e m o n s t r a t e the economic

importance of Africa to the development of Western

capitalism, including for example, th e U.S. dependence on

African mineral resources for its at-mic developments.

Finally, like some of their African c o u n t e r p a r t s , 24 Soviet

researchers were bent on demonstrating African resistance to

colonialism, unlike European scholarship that had tended to

portray African passivity to a n d collaboration with such

European colonial practices as "indirect rule" as was the

British practice in centralized kingdoms like Buganda in

Uganda and Yoruba territory in N i g e r i a . 25 C l e a r l y all the

data are not yet in for a balance sheet.

Having analyzed the extent to w h i c h Soviet research

was related to some African priorities, this study now turns

to an analysis of th e relevance of Soviet training programs

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 180

tc A f r i c a n priorities.

Soviet Training Programs for Africans

How relevant were Soviet training programs to a

decolonizing Africa burdened down by an orientation to

external political entities -- including its system of

higher education and its trained human resources? This work

has already discussed in C h a p t e r I that colonial education

in A f r i c a had not been instituted and implemented in A f r i c a n

interests and to m e e t African needs but, in fact, to m e e t

European needs. Numerous African ideologues and scholars,

as well as W e s t e r n observers, have attested to this.

A specific case in point was higher education.

Elitist in nature, as seen by their incredible

faculty/student ratios, living accommodations, and

curricula, universities reflected Euro-centric interests and

priorities. Among these were the humanistic curricula (with

little attention to A f r i c a n studies) and administrations and

teaching faculties composed mostly of European expatriates.

There was little space for significant African input, either

in t he curriculum or in th e governance.

Moreover, at the middle and high levels of human

resources, there was a massive deficiency of Africans

trained in a number of key areas. These included

engineering, medicine, agronomy, teachers (especially

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 181

secondary) and professors, administrators, managers, and

trained personnel to assist professionals (nu rs e s ,

technicians, and others). As a result indigenization or

Africanization was articulated as a high priority by the new

African political leadership. And to carry this out,

Africans were forced to study abroad, especially in a

variety of industrialized nations where facilities were more

abundant, diverse, and available.

The Soviet Union was among those countries whose

government developed an agenda for training Africans.

Frustrated by A f r i c a ' s continued dependence on t he European

colonial machine -- whether in its classical version or its

modified version of neo-colonialism — th e Soviet Union, by

and large, had to p r o v i d e its significant assistance outside

Africa (though technical institutes were set up in several

African countries with which t he USSR had established

diplomatic relations). At the UN and at UNESCO, the USSR

offered moral and technical support. Inside the Soviet

Union, where its Party and Government controlled t he

country's resources and destiny, Soviet educational aid was

impressive in its response to A f r i c a n priorities for skilled

persons in diverse areas.

Through international education programs for Africa,

the Soviet Union was interested in influencing the internal

African environment. The USSR wished to p r o d u c e skilled

human resources, male and female, who would also, at least

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 182

in the long run, be receptive to the Soviet system: its

ideology, its social system, and its v a l u e s . Soviet actors

hoped t hat, in t urn, African responses might ease pressures

on th e Soviet government in t h e international environment by

providing friends or sympathizers -- or, at l east,

non-enemies -- m a y b e even partners in a coalition. Hence,

th e Soviet actors expected both themselves and African

actors to profit from t he training ventures. The Soviets

desired to produce an environment in w h i c h students would

come to the USSR, apply themselves seriously to their

technical studies, absorb as m u c h of the Soviet political

culture as desirable, and , t hen , return home with their

newly acqui'red skills and values to contribute to the

necessary skilled bank of human resources needed to

implement political and constitutional independence. Soviet

officials hoped that Afrian returnees would assume positions

of leadership in the national cadres of a decolonizing or

decolonized Africa. In the process, African states would be

expected to evolve from their position of hostility and

non-cooperation, present under colonialism and

neo-colonialism, to a position of cooperation, friendship,

and maybe, in some cases, interdependence.

Among the q u e s t i o n s that surely must have confronted

Soviet policy makers were (1) whether to provide facilities

and technical personnel to train personnel i_n Africa; (2)

whether to train them in a third, friendly country; (3)

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 183

whether to integrate them into existing institutes and

training facilities in the U S S R : or (4) whether to c r e a t e

new (or modified) institutions or training facilities

specifically geared to local, African needs.

