Cold War (History) (History)

What happens to foreign politics when actors, things or processes are presented as threats? This book explains state’s international behavior based on a reflexive framework of insecurity politics. It argues that governments act on knowledge of international danger available in their societies, and that such knowledge is organized by varying ideas of who threatens whom and how. The book develops this argument and illustrates it by means of various European case studies. Moving across European history and space, these show how securitization projected abroad evolving – and often contested – local ideas of the organization of international insecurity, and how such knowledges of world politics conditioned foreign policymaking on their own terms. With its focus on insecurity politics, the book provides new perspectives for the study of international security. Moving the discipline from systemic theorizing to a theory of international systematization, it shows how world politics is, in practice, often conceived in a different way than that assumed by IR theory. Depicting national insecurity as a matter of political construction, the book also raises the challenging question of whether certain projections of insecurity may be considered more warranted than others.

McCarthyism is a logical but extreme product of the political machinery and national identity, grounded in attitudes, assumptions and judgments with deep roots in American history. From the Alien and Sedition acts, the Palmer raids and Sacco and Vansetti through immigration laws and the Cold War, America has long feared radicalism. Society can be swept up in the fear that its way of life or even existence can be threatened. During these times traditional patterns of behavior and institutions are swept aside as well. Outbreaks of intolerance reveal as much about a national identity as it does about the dangers to society, whether real or imagined. During the New  Deal, most Americans favored denying freedom of speech, press and assembly to native Communists. To complicate matters, the anti-Communist persuasion often found expression in the mindless identification of all social  change in domestic affairs with communism.This persuasion became the savage “other” in which McCarthy and his ilk needed to form their national identity. Although Joe McCarthy never proved one person to be a Soviet sympathizer, he never had to.  His torch and burn rhetoric of unsubstantiated accusations was enough to ruin the reputation of anyone who stumbled in his way.  The question presents itself; if McCarthy was unsuccessful in rooting out Communists, were Communists  the real enemy to those who followed his Anti-Communist persuasion? This essay will focus on the concept that the Anti-Communist crusader McCarthy had less to say about real Soviet infiltrators  than  he did about those who questioned his power and glory.  These so called Communists and Communist sympathizers by name only tended to be the educated elite and a power structure than  hampered his reign of demagoguery. Lessons can be learned form this time to  identify and understand similar accusations aimed at educators today.

Ao cruzar a história das relações transatlânticas, da Segunda Guerra Mundial e da Guerra Fria através do exame das diferentes ambições civis e militares ligadas ao espaço insular atlântico português entre 1942 e 1948, este artigo tem como objetivo questionar as narrativas existentes sobre a formação de um novo espaço estratégico no oceano no período. Ao evitar o corte cronológico de 1945 como marco transformador ou ponto de partida para interesses cruzando-se em meio ao Atlântico, o artigo pretende lançar um novo olhar sobre rivalidades dissimuladas, mas perenes e consequentes, como a anglo-americana atuando em Portugal, ou agendas políticas e econômicas marginalizadas pela literatura nesse contexto, embora decisivas, como a brasileira.

For decades articles and books have been published on the history of German foreign policy during Cold War. Regardless of whether Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, America or the world as a whole, the foreign affairs of the Western Federal Republic of Germany and the Eastern German Democratic Republic have been researched and analysed in context of a broad variety of locations. However, even though the list of publications continues to grow, the topic''s theses–especially its main thesis–do not show much progress. Already at an early stage, a central thesis–a core thesis–came to light, met no resistance and entered history''s and political science''s research canons on German foreign policy. This thesis reads: Inner German issues and the non-solved German question were so powerful, they dominated West and East German foreign affairs nearly right from the start. German foreign policy, that was the so-called Hallstein doctrine, that was the so-called German-German contradiction. And all studies–whether of history or political science, whether designed as a case study or as a global approach–confirm this thesis, use it as an integral part of their work–until today. But be that as it may. This study contradicts this thesis, this ''myth'' of German foreign policy. Instead it argues that neither the Hallstein doctrine nor the German-German contradiction, but national economic and international geostrategic interests dominated German foreign policy and German foreign activities–regarding the FRG, the GDR, and Germany as a whole. To proof this thesis, West and East German activities–of the two states, their economies and their societies–in nine Central African states between 1945 and 1975 are observed and analysed. More than a million file pages out of more than a dozen German archives were read to tackle this task–and shed some refreshing new light on the foreign policies of the two German states during Cold War.


