Item BRINK OF APOCALYPSE 4/8 - Interview with Christopher Donnelly, Head of Soviet Studies Research Centre at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, [2007]

Typescript transcript of interview with Christopher Donnelly Head of Soviet Studies Research Centre at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. Subjects include his role as Head of USSR Studies in Sandhurst; his personal experience of the USSR and studying it from afar in the Ministry of Defence; his role in the civil service and as Territorial Army captain; Mikhail Gorbachev and the changes of the early 1980s USSR; the increase of western influences in the USSR; USSR-Afghanistan war 1979-1988; the shooting down of Korean Airlines Flight KAL-007; the emergence of Yuri Andropov; USSR forces in Eastern Europe and their size and scale compared to NATO forces; the three elements of the USSR leadership KGB, party and army; USSR culture of paranoia within leadership; the use of deterrents in conflict such as the hotline for discussion; lack of communication from the USSR; why the USSR began a war in Afghanistan but not with the West; the effect Ronald Reagan was having on the USSR; USSR belief that Reagan believed he could win the Cold War; Margaret Thatcher influencing Reagan policy; British government and Margaret Thatcher’s reaction to the shooting down of Korean Airlines flight KAL -007;USSR reaction to KAL 007 and Western indignation; relationship between Gorbachev and Andropov; USSR monitoring of Able Archer; Able Archer as cover for a real nuclear attack; lack of analysis capability from USSR, difficulties of GRU intercepting information; the fear of giving leadership bad news; USSR strength in its military prowess (WW2 levels); collective amnesia about Able Archer. 51pp