CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00975A001400300001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 3, 2003
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: January 22, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
DOCUMENT NO. .fO
V
NO CHANGE IN CLASS.
I ; DECLASSIFIED
CLASS, CHANGED TO:
TS
S C
NEXT REVIEW DATE:
20(29
DATE: REVIEWER.
AIJTH: HR 70-
Office of Current Intelligence
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
State Department review completed
W/zi ~' XO4 WXxx, xo~
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SUMMARY
GENERAL
USSR appoints new ambassador to Italy (naaP 31
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SOVIET UNION
3. Bohlen believes Soviet economic program requires reduced tensions
(page 4).
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SOUTHEAST ASIA
6. British official considers Burma rice problem serious (nap F1
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WESTERN EUROPE
9. French Foreign Ministry restates position on five-power talks
(page 7).
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GENERAL
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USSR appoints new ambassador to Italy:
The Soviet Union has asked agrement from
Rome for Alexander Bogomolov, its present
ambassador to Czechoslovakia, according to
the Italian minister in Prague.
The minister expressed concern over the
appointment, pointing out that Bogomolovv's "deceptively civilized" and
"reasonable" approach could have an adverse effect on the delicately
balanced political situation in Italy.
Comment: The appointment of a former
deputy foreign minister and am assador to France may foreshadow
a more intensified campaign, similar to that directed toward France,
to exploit the instability of the Italian government and strengthen re-
sistance to American objectives in Western Europe, particularly
strategic trade controls.
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SOVIET UNION
3. Bohlen believes Soviet economic program requires reduced tensions:
Ambassador Bohlen believes that the Kremlin
is so deeply committed to its new internal
program that any sharp reversal would create
a very serious situation. This program dic-
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tates the necessity of avoiding serious international complications and
the ambassador therefore feels that the Soviet regime needs and genu-
inely desires some relaxation in international tension. He points out
that the contradiction between this desire and Moscow's reluctance to
relinquish any territory can be exploited.
Bohlen points out that the adoption of group
rule by Stalin's successors greatly enhances the possibilities of a serious
difference of opinion and makes Soviet leadership more vulnerable to
public opinion both at home and abroad. He concludes that if the Kremlin
can be made to recognize that reduction in tension hinges on major Soviet
concessions, the new leadership can be presented with a choice which
would be almost certain to provoke dissension and even real division.
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SOUTHEAST ASIA
. British official considers Burma rice problem serious-
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According to a member of the British
Foreign Office just back from Burma,
surplus rice stocks there have created
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 a serious problem. He believes the peasants may revolt if they are
unable to dispose of current crops, which rice millers are reluctant
to buy because of inadequate storage facilities and their inability to
get credit in the absence of government sales contracts.
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The British official believes, however, that
Burma could move much of its surplus by lowering its export prices.
Comment: These views are in contrast to
an earlier and more optimistic British estimate.
ngoon is
drafting strong countermeasures against any Communist exploitation
of agrarian unrest. Some government officials are reportedly planning
a publicity campaign charging that the United States is responsible for
Burma's unsold rice because of its wheat sales to Asian countries.
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WESTERN EUROPE
9. French Foreign Ministry restates position on five-power talks:
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According to the chief of the Far Eastern
section at the Quai d'Orsay, French public
opinion "would not understand" if Foreign
Minister Bidault were unable to agree to a
five-power conference because of prior commitments to Britain and
the United States. The French official thinks Molotov is likely to in-
sist at Berlin on a more definite answer than the planned tripartite
reply, to which France has reluctantly agreed.
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The French think that the West should
be prepared to agree to a five-power conference on Asian subjects
alone subject to the following conditions.- no discussion of Asian
questions at Berlin, substantial progress at a prior Korean confer-
ence, priority for the Indochina question, and no advance concessions
to Communist China.
Comment: Despite public denials, the
French government can stil be ected to press at Berlin for five-
power talks. The above statement is the first indication of conditions
which France hopes would be acceptable to the United States and Britain.
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