№2-2020-09
Mamedov Z. I. oglu
CHURCH IN THE USSR IN CIA ASSESSMENTS AT THE INITIAL STAGE OF THE COLD WAR
The study is devoted to the analytical activities of the Central Intelligence Agency on church issues in the USSR. The article identifies the main aspects of the state and activities of the Soviet church institute in the estimates of American intelligence. The CIA was interested in the situation of various faiths within the USSR, as well as their interaction with official state bodies. Particularly thorough analysis was made of the foreign policy contacts of the Russian Orthodox Church. The CIA tried to determine the influence of the Soviet authorities through church relations on other states. Traditionally, American intelligence has looked for the vulnerable sides of the USSR. The conclusions of American experts on church issues in the USSR became the basis for the formation of tactics and strategies of foreign policy of US government bodies. The CIA used the intelligence it received to plan its covert operations. An analysis of the church ties of the USSR made it possible to predict potential US weaknesses for formulating counterintelligence recommendations and actions. The discontent of various segments of the population, both in the USSR and in the Socialist bloc, made it possible to act more effectively within the framework of psychological warfare in the future. At the initial stage of the Cold War, American intelligence accumulated and analyzed basic intelligence information on this issue.
Keywords: CIA, USSR, Russian Orthodox Church, American Intelligence, Cold War, church issue.
Samara State Social and Pedagogical University (Russia)
