Download or read book On the Edge of the Cold War written by Igor Lukes and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-05-24 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book studies the early stages of the Cold War from the perspective of the U.S. Embassy in postwar Prague. The main personalities include Ambassador Steinhardt and U.S. Intelligence officers Katek and Taggart. They were highly educated and motivated. Nevertheless, in 1948 they suffered a strategic defeat that helped deepen the Cold War tensions for decades to come.

Download or read book Ukraine Over the Edge written by Gordon M. Hahn and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2018-01-14 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ukrainian crisis that dominated headlines in fall 2013 was decades in the making. Two great schisms shaped events: one within Ukraine, its western and southeastern parts divided along cultural and political lines; the other was driven by geopolitical factors. Competition between Russia and the West exacerbated Ukraine's divisions. This study focuses on the historical background and complex causality of the crisis, from the rise of mass demonstrations on Kiev's Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) to the making of the post-revolt regime. In the context of a "new cold war," the author sheds light on the role of radical Ukrainian nationalists and neofascists in the February 2014 snipers' massacre, the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych, and Russia's seizure of Crimea and involvement in the civil war in the eastern region of Donbass.

Download or read book On the Edge of the Cold War written by Igor Lukes and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-05-08 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1945, both the U.S. State Department and U.S. Intelligence saw Czechoslovakia as the master key to the balance of power in Europe and as a chessboard for the power-game between East and West. Washington believed that the political scene in Prague was the best available indicator of whether the United States would be able to coexist with Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union. In this book, Igor Lukes illuminates the end of World War II and the early stages of the Cold War in Prague, showing why the United States failed to prevent Czechoslovakia from being absorbed into the Soviet bloc. He draws on documents from archives in the United States and the Czech Republic, on the testimonies of high ranking officers who served in the U.S. Embassy from 1945 to 1948, and on unpublished manuscripts, diaries, and memoirs. Exploiting this wealth of evidence, Lukes paints a critical portrait of Ambassador Laurence Steinhardt. He shows that Steinhardt's groundless optimism caused Washington to ignore clear signs that democracy in Czechoslovakia was in trouble. Although U.S. Intelligence officials who served in Prague were committed to the mission of gathering information and protecting democracy, they were defeated by the Czech and Soviet clandestine services that proved to be more shrewd, innovative, and eager to win. Indeed, Lukes reveals that a key American officer may have been turned by the Russians. For all these reasons, when the Communists moved to impose their dictatorship, the U.S. Embassy and its CIA section were unprepared and powerless. The fall of Czechoslovakia in 1948 helped deepen Cold War tensions for decades to come. Vividly written and filled with colorful portraits of the key participants, On the Edge of the Cold War offers an authoritative account of this key foreign policy debacle.

Download or read book Imposing Maintaining and Tearing Open the Iron Curtain written by Mark Kramer and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2013-11-22 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Cold War began in Europe in the mid-1940s and ended there in 1989. Notions of a “global Cold War” are useful in describing the wide impact and scope of the East-West divide after World War II, but first and foremost the Cold War was about the standoff in Europe. The Soviet Union established a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe in the mid-1940s that later became institutionalized in the Warsaw Pact, an organization that was offset by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) led by the United States. The fundamental division of Europe persisted for forty years, coming to an end only when Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe dissolved. Imposing, Maintaining, and Tearing Open the Iron Curtain: The Cold War and East-Central Europe, 1945–1989, edited by Mark Kramer and Vít Smetana, consists of cutting-edge essays by distinguished experts who discuss the Cold War in Europe from beginning to end, with a particular focus on the countries that were behind the iron curtain. The contributors take account of structural conditions that helped generate the Cold War schism in Europe, but they also ascribe agency to local actors as well as to the superpowers. The chapters dealing with the end of the Cold War in Europe explain not only why it ended but also why the events leading to that outcome occurred almost entirely peacefully.

