In the international sphere, Gorbachev's "new thinking" attempted to remove Marxist ideology from East-West relations. His new foreign policy took on a new orientation that stressed international independence, non-offensive defence, multilateral co-operation, and the use of the political process to solve security issues. At first, Castro took a relatively positive outlook on "new thinking." He commented that "this was the first time since the appearance of these awesome [[weapons of mass destruction... that such a categorical, resolute and concrete proposal had been made." However, ideological divergences over disarmament, international conflicts in Nicaragua and Angola, and the debt crisis in the developing world quickly created irreconcilable differences between Castro and Gorbachev.