What did the declassified documents reveal?

From the Central Intelligence Agency, this is a current intelligence staff study on Mao Tse-tung's strategic thinking from nineteen twenty-six to nineteen fifty-seven, providing background on the Sino-Soviet dispute of nineteen fifty-seven to nineteen sixty. This declassified record is available at archive.org. This document was released in May two thousand seven, declassified under an unspecified authority. It is an example of an intelligence product developed to inform policy makers on the historical and ideological underpinnings of international Communist strategy. The document, titled "Mao Tse-tung on Strategy, Nineteen Twenty-six to Nineteen Fifty-seven (The Background of the Sino-Soviet Dispute of Nineteen Fifty-seven to Nineteen Sixty)," is designated ESAU IX-60, dated August eighth, nineteen sixty, and marked Secret. It begins: "This is a working paper, the first portion of a long study of the dispute between Mao and Khrushchev—about the strategy of the world Communist movement in the struggle with the West—which began in or about autumn nineteen fifty-seven and persists to this day. The second portion, now in draft, will treat the developing dispute, the period of autumn nineteen fifty-seven to autumn nineteen fifty-nine. The third, also in draft, will treat the dispute in full flower, the period of autumn nineteen fifty-nine to the abortive 'summit' of May nineteen sixty. There may be a fourth paper in this series, treating Soviet and Chinese positions since that time. Although the various portions of the study hang together and, if possible, should be read together, the study is being published in the form of relatively modest papers, rather than as one enormous paper, in the interest of encouraging the reader not to sigh and lay the paper aside for a free day. For some readers the free day never comes, but a free hour may, and we are now aiming our papers at that hour. The summary and conclusions of this paper appear as pages I-V. Various analysts of the Agency, in particular those of the Radio Propaganda Branch of F-B-I-D and of O-C-I, have offered useful comments on this paper. None is responsible, however, for the conclusions, and perhaps none would entirely agree with them. The Sino-Soviet Studies Group would welcome further comments, addressed to the acting coordinator of the group." The summary begins: "Very early in his career, in the nineteen twenties, Mao Tse-tung took to himself the Leninist-Stalinist world view of two irreconcilable camps engaged in a prolonged and mortal struggle, and he believed that the Chinese revolution was and must remain a part of this world revolution. In the struggle, the Communist camp was to be prepared for 'imperialist' attacks and its strategy was to be that of encouraging and supporting those conflicts which were weakening and would increasingly weaken the imperialist camp—I-E, anti-imperialist struggles in the colonies and semi-colonies (imperialist-dominated countries), conflicts among the…

Why was this case declassified?

This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. The originating source document is linked on this page so the citation chain is auditable.

Case File · ARCHIVE-373Declassified

Filed SEP 17 · 2026Runtime 1 min

From The Central Intelligence Agency, This Is A Current Intelligence Staff Study

U.S. public record · FOIAUpdated September 17, 2026

cold-war

◆ BLUF — The short version

From the Central Intelligence Agency, this is a current intelligence staff study on Mao Tse-tung's strategic thinking from nineteen twenty-six to nineteen fifty-seven, providing background on the Sino-Soviet dispute of nineteen fifty-seven to nineteen sixty. org. This document was released in May two thousand seven, declassified under an unspecified authority.

Date: SEP 17 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

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What was From The Central Intelligence Agency, This Is A Current Intelligence Staff Study about?: From the Central Intelligence Agency, this is a current intelligence staff study on Mao Tse-tung's strategic thinking from nineteen twenty-six to nineteen fifty-seven, providing background on the Sino-Soviet dispute of nineteen fifty-seven to nineteen sixty. org. This document was released in May two thousand seven, declassified under an unspecified authority.
Why was this case declassified?: This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. Storyflo narrates it directly from the public release.

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