As a general rule, t he first option had to be

rejected or m i g h t not be possible because of the legacy of

hostility from some metropolitan-oriented policy makers and

technicians. Added to this was th e Soviet unfamiliarity

with the continent due to limited first-hand experiences in

Africa; for, by and large, the Soviets were prevented by

colonial authorities from even visiting African countries

during t he colonial era. Given this legacy of colonial

hostility, the Soviets ;natf^to d e v i s e a pragmatic approach.

The answer was t he integration of African students into

existing, Soviet universities, complemented by the creation

of a variety of formal and nonformal programs and a n ew

innovative institution, Lumumba Friendship University. More

specifically it w a s in c u r r i c u l u m , access, and socialization

that Soviet training programs attempted to respond to A f r i c a

realities.

Curriculum

Educational facilities in A f r i c a were found to be not

only insufficient in number but also oriented to th e

metropolitan country. Furthermore, African universities did

not demonstrate the curriculum capacity to train enough

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 184

personnel in fields that were necessary for an independent

nation to break th e dependency that characterized its

external relations during colonialism. An examination of

one field, geology, will suffice.

Geology case s t u d y . What was the relationship between

the Lumumba University curriculum in geology and foreign

mineral exploitation of the African continent as perceived

by the Soviet leadership and research spokesmen? Key Soviet

political leaders expressed th e need to diffuse

technological skills in m i n e r a l extraction. In his speech

to t he 15th session of the U. N . General Assembly on

September 18, 19 59, Premier Khrushchev noted his

g o v e r n m e n t ’s c o n c e r n about the exploitation of Third World

resources by W e s t e r n interests:

The p e o p l e of many of these c ou nt ries have won

political independence, but they are still c ru elly
e x p l o i t e d by f o r e i g n e r s e c o n o m i c a l l y . T h e i r oil and
other natural resources are being plundered. They
are b e i ng t a k e n out of their c ou ntrie s for a l m o s t
nothing in return, even while they yield hugh
p r o f i t s t o the f o r e i g n e x p l o i t e r s . 26 ( E m p h a s i s m i n e )

Prior to this 1959 speech, Khrushchev and his

government, through its Permanent Delegate, had used th e

U.N. as a forum to communicate its concern about the

manifest influence of th e W e s t in m i n e r a l exploitation. The

Soviet representative at the U.N. had earlier accused

Western prospectors, under the guise of United Nations

sponsored surveys, of prospecting to aid private Western

business at the expense of countries for whom th e

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 185

prospecting was carried cut.

In addition to th e General Assembly, the Soviet

delegates also used the Trusteeship Council as a forum to

expose the administering powers' economic policies and

practices in the trust territories: Cameroons (British and

French), Togoland (British a nd French), Southwest Africa

( S o u t h A f r i c a ) , 21 Somalia (Br i t i s h and French), Tanganyika

(British), and Rwanda-Urundi (B e l g i u m ) . The European trust

administrators -- Belgium, F ra n e e , South Africa, and the

United Kingdom -- were sp e c i f i c a l l y accused of allowing

private foreign companies, with official licenses, to

prospect and to exploit t h e mi n e r a l resources of A f r i c a . 2®

The reasons given for the Soviet cr iticism concerned

the division of Africa at th e Congress of Berlin (1884-1885)

that began t he territorial scr a m b l e for Africa and resulted

in European colonialism and territorial occupation. The

colonial practice was n ot to consult the local population

nor to secure their consent on such vital m a t t e r s . 29 T h i s

meant that even after Africa n political independence, the

European governments would sti 11 retain significant economic

influence, through natural resources, and thus inhibit

self-determination and eventua 1 autonomy. This is a c l a s s i c

example of neo-colonialism, that phenomenon of outside

economic control, of remote control, after independence

which insures continued c u l t u ral and political domination

from the o u t s i d e . 29

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Soviet scholars also reiterated in their published

works the same charges made by their diplomats in

international political forums. The widely respected

academician I.I. Potekhin accused Western prospectors of

internationally under-estimating the mineral potential of

Africa c o u n t r i e s . 31 The result of such distortions was

two-fold. One was that it misled African political and

economic decision-makers into under-estimating their own

resources available for e c o n o m i c development. Another was

that the nations received smaller remunerations for their

ra w m a t e r i a l s than those to which they were entitled. One

specific example reported by Potekhin was Guinea. Whereas

French specialists estimated iro n reserves to be between 2. 5

and 3.5 billion tons, " S o v i e t geologists, who visited

Guinea, following only a preliminary study, estimated iron

ore reserves at 20 to 30 billion tons", or up to ten times

what the French experts had estimated. What effect did

Potekhin feel that the development of mining and other

industries had on African leadership coping with

post-independence problems?