Download or read book In War s Shadow At the Edge of the Cold War written by Rick Waddell and published by Fortis Publishing. This book was released on 2011-03-01 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: About the BookWe are now two decades removed from the U.S. and allied victory in the Cold War, caused by the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain. In Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan (for the Soviets) the Cold War became hot and bloody, rising to mid-intensity levels. For the most part, the Cold War was waged via standing forces and through the readiness of air defense and nuclear missile systems to defend or retaliate against any sudden attack. We tend to forget, though, that in the more than four decades of that conflict, the actions generally happened on the periphery away from the main front along the "inter-German border" in Europe, or the secondary front along the Demilitarized Zone in Korea. These actions often happened "in the shadows" along this periphery through intelligence and counterintelligence operations, and through U.S. and Soviet support for proxies in conflicts that might have begun over local or internal disputes. This support from both sides was generally both economic and military. The locations were in those areas of the world described variously as the Third World, the Lesser Developed Countries, or Developing Countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. This book explores one of those "shadow" battlefronts. It was the edge of the Cold War and America's last stand against communism right at our very doorstep. On March 22, 1986, initial reports filtered in about the Nicaraguan incursion. The Sandinista forces, over two thousand strong, had crossed into Honduras in hot pursuit of a force of contra rebels. The new Honduran president, Jose Azcona Hoyo, wanted American support to move his troops and artillery to the battlefield. Palmerola Air Base was in good shape to support him. The Honduran plan was essentially to isolate the area of the incursion and allow the Sandinistas and the contras to slug it out. Using American airlift, they moved several hundred of their infantry and a few pieces of artillery into a cordon around the penetration. The Sandinistas were smart enough not to force the situation. Unfortunately, for the communists, the contras slipped a force in behind them, cutting them off from Nicaragua. The battle lasted several days. Far from being the ineffective force portrayed in the media, the contras were kicking butt.About the AuthorRick Waddell is a businessman currently living in Sao Paulo, Brazil. A native of Arkansas, he graduated from West Point in 1982, and holds advanced degrees from Oxford, Webster, and Columbia. He continues to serve in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Download or read book On the Edge written by David A. Horowitz and published by Wadsworth Publishing Company. This book was released on 1989 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces political, economic, cultural and social change from World War II through the Reagan Revolution. Also covers the troubled affluence of postwar America, Truman and the Cold War, the Eisenhower years, the liberal consensus of the 1960s, the crisis of American culture, and the embattled presidencies of Nixon, Ford, and Carter. (Also available: On The Edge: A History of America from 1890 to 1945, and a combined volume, On The Edge: A New History of America in the Twentieth Century). See combined volume description below.

Download or read book America s Cold War written by Campbell Craig and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2020-07-14 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A creative, carefully researched, and incisive analysis of U.S. strategy during the long struggle against the Soviet Union.” —Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy “Craig and Logevall remind us that American foreign policy is decided as much by domestic pressures as external threats. America’s Cold War is history at its provocative best.” —Mark Atwood Lawrence, author of The Vietnam War The Cold War dominated world affairs during the half century following World War II. America prevailed, but only after fifty years of grim international struggle, costly wars in Korea and Vietnam, trillions of dollars in military spending, and decades of nuclear showdowns. Was all of that necessary? In this new edition of their landmark history, Campbell Craig and Fredrik Logevall engage with recent scholarship on the late Cold War, including the Reagan and Bush administrations and the collapse of the Soviet regime, and expand their discussion of the nuclear revolution and origins of the Vietnam War. Yet they maintain their original argument: that America’s response to a very real Soviet threat gave rise to a military and political system in Washington that is addicted to insecurity and the endless pursuit of enemies to destroy. America’s Cold War speaks vividly to debates about forever wars and threat inflation at the center of American politics today.

Download or read book Daughter of the Cold War written by Grace Kennan Warnecke and published by University of Pittsburgh Press. This book was released on 2018-04-11 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grace Kennan Warnecke's memoir is about a life lived on the edge of history. Daughter of one of the most influential diplomats of the twentieth century, wife of the scion of a newspaper dynasty and mother of the youngest owner of a major league baseball team, Grace eventually found her way out from under the shadows of others to forge a dynamic career of her own. Born in Latvia, Grace lived in seven countries and spoke five languages before the age of eleven. As a child, she witnessed Hitler’s march into Prague, attended a Soviet school during World War II, and sailed the seas with her father. In a multi-faceted career, she worked as a professional photographer, television producer, and book editor and critic. Eventually, like her father, she became a Russian specialist, but of a very different kind. She accompanied Ted Kennedy and his family to Russia, escorted Joan Baez to Moscow to meet with dissident Andrei Sakharov, and hosted Josef Stalin’s daughter on the family farm after Svetlana defected to the United States. While running her own consulting company in Russia, she witnessed the breakup of the Soviet Union, and later became director of a women’s economic empowerment project in a newly independent Ukraine. Daughter of the Cold War is a tale of all these adventures and so much more. This compelling and evocative memoir allows readers to follow Grace's amazing path through life – a whirlwind journey of survival, risk, and self-discovery through a kaleidoscope of many countries, historic events, and fascinating people.