Die deutsche Außenpolitik zur Zeit des Kalten Krieges stellt in historischer wie politikwissenschaftlicher Hinsicht einen Gegenstand dar, der mit gutem Gewissen als wissenschaftlich erschlossen bezeichnet werden kann. Zahlreiche Aufsätze, Artikel und Bücher sind in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten erschienen, welche die deutsche Außenpolitik in Europa, Afrika, Asien, Ozeanien, Amerika, oder auch gleich der Welt als Ganzem, in den Blick genommen haben. Dies gilt sowohl für die Außenpolitik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland als auch für diejenige der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. Früh – wenn nicht sogar von Beginn an – kam hierbei eine zentrale These, eine Kernthese, zum Vorschein, die, ohne auf Widerstand zu stoßen, Eingang in den historischen und politikwissenschaftlichen Forschungskanon fand und ihn bereits nach kurzer Zeit zu dominieren begann. Die Rede ist von der die deutschen Auslandsaktivitäten angeblich bestimmenden Hallstein-Doktrin und dem mit ihr in engem Zusammenhang stehenden deutsch-deutschen Gegensatz. In dieser Arbeit wird dieser Kernthese, diesem ''Mythos'' der deutschen Außenpolitik, vehement widersprochen. Weder die Hallstein-Doktrin, noch der deutsch-deutsche Gegensatz, sondern nationale ökonomische und internationale geostrategische Interessen haben die deutsche Außenpolitik – und darüber hinaus auch die gesamten deutschen Auslandsaktivitäten, der BRD wie der DDR – maßgeblich bestimmt. Zur Stützung dieser Gegenthese werden in der vorliegenden Studie die staatlichen, wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen Aktivitäten West- und Ostdeutschlands in neun zentralafrikanischen Staaten zwischen 1945 und 1975 kritisch dargelegt, umfassend analysiert und im Hinblick auf mehrere zentrale Thesen zu den deutschen Auslandsaktivitäten ausgewertet.

Unable to afford advanced technological deterrents, Albania’s communist regime built 500 000 military bunkers as a defence against a possible invasion. These monoliths that dominate the landscape were thankfully never used for their intended purpose.
This body of work investigates the re-use and recycling of the wealth that the bunkers retain. Between the years of 1975 and 1988 an estimated 500 000 bunkers were constructed.  With so much wealth invested in these now useless monoliths, the citizens nowadays are extracting their inheritance by reusing the bunkers as cafes, restaurants, accommodation, and agricultural buildings.
They are images of the Albanian mentality today, a portrait of their lives set within the confines of their past. How they perceive and re-organise the failed state inherited from the bankrupt communist regime.