The main condition fo r the c o n q u e s t of economic

independence, and for the creation of an
harmoniously developed e c o n o m y , is the d e v e l o p m e n t
of i n d u s t r y . T h e s l o g a n of i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n is o n e
of t h e m o s t p o p u l a r s l o g a n s in c o n t e m p o r a r y A f r i c a .
B u t th e e c o n o m i c a l l y - w e a k s t a t e s of A f r i c a d o not at
present have the strength of a creation of
l a r g e - s c a l e e n t e r p r i s e s of t h e v a r i o u s m e t a l l u r g i c a l
or machine-building industries. Therefore,
i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n is b e g i n n i n g w i t h the e n l a r g e m e n t
of a m i n i n g i n d u s t r y , t h e b u i l d i n g of h y d r o e l e c t r i c
stations, and e n t e r p r i s e s of l i g h t industry plants

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 187

for th e processing of agricultural p r o d u c t s . 32

(emphasis mine)

Did the Lumumba University curriculum respond to that

need? The University gave high priority to diffusing

technological data to A f r i c a n students through the natural,

physical, and medical sciences. Students were free to

select, or were coerced in t o selecting, the sciences in at

least 70 p e r c e n t of the cases, a sharp contrast to t he small

number of African students who were majoring in the sciences

in W e s t e r n countries (and in sharp contrast to reports in

U.S. scholarly and public media).

By providing training programs aimed at meeting

African deficiencies and aspirations — and not the external

needs of th e former European metropole -- the U S S R was

potentially helping Africa's decolonizing nations break

their human-resource dependence on external powers desiring

continued domination over African destinies. Especially

useful in this regard were the technical and scientific

curricula that combined required practical work — or

"responsibilities of the professions", according to A f r i c a n

educationalist M o u m o u n i 32 -- with academic studies.

Furthermore, the Soviet training programs were n ot

contributing to t he international brain-drain problem faced

by m a n y Third World states. There was a legal guarantee

that education rendered by the USSR would not be utilized by

the industrialized host country, but, hopefully, by the

non-industrialized nations of the guest-students. Rigorous

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 188

oral examination procedures -- coupled with on-the-job

training and mandatory return home after termination of

studies — helped to ensure that African countries could

count on highly proficient human resources in their

particular field when th e students returned to Africa. In

other words, Soviet training programs responded to A f r i c a n

priorities for an indigenization, or Africanization, of

human resources in strategic areas.

Access: Recruitment and Selection

Innovative, persistent, aggressive, and decentralized

behavior characterized the recruitment and publicity for

Soviet training programs for A f r i c a n s . From the time of its

announcement, Friendship University recruiters were the m o s t

visible at international gatherings with significant members

of Third-World participants. By searching beyond the

students with traditional qualifications, t he U S S R was able

to a d d to th e p o o l of graduates, in d e p t h a n d in b r e a d t h ,

needed to fil l the human-resource voids and deficiencies.

To what extent could the U SS R, by providing

educational opportunities for persons not part of a favored,

powerful, upper stratum of society, be said to be

contributing to th e democratization of A f r i c a n societies?

The intentional recruitment and selection of those students

from marginal segments of society was significant for

potential democratization. A testimony from an impoverished

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 189

orphan from Mauritius at Lumumba University reveals an

example of student g r a t i t u d e : "I lost my p a r e n t s at an early

age, and so had to work and get whatever schooling it c o u l d

at the same time .... Most of our students came from poor

families, and would probably never have been able to g e t a

higher e a u c a t ion bur for the founding of Lumumba

U n i v e r s i t y . " 33 (Emphasis mine)

In a sen s e , the USSR could be considered to have

provided an international affirmative action program for

what Franz Fanon has called "the wretched of the earth".