Download or read book The Cold War at Home and Abroad written by Andrew L. Johns and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2018-08-10 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From President Truman's use of a domestic propaganda agency to Ronald Reagan's handling of the Soviet Union during his 1984 reelection campaign, the American political system has consistently exerted a profound effect on the country's foreign policies. Americans may cling to the belief that "politics stops at the water's edge," but the reality is that parochial political interests often play a critical role in shaping the nation's interactions with the outside world. In The Cold War at Home and Abroad: Domestic Politics and US Foreign Policy since 1945, editors Andrew L. Johns and Mitchell B. Lerner bring together eleven essays that reflect the growing methodological diversity that has transformed the field of diplomatic history over the past twenty years. The contributors examine a spectrum of diverse domestic factors ranging from traditional issues like elections and Congressional influence to less frequently studied factors like the role of religion and regionalism, and trace their influence on the history of US foreign relations since 1945. In doing so, they highlight influences and ideas that expand our understanding of the history of American foreign relations, and provide guidance and direction for both contemporary observers and those who shape the United States' role in the world. This expansive volume contains many lessons for politicians, policy makers, and engaged citizens as they struggle to implement a cohesive international strategy in the face of hyper-partisanship at home and uncertainty abroad.

Download or read book The Cold War written by Walter Lippmann and published by New York : Harper. This book was released on 1947 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Playing to the Edge written by Michael V. Hayden and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2017-02-21 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the bestselling author of The Assault on Intelligence, an unprecedented high-level master narrative of America's intelligence wars, demonstrating in a time of new threats that espionage and the search for facts are essential to our democracy For General Michael Hayden, playing to the edge means playing so close to the line that you get chalk dust on your cleats. Otherwise, by playing back, you may protect yourself, but you will be less successful in protecting America. "Play to the edge" was Hayden's guiding principle when he ran the National Security Agency, and it remained so when he ran CIA. In his view, many shortsighted and uninformed people are quick to criticize, and this book will give them much to chew on but little easy comfort; it is an unapologetic insider's look told from the perspective of the people who faced awesome responsibilities head on, in the moment. How did American intelligence respond to terrorism, a major war and the most sweeping technological revolution in the last 500 years? What was NSA before 9/11 and how did it change in its aftermath? Why did NSA begin the controversial terrorist surveillance program that included the acquisition of domestic phone records? What else was set in motion during this period that formed the backdrop for the infamous Snowden revelations in 2013? As Director of CIA in the last three years of the Bush administration, Hayden had to deal with the rendition, detention and interrogation program as bequeathed to him by his predecessors. He also had to ramp up the agency to support its role in the targeted killing program that began to dramatically increase in July 2008. This was a time of great crisis at CIA, and some agency veterans have credited Hayden with actually saving the agency. He himself won't go that far, but he freely acknowledges that CIA helped turn the American security establishment into the most effective killing machine in the history of armed conflict. For 10 years, then, General Michael Hayden was a participant in some of the most telling events in the annals of American national security. General Hayden's goals are in writing this book are simple and unwavering: No apologies. No excuses. Just what happened. And why. As he writes, "There is a story here that deserves to be told, without varnish and without spin. My view is my view, and others will certainly have different perspectives, but this view deserves to be told to create as complete a history as possible of these turbulent times. I bear no grudges, or at least not many, but I do want this to be a straightforward and readable history for that slice of the American population who depend on and appreciate intelligence, but who do not have the time to master its many obscure characteristics."