Il presente contributo prende in esame la Strage di Bologna del 1980 assieme alle altre due stragi che insanguinarono l´Europa nello stesso anno - quella all´Oktoberfest di Monaco e quella alla sinagoga di Parigi -  all´interno del contesto geopolitico e degli accordi di diplomazia parallela dell´epoca. Vengono esaminate e correlate le risultanze emerse da fonti di archivio inedite, da inchieste giornalistiche e da interviste coi protagonisti, palesi e occulti, di quegli eventi. La prima tendenza che emerge è quella di revisione della “semplice” matrice neofascista delle stragi, revisione che per Bologna riguarda mandanti ed esecutori e per Monaco apre inquietanti scenari sui mandanti.  Elemento comune delle nuove ricostruzioni è la presenza di una comune pista internazionale che vede, oltre il coinvolgimento del gruppo Carlos e di gruppi del radicalismo palestinese, ombre dei diversi Servizi operanti nello scenario internazionale della Guerra Fredda. Nuovi dati di archivio dei Servizi di sicurezza Bulgara consentono di ricostruire che, proprio mentre la Bulgaria assume ruolo centrale all´interno del coordinamento dei Servizi del Patto di Varsavia – mai pubblicamente dichiarato – e competenza su Mediterraneo e Medioriente, il Gruppo Carlos, con molti dei suoi membri, si stabilisce a Sofia e tiene lunghe riunioni con una presenza dal settembre 1979 al gennaio 1980. Nello stesso periodo a Sofia si stabiliscono anche molti gruppi del radicalismo palestinese e si creano campi di training ideologico e militare per i gruppi armati palestinesi. Particolare, tra gli attentati del 1980, il caso della strage all´Oktoberfest che vede protagonista il Gruppo Hoffmann, infiltrato da Gladio e STASI, e addestratosi prima dell´attentato in un campo militare palestinese a Beirut per volontà di Abu Ayad -  capo dell´intelligence del PLO. Lo stesso Abu Ayad effettuerà un depistaggio delle indagini sulla Strage di Bologna, fornendo false informazioni proprio sul gruppo Hoffmann che a breve avrebbe compiuto l´attentato di Monaco, con una intervista ad una giornalista, poi identificata dalla magistratura come agente dei Servizi italiani. Agente che collabora con il Colonnello Giovannone, considerato il garante del Lodo Moro – l´accordo segreto tra la diplomazia italiana e il FPLP, e all´epoca considerata, invece, una militante filo-palestinese. L´operato di Abu Ayad rappresenta, dunque, un chiaro collegamento tra la strage di Bologna e quella di Monaco. Nella ormai certa esistenza del Lodo Moro italiano – l´accordo tra italiani e gruppi armati palestinesi (FPLP) per garantire una maggior sicurezza del territorio in cambio della possibilità di trasporto e deposito di esplosivi – e nella sempre più accettata possibilità che Lodi simili siano stati stipulati da Francia, Germania, Svizzera, le tre stragi del 1980 si arricchiscono di aspetti ancor più internazionali e geopolitici. Emersi i ruoli sempre più centrali dei gruppi palestinesi e di Carlos, resta da comprendere se tali attentati furono ritorsioni di questi gruppi in momenti di crisi di tali Lodi o, come suggerisce Carlos, sabotaggi da parte di forze (egli indica Gladio) che ai Lodi europei e al dialogo tra Stati europei e palestinesi si opponevano. Relativamente alla Strage di Bologna resta, ad esempio, inspiegabile come mai i magistrati abbiano deciso di non ascoltare a dovere Carlos grazie alle cui dichiarazioni si scoprì, solo nel 2000, la presenza di un suo uomo, il tedesco Thomas Kram, a Bologna sin dal giorno precedente la strage. Che le “relazioni scomode” che il Lodo Moro determinò – i Servizi italiani collaboravano coi palestinesi che a loro volta collaboravano con le Brigate Rosse e altri gruppi del radicalismo di sinistra – siano fonte di imbarazzo e barriera di ricostruzione storica? “Relazioni scomode” che con i vari Lodi europei (francese, tedesco, svizzero) potrebbero essersi verificate non solo in Italia ma all´interno dello scacchiere occidentale. Una barriera alla esauriente ricostruzione storica è, inoltre, da individuare in quel complesso scenario di relazioni internazionali e diplomazia parallela o segreta, oggi finalmente in via di ricostruzione, che ci indica come diversi Stati europei oltre alle ufficiali posizioni atlantiste abbiano, in nome della sicurezza nazionale e di interessi geopolitici nel Mediterraneo e in Medioriente, stretto rapporti con soggetti politici – i gruppi combattenti palestinesi – invece vicini al blocco dell´Est. Situazione questa che non può non aver generato tensioni sotterranee.

