It will test relations, but NATO overall knows the threat of the Soviets is the bigger priority.The anti-nuclear protests in Europe against Pershing II get a harsh response with US guards of a missile base shooting some protesters
How will this impact US -European relations?
The anti-nuclear protests in Europe against Pershing II get a harsh response with US guards of a missile base shooting some protesters
How will this impact US -European relations?
It will test relations, but NATO overall knows the threat of the Soviets is the bigger priority.
Left-leaning movements in the Civil Rights era.What kind of soviet soft power can influence western youth ? Theater, orchestra, ballerina, sports ? Can it invite a conservative backlash against them esp in US
I've always thought that the Soviets missed a golden opportunity in accepting, embracing, and co-opting western counter-culture movements, specifically: electronic house and techno-rave music and hip-hop; and to lesser extants: punk, metal, grunge, rap, counter-cultural hippy rock/ folk rock, alternative/ indie rock, and even ironically reggae to some degree. It seems to me that each of these genre "scenes" had the potential to be turned into soft power daggers that the Soviets could twist and manipulate against the cultural stability of the West. Each one of them could've been used to subtly spread class concioussness and provoke popular resentment and antagonism against the ruling class. Even if Soviet hardliners had remained in power through the end of the 80's and on into the 90s and 00s, I doubt the gerontocracy could've seen past their own dogmatic hostility towards these decadent Western sub-cultures that they would've seen as being just as, if not even more dangerous to their own rule and difficult to control "once the cat was out of the bag." KGB agents providing funds, ideological indoctrination, and lyrical and aesthetic "suggestions" to radical musicians, artists, and other creatives in the West seems like a low-cost investment with a potential high-value return in the soft power realm of the Cold War with knock on political and socio-economic effects down the road. Stand-up comedians, newspaper comics sections, and children's television programming and books could've been additional softpower realms to easily, powerfully, and subtly influence public concioussness across the West. The Soviet bloc had its own countercultural musicians, including electronic music, funk, and other genres, but they never achieved the worldwide popularity that those from the West did. Soviet authorities were heavily engaged in monitoring and controlling these bands and ensuring they never strayed too far from acceptable norms. But imagine if KGB agents had convinced up-and-coming DJs and Hip Hop artists to incorporate Marxist-Lenininst ideology and pro-Soviet stances into their works. Generations of youth could've been propelled down a far more favorbale path for Soviet leadership in the future. Conservatives across the West often like to accuse these movements and tendencies of being de facto Soviet agents, but this was never really the case. What if it actually had been? It could've eventually spiraled into an escalating series of cultural crackdowns and increasing resistance to authority across the West. Lots of potential I think for an ATLWhat kind of soviet soft power can influence western youth ? Theater, orchestra, ballerina, sports ? Can it invite a conservative backlash against them esp in US
My first thought about things like this is always: How? Like is this even feasible? Spending state funds to send Soviet agents into the United States not to collect valuable information from intelligence informants but rather to spend time hanging out at dive bars and acid parties passing Foreign Languages Publishing books into the hands of underground artists? Especially considering that left-wing ideologies were spreading by American figures or groups cheaper and more effectively than KGB Agents could do already. Frankly, I don’t even see this having any significant effect anyway - the nature of record labels and the music industry already sort of precludes a famous rock band touring an album explicitly about Marxism-Leninism. So you’re stuck in the underground scenes, which isn’t changing much from OTL anyway except for a few more odd subgenres. And that’s if such a project can even be done, which I think is sort of dubious. Honestly this seems to be like a way to burn cash that the Soviets didn’t have from the mid 1970s onwards.But imagine if KGB agents had convinced up-and-coming DJs and Hip Hop artists to incorporate Marxist-Lenininst ideology and pro-Soviet stances into their works. Generations of youth could've been propelled down a far more favorbale path for Soviet leadership in the future. Conservatives across the West often like to accuse these movements and tendencies of being de facto Soviet agents, but this was never really the case. What if it actually had been? It could've eventually spiraled into an escalating series of cultural crackdowns and increasing resistance to authority across the West. Lots of potential I think for an ATL
That isn't a mini scenarioIn the 1966 Palomares incident, the wind carries the fourth bomb inland (instead of out to sea as IOTL), and the intact bomb detonates on Spanish soil.
ric350
Belize was supported by Cuba.Belize is attacked by Guatemala and UK is drawn into fighting them and a Cuban expeditionary force
UNITA will likely take the capitalHow successful will RSA be in fighting?
In what scenario can Cuba side with Guatemala and against UkBelize was supported by Cuba.
UNITA will likely take the capital