Eastern European and Soviet Department: Operation Commonsense: Assessments of Soviet Policy for Leaders in the Middle East, Asia and Africa

A file containing documents relating to "Operation Commonsense", a Foreign Office programme of producing reports on Soviet foreign and economic policies. Subjects covered in the file include the origin of the programme at the initiative of the Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington, who was struck by the "naivety and ignorance" shown by many Third World leaders regarding Soviet aims and intentions; a review of this service following Lord Carrington's replacement by Francis Pym; and assessments of the value of the service from British diplomats in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. Documents in the file include reports on Soviet policy in the Third World and Muslim societies in the Soviet Union produced as part of "Operation Commonsense". The final documents in the file describe the decision to discontinue the service, with information being made available by other means including the regular newsletter "Communist policy and tactics".