Natalia Telepneva

I joined the University of Strathclyde in 2019 as Lecturer in International History. My main research lies in the history of the Soviet Union and the Cold War and the history of socialism, especially in Africa. My first monograph, entitled ‘Cold War Liberation: The Soviet Union and the Collapse of Portuguese Empire in Africa, 1961-1975’, is currently under contract with the University of North Carolina Press (New Cold War History series). I have published on the history of Soviet and Czechoslovak involvement in Africa in a number of peer-reviewed journals and co-edited. I have co-edited an edited volume the “Warsaw Pact Intervention in the Third World" (2018) and special issue for the International History Review, "Secret Struggle for the Global South" (2020). 

Before moving to the University of Strathclyde, I taught at the University of Warwick and the London School of Economics. I was the recipient of the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2017-2020. 

I am a historian of Soviet foreign policy with a particular interest in the history of socialism and the Global Cold War in Africa. My first book, preliminary titled "Cold War Liberation: The Soviet Union and the End of the Portuguese Empire in Africa, 1961-1976” explores Soviet support for anti-colonial movements in the Portuguese colonies. The book recovers the role of Soviet bureaucratic and military elites in the Soviet Cold War and re-interprets the internationalisation of the Angolan Civil War in 1974-75. My current research interests lie in the following inter-related fields:

Espionage and Secret Intelligence in Africa. I continue to investigate the history of Soviet and Eastern bloc intelligence operations in Africa. My focus is on human intelligence, and I have written extensively on Soviet and Czechoslovak intelligence in Ghana, the Congo and Guinea-Bissau. In collaboration with Dr. Daniela Richterova at Brunel, I have co-edited a special issue, "Secret Struggle for the Global South" for the International History Review. The special issue explores the role of espionage, military assistance, and state security in the 'Global Cold War'. I have contributed to the "Secret Struggle for Cold War Dominance" podcast, which is based on the articles in the special issue.

East and Central Europe/Diplomacy in Africa. In collaboration with Phil E. Muehlenbeck, I have drawn out the role of Soviet East and Central European allies in Africa, specifically looking at the role of Czechoslovakia. Our jointly edited volume "Warsaw Pact Intervention in the Third World (I.B. Tauris, 2018) explores the role of Soviet allies in the Third World. I have published on Soviet and Czechoslovak intelligence in the Journal of Cold War Studies, and International History Review.

Development and the End of the Cold War. My new research project seeks to investigate the political economy of the Soviet Cold War in Africa between 1974 and 1991. In particular, it focuses on Soviet development assistance in Africa and on how Moscow’s experience of engagement with modernisation and state-building of key allies in the region affected debates about reform in the Soviet Union. My main case study looks at the post-war history of Guinea-Bissau to explore how different groups of people understood and related to Soviet socialism. The first part of my research was to conduct oral history interviews with former guerilla fighters who studied in the USSR. The interviews were conducted in Bissau in 2019. The project was funded by the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2017-2020.

I tweet at @nat_telepneva

The courses I teach correspond to my research interests. I teach courses on the Russian Revolution, the Soviet Union and the Cold War in Africa.

Undergraduate Level

V1711/V1712 The Russian Revolution and its Global Impact, 1917-1928

V1707/1708 The Last Empire: The History of the Soviet Union, 1917-1991

Postgraduate level

V1993 Diplomacy: Evolution, Theory and Practice (co-taught course)

V1999 Red Continent: Africa and the Global Cold War