Q Echoing the promises of national self-determination made in President Wilson's '14 Points', the 'Atlantic Charter' (1941) had promised that, post-war, the United States and Great Britain would seek an end to the colonial realities of the third world. However, with the 'Truman Doctrine' speech, President Truman had divided the globe into two spheres: one under communist domination (Soviet Union and Communist Bloc); and the rest described as "democratic 'free peoples'" (every other state on the globe that was not a part of the existing Communist Bloc as of March 12th 1947). By defining the world in this way, and declaring the policy of the United States to be the 'containment' of Soviet influence within its own borders, the 'Truman Doctrine' effectively designated all of the colonial peoples of the world to be 'free peoples'; with the consequence that all independence movements within the colonial world of Africa, Asia, and Latin America were said to be sponsored by, and the puppets of Soviet Communism, and led by terrorists opposed to democracy and freedom: a single example of the implications of this policy being that because they opposed the alleged 'free democracy' of South Africa, and its policy of Apartheid, the African National Congress (ANC), and its 'non-violent' leader Nelson Mandela were labeled as a communist front organization, and Mandela a terrorist. In line with this policy, the Kennedy administration directed the CIA to give to the South African government information that led to Mandela's arrest, and subsequent 27 years of imprisonment.* Note: that designation was lifted in 2009 (see attached Boston Globe Article). Remaining within the standard 500 words, for this weeks discussion I would like you to consider the potential implication of this policy (that colonial peoples were already 'free peoples', and independence movements were Soviet puppets), you are encouraged to make use of information drawn from Kinzer's Overthrow in support of you evaluation. Note: Though not a part of the official question for this week, you might want to consider -- especially as you read the chapters from Stephen Kinzer's Overthrow on Iran, Guatemala and Chile -- what this policy, and its extension into 'nation building' has meant to the rise of natural leaders from within colonial states. Many of the leaders of the independence movements in Africa were targeted and killed by agents of the imperial power (Eduardo Mondalane & Samora Machel in Mozambique; Patrice Lumumba in the Congo; Amilcar Cabral in Guinea-Bissau, to name only a few). It is incredible for the world, and indispensable for post-apartheid South Africa that Mandela survived his imprisonment. *Perhaps of interest: this information about the circumstances of Mandela's arrest has been available since the turn of the century, but only recently, during Mandela's hospitalization prior to his death, was it reported in the New York Times, and that report repeated on national news programing. ANC -- Terrorist designation.pdf (515.542 KB) Reply