Gorbachev’s Disputed Legacy
A hopeful moment in Russian history dies with the former Soviet leader. Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, who Russian media reports say died today at age 91 after a long illness, was a rare bright spot in the tragic, grim, blood-splattered history of Russia. Even at his worst moments, he exuded warmth and sparkled with optimism and humor. A passionate political animal, he refused to cling to power for power’s sake. Such qualities gave...
EXTENDED DEADLINE – CALL FOR PAPERS: “Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Socio-economic and Political Consequences 30 Years After
Deadline 30 marzo 2019 History of Communism no. 10/2019 “Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Socio-economic and Political Consequences 30 Years After The 30 years that have passed after the fall of the Berlin Wall have been a challenge not only to countries in the Eastern bloc, but also to the western world. Once the Iron Curtain collapsed, liberal democracy acquired wings but also new meanings. Ever since then it has been the...
The End of the Cold War?
Alexander von Plato The End of the Cold War? Bush, Kohl, Gorbachev, and the Reunification of Germany his carefully researched history draws on archival sources as well as a wealth of new interviews with on-the-ground activists, political actors, international figures, and others to move beyond the narratives both the German and American varieties that have dominated the historical memory of German reunification. Palgrave Macmillan...
THE LAST SUPERPOWER SUMMITS
Svetlana Savranskaya, Thomas S. Blanton THE LAST SUPERPOWER SUMMITS Gorbachev, Reagan, and Bush Conversations that Ended the Cold War This book publishes for the first time in print every word the American and Soviet leaders – Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, and George H.W. Bush – said to each other in their superpower summits from 1985 to 1991. Obtained by the authors through the Freedom of Information Act in the U.S., from the...
The Triumph of Improvisation
James Graham Wilson The Triumph of Improvisation Gorbachev’s Adaptability, Reagan’s Engagement, and the End of the Cold War In The Triumph of Improvisation, James Graham Wilson takes a long view of the end of the Cold War, from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 to Operation Desert Storm in January 1991. Drawing on deep archival research and recently declassified papers, Wilson argues that adaptation,...