The Cold War superpower face-off between the Soviet Union and the United States dominated international affairs in the second half of the 20th century and still reverberates around the world today. This comprehensive and insightful multi-volume set provides authoritative entries on all aspects of this world-changing event, including wars, new military technologies, diplomatic initiatives, espionage activities, important individuals and organizations, economic developments, societal and cultural events, and more. This expansive coverage provides readers with the necessary context to understand the many facets of this complex conflict.

The work begins with a preface and introduction and then offers illuminating introductory essays on the origins and course of the Cold War, which are followed by some 1,500 entries on key individuals, wars, battles, weapons systems, diplomacy, politics, economics, and art and culture.
Each entry has cross-references and a list of books for further reading.
The text includes more than 100 key primary source documents, a detailed chronology, a glossary, and a selective bibliography. Numerous illustrations and maps are inset throughout to provide additional context to the material.
FEATURES
Includes more than 1,500 entries covering all facets of the Cold War from its origins to its aftermath, including all political, diplomatic, military, social, economic, and cultural aspects
Incorporates the scholarship of more than 200 internationally recognized
contributors from around the world, many writing about events and  issues from the perspective of their country of origin

Offers more than 100 original documents—a collection that draws heavily on material from archives in China, Eastern
Europe, and the former Soviet Union

Provides hundreds of powerful images and dozens of informative maps detailing specific military conflicts and movements of various groups

Includes a detailed chronology of important events that occurred before, during, and after the Cold War

This paper deals with the background, role players, sequence of events, geopolitical considerations and history of the Angolan War which took place from 1975 to 1990 between the Soviet Union and its allies & proxies on the one hand, and the Republic of South Africa and its allies on the other. It also has a section presenting a rebuttal of previously published material on this subject, and a section on disinformation techniques used in and by the Soviet Union.

Resumo: O artigo tem como objetivo estabelecer uma relação entre a diplomacia cultural do jazz durante a Guerra Fria, e a projeção da imagem positiva dos Estados Unidos no Sistema Internacional. Desta forma, iremos analisar como a política externa norte-americana usufruiu da diplomacia cultural, ao difundir valores ocidentalizados de liberdade, igualdade racial e integração, através do jazz. Devido ao carisma do gênero, que permeava fronteiras com facilidade e conquistava todas as classes sociais, o jazz incorporou a agenda de política externa estadunidense. Nesse contexto, veiculou e traduziu os valores que o Estado achava pertinente disseminar com a finalidade de tornar-se mais atrativo Palavras-chave: Diplomacia cultural. Jazz. Política externa. Estados Unidos. Guerra Fria.

Abstract: The paper aims to establish a relationship between jazz cultural diplomacy during the Cold War, and the projection of a positive image of the United States in the International System. In that sense, we will analyze how North-American foreign policy has enjoyed the cultural diplomacy, diffusing Westernized values of freedom, racial equality and integration, through jazz. Due to the gender's charisma, which permeated borders easily and conquered all social classes, jazz has incorporated the agenda of U.S. foreign policy, in order to convey and translate the values that the state thought was relevant disseminate in order to become more attractive.

The Comité International d'Information et d'Action Sociale (CIAS) was an international anti-communist network and an integral part of the organised postwar global anti-communist movement. This movement consisted of most diverse organisations. Some – weaker ones - confined their operations on the fight against communism inside their respective country's borders, others – stronger ones, as CIAS - reached further, operating on an international, continental, in singular cases even on a global level. They will be the primary issue of this paper on anti-communist networks. //// //// ////

Therefore, CIAS will be presented, analysed and compared with the other two major anti-communist networks, the 亞洲人民反共聯盟 or Asian Peoples Anti-Communist League (APACL) and the Confederatión Interamericana de la Defensa del Continente (CIADC). As CIAS operated on all continents, a short overview on most of its European and non-European operations will be given.
Furthermore, as this paper deals with CIAS's operations during 'peaceful coexistence' and 'détente', it will focus on the timeframe between 1957 and 1965, a period in which cadres of the West German anti-communist organisation Volksbund für Frieden und Freiheit (VFF) dominated the network. Therefore, the question in how far the West German cadres were able to influence the networks development and policy will be an issue as well.

