A CIA report outlines a plan to apply incremental economic and internal pressure on Russia over many years

Overview Debates Related claims Topics

United States intelligence agencies utilized former Nazi intelligence networks and personnel to gather Cold War intelligence after World War II

During the Cold War, the primary ideological competition occurred between rival nation-states

The Central Intelligence Agency covertly promoted American Abstract Expressionist painters, including Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, during the Cold War through cultural fronts

If the Soviet Union had gained control of Iran, it would have controlled the Strait of Hormuz and the global oil trade

The Soviet Union planned to support a coup by the Iranian Communist Party to overthrow Ayatollah Khomeini's government

Iran was a key state during the Cold War, primarily due to its oil reserves

Under the Shah in the 1970s, Iran was aligned with the West and acted as a buffer state against communism

By the late 1970s, MI6 was simultaneously running two high-level KGB officers: Vladimir Kuzichkin and Oleg Gordievsky

The KGB viewed the power vacuum in post-revolutionary Iran as a strategic opportunity

The Soviet plan for Iran included an invasion by the Red Army from Afghanistan to support a new communist government

At the time the CIA shared intelligence with Iran about a Soviet plot, the United States and Iran had no diplomatic relations

The decision to inform the Iranians was made to prevent a Soviet-backed coup and a potential nuclear conflict

In the late 1960s, Britain's intelligence services had been damaged by the discovery of KGB moles known as the Cambridge Spies

The sharing of intelligence about a Soviet plot with Iran failed to create a friendly diplomatic back channel between the West and Iran

The Cuban missile crisis is an example of an event where humanity nearly caused its own destruction

Khrushchev's rhetoric involved constantly suggesting the Soviet Union was on the brink of using its weapons to deter the West

In the late 1950s, the United States possessed overwhelming nuclear superiority over the Soviet Union

The Soviet Union achieved strategic nuclear parity with the United States by the 1960s

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev compensated for military weakness with a strategy of "rhetorical terrorism."

George Kennan argued that the United States' strength over the Soviet Union included its vibrant culture, exemplified by widespread participation in sports leagues