444 Tito’s Death and His Political Legacy, 1980
conflict between the Soviet Union and its satellites was more dangerous to
world peace than the tension between the blocs. It was in the interest of the
West to contribute to the establishment of “more natural and organic” relations
in the Soviet geopolitical sphere since Moscow had rights that should be
respected in this area.^71 When the “Sonnenfeldt doctrine” went public, it was
accepted in Belgrade with considerable apprehension as the US diplomat in-
cluded Yugoslavia in his reflections, asserting its leaders should understand that
“our interest in their independence is not superior to theirs, and hence they can-
not allow themselves whatever foreign policy they would like.”^72 These words
were interpreted by the Yugoslav media as an attempt to revive the spirit of Yalta,
that is to say the division of Europe between the two superpowers, and there-
fore an attempt on the sovereignty and non-alignment of their country. Tito
was convinced of the existence of a gentlemen’s agreement between Moscow
and Washington whereby the Americans and the Russians should be allowed
“to hunt freely on their [own] game reserve.”^73 Clearly, the idea that Yugoslavia
was part of the Soviet game reserve was unacceptable to the marshal.
Tito and the Freedom Fighters of the Third WorldTito remained a guerrilla fighter until his last breath, contributing to the devel-
opment of liberation struggles in a decisive manner with his aid, counsel, and
prestige, particularly in certain African countries. While in the fifties he was
very much engaged in supporting the Algerian National Liberation Front, and
in the sixties the Viet Cong, in the following decade he devoted his attention
not only to the Palestinians but also to the liberation struggles in the Portu-
guese colonies of Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea Bissau.
As he said in 1974 at the Tenth Congress of the LCY, these movements were
an important part of the progressive forces in the contemporary world; fighting
for national independence, they contributed to the struggle against imperial-
ism and colonialism. Offering aid was the duty of all socialist and democratic
countries.^74 Dimče Belovski, an eminent Macedonian diplomat, affirmed in an
article in 1974 that Yugoslavia had used the international prestige that it had
acquired due to its resistance in order to assist the colonial peoples in Asia
and Africa. “There is no movement of national liberation that we, according to
our possibilities, would not support morally, politically and materially,” he
wrote.^75 Tito, however, was not just interested in national liberation strug-
gles. When a border dispute broke out between Reza Shah Pahlavi’s Iran and
Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in the mid-seventies, he did everything possible to con-
vince the two states, both members of the Non-Aligned Movement, to reach a
peace settlement. The peace was, in any case, provisional.^76 After a short truce
the war recommenced in 1980.