For those denied access to education under co l o n i a l i s m , for

those whose families were too poor to p a y for education, and

for those without necessary educational crede ntials, Soviet

formal and nonformal education provided skills -- and, hence

upward mobility, with greater opportunities fo r e c o n o m i c and

political participation -- that inte r n a l African

institutions, which were still linked to colonial

institutions, could not provide. Simil arly, Soviet

nonformal programs in c o g n i t i v e and affective education were

available to rural and urban workers, party and political

cadres, and trade union functionaries in a r e a s n ot yet

developed to c a p a c i t y in A f r i c a n countries.

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Socialization

Finally is the area of socialization, perhaps for

some African political leaders the most controversial

ingredient of Soviet training programs for Africans. More

than one African president was heard to remark: "If you want

to p r o d u c e a Communist, send the student to Paris; if y o u

want to produce an anti-Communist, send him to M o s c o w . " 34

One might even conclude that mental emancipationn — in

ideology, in social values, in approach — was an important

outcome of a sojourn in the socialist USSR. Certainly, t he

USSR's societal curriculum — its informal education

generated fear among some African politial leadership and

pride and support among others.

Soviet training programs n ot only gave guest students

the scientific and technical tools so sorely needed in their

home countries, but it also raised their level of

consciousness. They were provided the insight, or tools,

for analyzing possible reasons for their plight, their

relative poverty, and their low status in the international

hierarchy. Specifically, as Freire defined it,

conscentization was "learning to p e r c e i v e social, political,

and economic c o n t r a d i c t ions and to take action against th e

oppressive elements of r e a l i t y " . 35

It is p r o b a b l e that during their sojourn in the USSR,

African trainees learned more than the ideas and facts of

the specific subject that they had gone to study. As

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 191

American political scientist Richard Merritt wrote in a

general comment on student sojourns abroad, "one learns a

preferred value system, a world v ie w, and a way of l i f e . " 36

And, more specifically in the African context, Ber.in

educator and novelist Dogbeh pointed out, following his o wn

short-term visit as a guest of the Soviet Writers' Union,

that African students were exposed to situations or

conditions in the USSR that contrasted sharply with

conditions back home in A f r i c a . 37 A m o n g those aspects of

education in the USSR (informal and formal) that Dogbeh felt

especially significant for the African situation were t he

following contrasts related to w h a t he labels "le catechisme

de 1'organization du travail" in the USSR:

[In A f r i c a ] [In the USSR]

Au l i e u de p e u t - S t r e un c a l c u l p r e c i s ;
De n'importe comment un p l a n p r e m e d i t e ;
De n ' i m p o r t e q u e l l e facon une m e t h o d e s c i e n t i f i q u e ;
De n'importe quand u n e d a t e p r e c i s e . " 38

Conclusion

While it is n o t within the scope of this research to

report on post-return behavior of Africans, there are

documented cases of African countries, including Ghana after

the overthrow of Nkrumah, recycling graduates of Soviet

universities through Western universities. The official

reason given was inadequate training in th e USSR. To what

extent was recycling done for reasons including values

acquired in the USSR, other than those related to the skills

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 1S2

required in the profession? Potential conflict did exist

for the African returnee n ot sent to the U S S R by the Party

or Government in power because of the presumed negative

socialization in the USSR. Nevertheless, in the areas of

curriculum and access Soviet practices were clearly in

keeping with the priorities of the African political

leadership: expanded indigenization of h u m a n resources and

mental emancipation.

Notes

1S a i d , C o v e r i n g , p. 161.

2S a i d , C o v e r i n q , p. 160.

3S a i d , C o v e r i n q , p. 155.

4Scalapino, op c i t .

5S e e A. S m i t h , T h e G e o - P o l i t i c s of In f o r m a t ion (New
York: Oxford University Press, 19 81) for a balanced
d i s c u s s i o n on t h e i s s u e s of t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l d e b a t e on the
New Wo rl d Information Order.

6I bi d.

7W e s t e r n te rm, e s p e c i a l l y A m e r i c a n , u s e d to m a i n t a i n
its d o m i n a n c e in the collection and dissemination of
information.

