Washington: It was the summer of 1957. America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) were involved in the Cold War. Their battle for influence had spread all over the world. The same situation was in the world’s second largest continent. The name of this continent is Africa. America and the USSR were fighting a war of influence in Africa. However, America was far behind in this battle. The US intelligence agency CIA itself has admitted this. Recently declassified 1957 CIA documents have revealed how America, despite its global power, lagged behind the USSR in Africa, while the wave of colonialism was going on at that time.

The report of the US intelligence agency shows that the Soviet Union had made deep inroads into the African continent. The USSR was influencing their politics and economy, while the US was struggling to collect even the most basic data. It shows that until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, the power of Russian intelligence agencies was unmatched. They were rivalling the CIA in every area except the continent of North America.

US intelligence gaps

On August 14, 1957, a meeting was called at the office of the Chief Geographic Research Area. A report about the meeting published about a fortnight later made a startling observation: “It was agreed that, in general, the CIA does not have as much information or quantity about Africa as is required.” The document outlines several areas where the US fell short. The information gap on Africa’s physical geography, native tribes, urban areas, and commodity flows was enormous.”

Why the CIA was behind

The United States’ policies and operational strategies regarding Africa at the time were still in their developmental stages. They had not yet evolved into a fully formed, effective framework. This, at least partly, was responsible for the data problem. This led to a lack of clear requirements outlined and, as a result, funding and research was lacking. The report noted that “Part of the data problem is due to the fact that policy and operations with respect to Africa have not yet matured. Requirements have not been sufficiently crystallised to provide adequate funding for research or to encourage effective use of available data.”

Furthermore, the vast size of the continent posed some problems for the intelligence agency CIA. CIA staff were conducting field research on a continent. However, the tools they were using to collect reliable data were generally applicable to a country. “The interrelationship of continental, regional and country problems has not yet been clearly explained for basic work,” the report’s authors stated.

How the Soviet Union won

The Soviet Union, on the other hand, had made great progress. The CIA noted that “much of the ethnographic work appears to have been programmed by the Russians.” The statement itself is enigmatic. However, it gives a hint: the Soviet Union had taken a proactive approach in understanding Africa’s diverse ethnicities. In fact, they may have gone even further to socially engineer the relationships between certain communities. Words like “ethnographic work” and “programmed” might be hinting at that.