Download or read book Divided Dreamworlds written by Peter Romijn and published by Amsterdam University Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With its unique focus on how culture contributed to the blurring of ideological boundaries between the East and the West, this important volume offers fascinating insights into the tensions, rivalries and occasional cooperation between the two blocs. Encompassing developments in both the arts and sciences, the authors analyze focal points, aesthetic preferences and cultural phenomena through topics as wide-ranging as the East- and West German interior design; the Soviet stance on genetics; US cultural diplomacy during and after the Cold War; and the role of popular music as a universal cultural ambassador. Well positioned at the cutting edge of Cold War studies, this important work illuminates some of the striking paradoxes involved in the production and reception of culture in East and West.

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage Spies and Secret Operations written by Richard Trahair and published by Enigma Books. This book was released on 2012-01-10 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only comprehensive and up-to-date book of its kind with the latest information.

Download or read book Nature and the Iron Curtain written by Astrid Kirchhof and published by University of Pittsburgh Press. This book was released on 2019-06-05 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Nature and the Iron Curtain, the authors contrast communist and capitalist countries with respect to their environmental politics in the context of the Cold War. Its chapters draw from archives across Europe and the U.S. to present new perspectives on the origins and evolution of modern environmentalism on both sides of the Iron Curtain. The book explores similarities and differences among several nations with different economies and political systems, and highlights connections between environmental movements in Eastern and Western Europe.

Download or read book How We Forgot the Cold War written by Jon Wiener and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2012-10-15 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Here’s a book that would've split the sides of Thucydides. Wiener’s magical mystery tour of Cold War museums is simultaneously hilarious and the best thing ever written on public history and its contestation.“ —Mike Davis, author of City of Quartz “Jon Wiener, an astute observer of how history is perceived by the general public, shows us how official efforts to shape popular memory of the Cold War have failed. His journey across America to visit exhibits, monuments, and other historical sites, demonstrates how quickly the Cold War has faded from popular consciousness. A fascinating and entertaining book.” —Eric Foner, author of Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877 "In How We Forgot the Cold War, Jon Wiener shows how conservatives tried—and failed—to commemorate the Cold War as a noble victory over the global forces of tyranny, a 'good war' akin to World War II. Displaying splendid skills as a reporter in addition to his discerning eye as a scholar, this historian's travelogue convincingly shows how the right sought to extend its preferred policy of 'rollback' to the arena of public memory. In a country where historical memory has become an obsession, Wiener’s ability to document the ambiguities and absences in these commemorations is an unusual accomplishment.” —Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America “In this terrific piece of scholarly journalism, Jon Wiener imaginatively combines scholarship on the Cold War, contemporary journalism, and his own observations of various sites commemorating the era to describe both what they contain and, just as importantly, what they do not. By interrogating the standard conservative brand of American triumphalism, Wiener offers an interpretation of the Cold War that emphasizes just how unnecessary the conflict was and how deleterious its aftereffects have really been.”—Ellen Schrecker, author of Many Are The Crimes: McCarthyism in America

Download or read book Negotiating on the Edge written by Scott Snyder and published by US Institute of Peace Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ordeal of negotiating with North Koreans during the Cold War has left the impression of a crazy and bizarre diplomacy, of negotiators who insult and provoke their Western counterparts while fabricating crises and fomenting discord. As "Negotiating on the Edge" reveals, however, there is not only a method to this madness but also an ongoing shift toward a less provocative negotiating style.Drawing on interviews with an eminent cast of U.S. officials and marshalling extensive research on North Korea past and present, Scott Snyder traces the historical and cultural roots of North Korea's negotiating behavior and exposes the full range of tactics in its diplomatic arsenal. He explains why North Koreans behave as they do, and he argues that there is, in fact, an internal logic to what often seems to be outrageous conduct.Finally, Snyder explores how economic desperation and the end of the Cold War have forced North Korea to modify its negotiating style and objectives. Focusing on the U.S. negotiating experience with North Korea in the 1990s, Snyder also deals comparatively with recent South Korean and multilateral attempts to engage Pyongyang."

Download or read book Rethinking the Cold War written by Allen Hunter and published by Temple University Press. This book was released on 2010-06-02 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A path-breaking collection of essays by cutting-edge authors that reassess the Cold War since the fall of communism.