This article explores the ambiguous role of coastal smuggling during the first decade and a half of Communist rule (1949–65). Fearing that the illicit flow of commodities siphoned critical revenues and undermined foreign policy, Communist China repurposed and expanded Nationalist China's war on smuggling while employing novel tactics of mobilization. Yet smuggling was not just a threat; it was also a lifeline that alleviated widespread material shortages and supplied the everyday needs of individuals and firms during the tumultuous transition to central planning. Businesses from 'underground factories' to state-owned enterprises relied on black markets to meet ambitious production targets and circumvent bottlenecks in official supply channels. Smuggling was thus more than just 'corruption' practised by officials—it was also a 'creative accommodation' employed by broad swaths of social actors coping with the enormous changes. This article argues that the nascent command economy and the vibrant underground economy existed symbiotically rather than antagonistically. Exploration into this complex relationship reveals many cross-border connections between Communist China and the capitalist world that both complemented and undermined domestic state consolidation.

Full text also available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X16000688

The focus of this article is an analysis of the Greek junta’s relations with the Wilson and Heath governments in the United Kingdom from 1967 to 1974. Emphasis is placed on diplomatic relations between the two traditional allies. The reactions of the military leaders of the regime in Athens and its representatives in Britain to policies pursued by London towards the establishment, consolidation and eventual demise of the colonels’ dictatorship are presented through the examination (for the first time) of official documents from both the UK and Greece. It is argued that the Greek military regime struggled to cultivate relations with Britain primarily for reasons of domestic and international prestige. Whereas Whitehall pursued a policy of “good working relations” with the junta in order to promote British interests vis-à-vis NATO, Cyprus and trade, the leadership in Athens was solely interested in using British support to gain legitimacy internationally and domestically.

Данная статья представляет собой публикацию с комментарием письма советских верующих о гонениях на монахов Почаевской лавры. Публикуемый документ хранится в архиве Кестонского центра по изучению религиозной политики и общества (Университет Бэйлор, Техас, США), ранее в архиве Кестонского института (Оксфорд, Великобритания). Попав на запад в 1964 г., он сыграл немаловажную роль в распространении информации о религиозных преследованиях в СССР в годы хрущевской антирелигиозной кампании и конкретно в учреждении Кестонского института в 1969 г. Публикация письма сопровождается вступительной статьей, которая вводит письмо в контекст холодной войны на «религиозном фронте», и комментариями справочного характера.

This is the publication of a letter from Soviet believers about persecutions of the monks of Pochaev Lavra, Ukraine. This letter is preserved
in the Keston Center for Religion Politics and Society at Baylor University, Texas, USA, earlier in the Keston Institute (Oxford, UK). This
document reached the West in 1964 and played an important role in
spreading the information about antireligious assaults in the USSR
in the years of the Khrushchev rule and particularly in the establishment of the Keston Institute in 1969. The publication is accompanied
with an introductory note that places the document within the Cold
War “religious front” context, and reference commentaries.