Smith, Information.

’S m i t h , Information.

10AC E, "Foreign Students".

1 xR u b i n s t e i n , " L u m u m b a University.

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 193

1 2P o w e r a n d I d e o l o g y in S d u c a t i o n , (New Y o r k : Oxford
U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1977).

13M a r x i s m and Form (Princeton: Princeton University

P r e s s , 1972).

14 See J a m e s o n , F o r m , for a philosophical discussion

of the d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n "idea" a nd "reality".

15M o u m o u n i , Education.

16M i r r e h , Soviet Po l i c y .

17 See Freire, Pedology, f or a discussion of

" e m p o w e r m e n t ".

3Said, C o v e r i n g , p. 131.

1 ’K h r u s h c h o v , op c i t .

20I n t e r v i ew with Thomas Hodgkin, Oxford, July 1962.

12Interview with Lily Golden, Moscow, January 1964.

22 S ee H.D.W. Weaver, "Interview with Ousmane

S e m b e n e " , C i n e a g t e I n t e r v i e w s (1983 ).

23 Said, C o v e r i n g , p. 127-153.

24 See citations of K.O. Dike and Walter Rodney.

25 S ee Coleman, "Politics," for a typology of

traditional Afr ic an political systems.

2 ^Khrushchev quoted in T a s s release.

27I am g r a t e f u l to Dr. Hassan Mirreh for initially

b ringing these d a t a to m y a t t e n t i o n .

28M i r r e h , Soviet Pol i c y .

2 ’T h i s c o l o n i a l p r a c t i c e was c r i t i c i z e d not only in

the U.N. but a l s o by s c h o l a r s in M o s c o w .

3 °Ohaegbulam, N a t i o n a l i s m , p. 21.

31P o t e k h i n , Primer.

32M o u m o u n i , African Eduction.

33W e are from F r iends hi p University.

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 194

34Inter v i e w with Philip Coombs, Paris, May 1964.

35F r e i r e , Pedagogy.

36M e r r i t t , Internat ional P o l i t ical Communications.

37D a g b e h , Pays du L e n i n e , p. 97.

3 8Ibid.

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 C H A P T E R VI

CONCLUSION

Summary

Question No. 1 : What were African priorities in this crucial

stage in its history? (Chapter I)

Using African sources (social scientists, novelists,

filmmakers, and i d e o l o g u e - p o l i t i c i a n s ), American sources

(social scientists), Soviet sources (social scientists and

i d e o l o g u e - p o l i t i c i a n s ), and U.N. sources, this study

pin-pointed several major African priorities in the striving

for decolonization and development. An over-riding, general

priority was equality at home and abroad, characterized by

the desire for mental and other forms of emancipation,

racial equality, self-assertion, and, in general, an escape

from the binding aspects of the colonial legacy. More

specifically in the field of education, this study found

Afro-centric research and schooling to be priorities of

major importance. Related to anti-African, Euro-centric

schooling -- indeed, a direct result of it -- was the desire

for indigenous human resources trained in strategic areas.

All of these proclaimed priorities arose from a colonial

Africa whose culture, economy, society, and polity had been

195

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 196

dominated for decades by outside, Western-European powers.

Question No. 2 : What were Soviet aims in A f r i c a ? (Chapter I)

Using Soviet sources (social scientists, and

government and Party officials), complemented by A f r i c a n and

Western sources, this study identified Soviet aims in A f r i c a

as being similar to A f . i c a n priorities: African empowerment.

Throughout its h i s t o r y — as revealed by its international

actions, the proceedings of its political conferences, and

the writings of its ideologues -- th e Soviet Union, even

with minimal relations with African societies, had

demonstrated its anti-colonial and, later, its

anti-neo-colonial thrusts. Certainly, an important aspect

of this interest was to deprive the West of its

internationally sanctioned controls: economic, political,

diplomatic, military, and cultural. In the long haul, the

study pin-pointed t he Soviet desire for an Africa

predisposed to a Marxist-Leninist ideology and to a

socialist mode of development.

