many Western diplomats called the Soviet Union
‘Upper Volta with rockets’.
What an insult – that is, to Upper Volta (renamed Burkina Faso in 1984)
which was being branded the quintessential poor country
when it wasn’t even near the bottom of the world poverty league.
The nickname, however, succinctly summarized what was wrong with the Soviet economy.
Here was a country that could send men into space but had people queuing up for basic foodstuffs such as bread and sugar.