This study is an attempt to answer the question: what kind of influence
the communist government and its policies had on maps for general use, published
between 1944 and 1989 in Poland? The answer to this question is based
on the analysis of written and cartographic documents from that period
and on the analysis of maps which were then published, with special attention
being paid to content distortion and to the fact that the communist authorities
considered the content of maps to be a potential threat to national security.
The results of this comprehensive analysis helped determine the extent and
intensity of the influence of the state on the final form of cartographic publications
intended for general use. In addition, these results helped prove that maps
for general use, published between 1944 and 1989, are an undisputed historical
source documenting that period and not a very credible source of information
about geographical environment, particularly its man-made features.
The analyzed period between 1944 and 1989 has been divided into several
sub-periods, described in subsequent chapters of this study. The first chapter,
entitled Dealing with the past. 1944-1949, covers a short period of relative
freedom of cartographic activities, which encouraged the continuation of good
practices adopted during the interwar period (1918-39). However, a legal basis
was gradually created by the authorities to effectively limit such activities.
The second chapter, entitled Key role of the state in shaping the concept
of maps for general use. 1950-1963, presents the effects of imposed restrictions and the origin of editorial guidelines for new maps with the so-called
“minimal amount of content”. The third chapter, entitled Superficial development
of the concept of maps for general use. 1964-1989, covers the period
in which the authorities issued further guidelines regarding the preparation
of maps for general use. The aim was to distort the geometric properties
of maps. The last chapter of this study, entitled Conclusion, contains concluding
remarks and presents the social consequences of limited access to detailed,
accurate topographic maps which resulted in using only those maps
whose final form was decided by the authorities.
Each chapter consists of three parts. The first part, entitled Legal and administrative
basis for state interference in cartographic activities, presents
the legal basis meticulously created by the authorities – in the context of historical
events affecting it, which were taking place in Poland or other countries
of the Eastern Bloc. The second part of each of the three chapters, entitled
Influence of the state on cartographic institutions and enterprises, presents
a multilayered structure of power and authority, created to obscure the truth
about decision-making centres whose decisions affected cartographic institutions
and enterprises in Poland and caused maps for general use to become less
and less informative. Both these parts are an introduction helpful for a better
understanding of the last part, entitled State interference in the content of maps
for general use, which contains the results of the analysis of maps and archival
materials related to cartographic censorship.

A quarant’anni dal suo completamento, la Ostpolitik del cancelliere Willy Brandt continua a rappresentare un esempio di accettazione del tragico passato collettivo tedesco e di riconciliazione con il presente di un Paese diviso. Tuttavia, essa fu anche un laboratorio progettuale orientato alla ridefinizione della futura sicurezza europea e alla promozione di un nuovo ordine di pace per il continente. Dato il suo carattere di accentuata autonomia, la Ostpolitik comportò fasi di dissidio e competizione con la distensione promossa dal presidente statunitense Richard Nixon, incentrata sul dialogo esclusivo con l’Unione Sovietica. Tali processi furono fortemente condizionati dal riaffiorare a Washington di timori e sospetti in merito alla rinnovata intraprendenza della politica estera condotta dalle autorità federali tedesche, a un quarto di secolo dalla fine della Seconda guerra mondiale. Grazie alle fonti d’archivio oggi disponibili, il volume ricostruisce le dinamiche attraverso cui i due processi si influenzarono reciprocamente e posero le basi per la riformulazione della Guerra fredda in Europa, conferendole alcuni caratteri che essa avrebbe conservato fino al definitivo smantellamento della «cortina di ferro» e alla riunificazione della Germania.

"The Carter administration's adoption of an approach towards the South African government's policy of apartheid that was, as Jimmy Carter put it, 'correct but as easy on them as possible,' cannot be explained solely by American economic and strategic interests in the region or by the administration's desire for South Africa's cooperation on nuclear nonproliferation and the resolution of the conflicts in neighboring Rhodesia and Namibia. The lessons Carter and Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young drew from their earlier personal experiences in the American South in the 1960s were also of great significance. Those experiences not only gave Carter and Young a strong commitment to ending apartheid in South Africa but also strongly influenced the ways in which they thought that objective might be achieved. First, Carter and Young had considerable sympathy for the position of white South Africans and were concerned to work with them toward peaceful change in a spirit of cooperation rather than confrontation. Second, they believed that American businesses could have a positive impact on race relations in South Africa. They therefore encouraged American investors to adopt 'enlightened employment practices,' and resisted pressure from anti-apartheid activists to impose economic sanctions."