Question No. 3 : W h a t w e r e the a i m s and nature of Soviet

research on A f r i c a ? ( C h a p t e r II)

Using documents from Soviet sources, complemented by

documents from Western sources and interviews with Soviet

Africanists, this study concluded that Soviet African

studies were a part of th e Third World area studies prodded

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 197

by political leader Mikoyan at th e 20th Party C o n g r e s s of

the CPSU in 1956 for n ot keeping up with the pace of

decolonization in th e Third World. The r e o r g a n i z a t i o n of

Soviet-African studies in 1959 resulted in greater

centralization, with a new Africa Institute in M o s c o w . Th e

Africa Institute's aims were (1) to rewrite Africa's

history, (2) to "fight against imperialist colonial policy",

(3) to study critically the national-liberation movements,

and (4) to influence the future. A major development in

methodology was the shift from Soviet scholars' relying on

Western secondary sources to Africanists' actually carrying

o ut field studies in Africa. Significant in their

publications, though not in private conversation, was a

reluctance to criticize African ideologies apparently

incongruent with scientific socialism (e.g. African

socialism, Pan-Africanism, and neo-colonialism); only when

an African ideology came into d i r e c t conflict, directly or

potentially, with Soviet practices (e.g. negritude) were

Soviet scholars likely to condemn it o v e r t l y and vigorously.

In other wo r d s , Soviet research on A f r i c a attempted to be

supportive of the African decolonization thrusts, in keeping

with its political mandate and the personal preferences of

Soviet Africanists sympathetic to A f r i c a n decolonization and

development.

Question No. 4 : W h a t were the aims and nature of Soviet

training p r o g r a m s for Africans? (Chapters III a n d IV)

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 198

Of primary importance — as revealed by U . N.,

African, Western, and Soviet sources — were Soviet formal

and nonformal education programs established in t he USSR.

Especially significant was t he innovative university

established in Moscow in 1961, the Lumumba Friendship

University, primarily for students whose countries were

struggling for decolonization and development. Its

uniqueness was observed in the University's

recruitment-and-selection process, curriculum, and

orientation to Third-World development priorities.

Complementing those training programs inside t he U S S R was

educational assistance elsewhere: moral support at th e

United Nations and technical institutes established in

Africa. All of these programs demonstrated Soviet attempts

to respond to A f r i c a n aspirations.

Question No. 5 : T o what extent were Soviet training and

research efforts appropriate for African priorities?
(Chapter V)

Soviet-African studies wa s a direct response to the

African decolonization movement: through a restructuring of

its research institutes; through a content focus that gave

increased attention to A f r i c a ’s h i s t o r i c a l contribution to

and resistance to E u r o p e , as well as to c o n t e m p o r a r y events

in A f r i c a ; and through a break-through in d i r e c t scientific

contacts with Africans and field observation of Africa's

political evolution. By using Afro-centric perspectives and

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 •199

points of view of the powerless victims of colonialism,

Soviet scholarly publications exemplified t he antithetical

scholarship that was emerging throughout the world to

challenge ma instream scholars whose works were oriented to

the status qu o , including the continued colonial presence of

Europe in A f r i c a . Among Soviet assertions were t he unity of

African languages, Africa's historical and contemporary

importance in t he development of Western capitalism, and

African resistance to E u r o p e a n colonialism.

Similar to scholarship were the Soviet Union's

Afro-centric training programs, including the innovative

Lumumba Friendship University. The Soviet Ministry of

Higher and Specialized Education, with a variety of other

Soviet organizations, created relevant formal and nonformal

education programs, with curricula aimed at giving Africans

the skills to meet some strategic-resource priorities in

Africa (i n d i g e n i z a t i o n or Africanization). By recruiting

and selecting students outside t he traditional academic

qualifications, Soviet programs provided opportunities for

people previously denied access, including females and the

poor (democratization). Moreover, t he training programs

potentially produced a consciousness raising that allowed

for the possibility of taking "action against th e oppressive

elements of reality" (c o n s c i e n t i z a t i o n ) . 1

Research for this study revealed t he lack of

attention given to topics and methodologies of potential

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 200

importance to scholarship and knowledge.

Future Research Directions

Historically social science research has been linked

with the social — sometimes even the political — context.

