the world situation in 1970

The intrepid team at Muckrock debriefs us regarding the Central Intelligence Agency’s geopolitical assessment and projections and how that narrative was packaged and presented to Nixon and Kissinger—previously.
Facing the fact that universal goodwill and wartime capital were finite and fickle things, notwithstanding the country’s already demonstrable bad behaviour on the world stage—the CIA was more prone to rely on soft power and was willing to factor in the proliferation of soft drink sales, American music and cinema in its quiver of statecraft and as a measure of diplomatic success. When told, however, that cooler heads would prevail in Eastern Europe and that tensions would settle, Nixon asked instead what could be done to sew more chaos and discontent in the region—proposing a recalibration of Radio Free Europe.