Article reviewed by Andy DeRoche on H-Diplo, 21 March 2013: http://www.h-net.org/~diplo/reviews/PDF/AR391.pdf

In this study, the evolution of the NATO-EU relationship from the Cold War years to present day is examined and this relationship is comprehensively analysed politically, economically and militarily. This analysis consists fundamentally of major problems like the Libya crisis, which enhanced tensions among the EU, NATO, the USA and Turkey. Furthermore, the question of EU’s autonomy from NATO, NATO allies military spendings, NATO’s “Smart Defence” initiative and Turkey’s role in the NATO-EU strategic partnership are examined. The study begins with a historical overview that brings attention to new opportunities and risks in transatlantic relations in the next part. In the last analysis,
emphasis is given to targets which the EU want to reach in world politics in the future including Europe’s military reform, the limits of NATO-EU relations and the search for a new balance of power in the Euro-Atlantic security chain. The article concludes that searching for a balance between “NATO’s primacy against the EU” and “EU autonomy” in the Euro-Atlantic partnership continue and the Cyprus issue is not the only obstacle which limits NATO-EU relations.
Keywords:
USA, France, NATO, Military Intervention, EU, Turkey

The article explores the relationship between the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and Iraq during the decades of the 1970s and 1980s, a period which proved decisive for the rise and demise of the two countries. The author, who has already undertaken extensive and in-depth research into the contemporary history of Iraq and the patterns of Baathist rule over that country, now focuses his attention on the intelligence cooperation between the GDR Ministry for State Security (Ministerium für Staastsicherheit, MfS), widely known for its acronym ‘Stasi,’ and its counterpart in Iraq.
The archival evidence and the reconstruction provided by Joseph Sassoon returns the relations between the two countries to the kind of ‘normal’ patterns of state-to-state interaction, based on the contingencies of the convergence and divergence of interests, visions of international relations, and the practice of domestic rule. As such, the article might well mark a decisive point in the debate, which has often been politically charged, over state-building and authoritarianism in the Middle East and their international connections.

Au trecut deja doi ani de când în reţelele de socializare on line a apărut un subiect despre care se discută la nesfârşit: coronavirusul. Pentru a nu se lăsa mai prejos, politicienii de pe toate continentele încearcă să îi convingă pe concetăţenii lor că numai ei, cei care deţin puterea, pot să rezolve problemele create de pandemie şi noi ar trebui să acceptăm toate măsurile anunţate, stând liniştiţi în locurile indicate de către politicieni cu ajutorul agitatorilor şi al propagandiştilor.
Din când în când, în mass-media apar ştiri despre discuţiile care au loc în cadrul Organizaţiei Mondiale a Sănătăţii referitoare la licenţele şi la drepturile de fabricare a medicamentelor şi a substanţelor necesare pentru a combate pandemia cu care ne confruntăm. Opiniile pro şi contra oferirii gratis a licenţelor altor entităţi sunt expuse pe toate feţele, cu argumente şi contraargumente care stârnesc emoţii, furie, deznădejde şi dispute care se dovedesc până la urmă a fi inutile. Într-un asemenea Turn Babel, patronat de nişte politicieni care nu reuşesc să se înţeleagă între ei, intenţiile nobile se intersectează cu interesele politice şi economice, imposibil de ignorat şi extrem de greu de armonizat la nivel global.
Deoarece ne-am întrebat în ce măsură autorităţile de la Bucureşti au acţionat pentru obţinerea de medicamente româneşti în condiţii normale, fără crize existenţiale şi fără să fie supuse unor presiuni mediatice enorme (aşa cum se întâmplă în prezent), ne-am întors în timp, la 18 octombrie 2020, pentru a reciti pe Contributors.ro un dialog între doi comentatori care au dorit să nu îşi dezvăluie identitatea reală.