In the West, knowledge about Africa has been related to

domination and conquest while this study has observed that

knowledge about the USSR has been linked to c o m p e t i t i o n and

confrontation. In North America an overkill of biased

information about the USSR has apparently produced a psyche

of fear -- a fear of domination and conquest by the godless,

satanical enemy. American scholars, through their

publications on the U.S.S.R. and other foreign areas, have

been accessories to our ignorance about issues that could be

of interest to an enlightened public. And certainly my

reasearch points to a number of areas that could be

investigated by serious scholarship, no t only in e d u c a t i o n

but also in other fields of study.

Comparative and International Education

In comparative and international education, there is

a continuing need for a balance she et, not only about the

variety of educational aid programs of socialist countries,

but also about the differing perspectives, paradigms, and

methodologies examining educational aid from capitalist

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 201

countries. How do African students trained in the USSR and

other socialist countries compare in their post-return

behavior to African students trained in Western countries,

especially the U.S., Canada, France, and th e United Kingdom?

The field priorities research projects that expressly set

ou t to q u e s t i o n the prevailing orthodoxy, conditioned by

government advocates of the status qu o .

Can we step back and use education paradigms for

evaluating Soviet programs? What kinds of educational aid

have socialist countries provided? How do training programs

differ within the socialist camp? For example, how do Cu ba n

aid programs differ from Soviet programs? What lessons did

Cubans learn in their own 1961 literacy campaign that have

been applied to their training Africans in Angola and

Mozambique, and to training Ethiopians, Namibians, and

Azanians (South Africans) in Cuba itself? What

characterizes training programs for Africans within

capitalist nations? For example, how do American and

Canadian programs differ? Or, within Canada, how do

Quebec-sponsored programs compare to programs in t he other

provinces of Canada? These questions are representative of

only a few of the areas that need academic scrutiny.

A second set of questions revolves around

methodology. How can comparative and international

educators combine field research, survey data, and other

techniques of primary-source data-collection with already

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 202

published historical documents? How can antithetical

research be a p p l i e d to t he study of international education

programs for Africa?

Finally, why do we know so little about Soviet

training programs for Africa? To what extent is the

profession responsible? To what extent are funding agencies

-- foundations and government agencies -- responsible? How

can what we know be b e t t e r communicated to o t h e r scholars,

to journalists, to A m e r i c a n policy makers, to international

exchange practitioners, and to the general public?

These are among the issues and the methodologies of

the 1980's that I feel that comparative and international

educators may wish to address as we move ah e a d , with

budgetary constraints, to expand our knowledge of

educational transactions across national boundaries and,

hence, our understanding of international education.

Communication Studies, the Social Sciences,

and Foreiqn-Area Studies

Th e findings of this study also suggest research

directions in other subject areas, namely communication

studies, political science, and inter-disciplinary

foreign-area studies. The framework for much American

social-science scholarship on the U S S R appears to h a v e been

the Cold War or anti-communism. Hence, the approach has

been confrontational and appeared to p r o c e e d from political

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 203

antipathy. Whereas at present the dominant political force

in th e U.S., the R e a g a n administration, has clearly defined

the Soviet Union as the root of virtually all international

e v il, whether in its neighboring Poland or A f g h a n i s t a n or in

far-off (and neighbor to the U.S.) Nicaragua and El

Salvador, previous Administrations were different more in

focus than in c o n t e n t . According to one American social

scientist, various zigs and zags of American perceptions of

the dangers of communism have apparently followed a pattern,

a pattern based not on Soviet foreign behavior but on U . S .

domestic phenomena.2

We need to look at the role of scholars in the

collection and dissemination of data and idea. What role

has scholarship played in U . S . public policy? Did American

scholars explicitly tackle the reality that the USSR was

considered "the enemy", the major foe internationally and

the instigator of all that was wrong with the world? Were

scholarship and the media aiming at waging a Cold War

against th e USSR? What role did confrontational dichotomy,

"we" vs. "they", play in scholarly and media interpretation

of Soviet-African relations? Had a consensus developed on

Soviet training programs for Africans? Has marginal,

perhaps irrelevant, scholarship allowed the mass media to

fill the void and disseminate stereotypical myths? Did

scholars improve on the general media coverage of phenomena?

Why have scholars not challenged the myths perpetrated in

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 204

th e general, public media?

In the area of Soviet research on Africa, follow-up

research studies might attempt to ask the following

questions raised in this study. Given t he speed of

cummunication today and th e knowledge of African reactions

to the views of Western political scientists about the

emerging African states, what is the interaction between

African politicians and Soviet social scientists? One might

suggest that the constant interaction of American political

scientists and African political figures has helped to alter

the American view of t h e African political order as m e r e l y

an aberration from "democratic norms", namely those of

Western representative government. The question arises: Did

a comparable shift occur among the Soviet political figures?

Another question m i g h t be: Does the material

published by Soviet Africanists have an effect on African

political figures. We have evidence of African politicians

showing great interest, especially in the 1960's in the

analyses of their states by A m e r i c a n political scientists.

How do the Africans react to th e Soviet social-science

findings? Are the Africans' views of themselves and their

countries reinforced by Soviet views of Africa? Does this

reinforcement tend to i m p e d e or accelerate political

innovation? To what extent are the Soviets able to u se

their cultural and information centers in Africa to

disseminate their findings?

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 205

Next, researchers might look into the channels of

communication the Soviets have at their disposal in getting

information to Africans. Is it transmitted through Soviet

cultural centers. How effective in Africa is T a s s , the

Soviet press agency? To what extent are Soviet

interpretations of African political systems being

disseminated to, and through, African students at Lumumba

Friendship University and other Soviet institutions?

How has education in the USSR affected the political

socialization, recruitment, and participation of a young

student from Africa? Is there a difference based on sex,

country of origin, or ideology of the dominant political

party? What are t he data related to Almond and Verba's

findings, paraphrased by Coleman, that "educational

experiences on the secondary level or above may suppress,

substitute for, or transcend earlier familial experiences?"3

How have students trained in t h e USSR responded to p o l i t i c a l

recruitment and political integration upon their return to

Africa? Does the attitude towards the national polity

reflect th e functional or dysfunctional role played by their

Soviet training? Is there a s y s t e m of punishment-and-reward

in Africa for those trained in the USSR? If so, how dees it

compare with those trained in the U.S. and other Western

c o u n t r ies?

If it is true that "in the political socialization

process in m o s t of the developing countries ... the formal

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 206

education system bears a much heavier load of socialization

that it does in older c o u n t r i e s " , 4 what is the effect of

higher education on African students while in the USSR? And

upon their return home? In the 1 9 8 0 ’s are the Soviets

attempting to produce a technical cadre for political

leadership in Africa similar to th e Soviet model, where a

significant number of the members of th e CPSU presidium were

graduates of either technical or engineering institutes or

of party training institutes?

In their post-return behavior, how were Africans

trained in the USSR affected by "four problems ... [which]

seem to h a v e ... applicability in most new states: (1)

post-independence anti-intellectualism, (2) th e tension

between incumbent political elites and new bureaucratic and

technical cadres, (3) the restricted political modality of

second-generation aspirants, and (4) the anomic potential of

unemployed school leavers."5 What will be their over-all

contribution to the nation's achieving, as Fleming quotes

Harold Lasswell, "a self-sustaining level of power

accumulation ... [attained] when the nation is able to

furnish its own personnel, to achieve stuctural innovation

with minimal resort to c o e r c i o n , and to mobilize resources

fo r national goals."6

Not only is there room for researching exciting

topics hitherto given little attention by U. S . scholars but

also a challenge for scholars to use new assumptions and

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 207

methodologies in c o n t r i b u t i n g to an increased understanding

of our ever so complex end competitive international

soc i e t y .

Notes

1F r e i r e , P e d a g o g y , For an a p p l i c a t i o n of Freire's
conscientization o u t s i d e Brazil, see C a r n o y , E d u c a t i o n , pp.
366-367.

2A comparative educator has also noted "a high

c o r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n t h e p o l i t i c a l o r i e n t a t i o n of t h e a n a l y s t
and the nature of t h e a n a l y s i s . " See Altbach, C o lo ni a li sm
a n d E d u c a t i o n (1978), pp. 5 5-56.

3C o l e m a n , Education.

4Ib i d .

51 b i d .

6F o r several case studies of massive education

mobilization for n a t i o n a l goa ls, se e J. K a r a b e l and A.
H a l s e y , eds., P o w e r a n d I d e o l o g y in E d u c a t i o n . (New Y o r k :
O x f o r d U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1977).

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