Abstract: This essay investigates the emergence of a profusion of lay and specialist
literature in the late 1950s United States advocating on behalf of “gifted”
and “academically talented” students. This call to reform schools around individual
differences in “intelligence” was associated in its moment with the Sputnik
crisis and the passage of the National Defense Education Act (NDEA). The
essay demonstrates, however, that the emergence of intensified interest in education
for the “academically talented” was actually closely coterminous with
Brown v. Board of Education and should also be understood in the context of early
efforts to desegregate the public schools. It holds that a closer look at the NDEA—
and a supporting body of literature working in tandem with it—reveals continuities
in psychometric conceptions of “intelligence” and testing from the interwar
period into the post–World War II era. This essay thus makes contributions to the
historiographies of the Cold War, civil rights, psychometrics, and education in
the 1950s.

An Australian Research Council and UK Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project on the history and historiography of international law and the Cold War with Gerry Simpson (Melbourne/LSE) and Matthew Craven (SOAS).
Project website:
http://www.coldwarinternationallaw.org/

Este trabalho buscou analisar, à luz da teoria da Interdependência Complexa, como os Estados Unidos diversificou a sua agenda de política externa ao usufruir da diplomacia cultural do jazz, para projetar uma imagem positiva do país no período da Guerra Fria. Para tanto, a metodologia usada foi a investigação bibliográfica relacionada à temática, em livros, partes de livros, artigos de periódicos, relatórios, websites e ainda, trechos de músicas. Diante disso, foi possível observar que os Estados Unidos difundiu, através da música, valores ocidentalizados de liberdade, igualdade racial e integração, devido ao carisma do gênero, que permeava fronteiras e conquistava todas as classes sociais. Conclui-se que o governo estadunidense percebeu a importância da diplomacia cultural para complementar as questões de segurança durante a guerra, para criar novos canais de informação. Ademais, utilizou a participação de pessoas em atividades culturais para objetivos não-culturais, de forma que outros povos conhecessem e se identificassem com o american way of life.

In the light of the Complex Interdependence theory, this paper sought to analyse how the United States diversified its foreign policy agenda by taking advantage of jazz cultural diplomacy to project a positive image of the country during the Cold War period. To do so, the methodology used was the bibliographical research related to the subject, in books, parts of books, periodicals, reports, websites and music extracts. In this context, it was possible to observe that the United States disseminated, through music, Westernized values of freedom, racial equality and integration, due to the charisma of the genre that permeated frontiers and conquered all social classes. It was concluded that the U.S. government realized the importance of cultural diplomacy to complement security issues during the war, to create new channels of information. In addition, it used the participation of people in cultural activities for non-cultural objectives, so that other peoples knew and identified with the American way of life.

The problem of role of the Soviet political elite in the process of transformation of Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations and disintegration of the USSR has been deeply considered in Western historiography. Here have been offered different opinions on the issue of scientists from the USA and the Great Britain. Six areas of interpretation of this problem have been identified. The first approach describes collapse of the Soviet Union as natural and inevitable process of death of soviet model, which exhausted itself under conditions of globalization. “Perestroika”, initiated by soviet elite, along with domestic and external factors only accelerated inevitable end of the second superpower. The second approach reveals key role of soviet political “leadership” (M. Gorbachev and his surroundings) in the process of destruction of the USSR, making their egoism, mercantilism, love of power and inconsistence in actions. The third approach concentrates attention on the role of M. Gorbachev in foreign and internal policy, which resulted with the end of cold war, crush of the Soviet block and collapse of the USSR. Forth approach blames B. Yeltsin, who initiated signing “Belovezhskie agreements”. The fifth approach considers L. Kravchuk as a key figure, who worked on independence of Ukraine as the Soviet Union without Ukraine would be nonviable. The sixth approach blames leaders of Central Asian Soviet republics (mainly N. Nazarbayev).
Keywords: Soviet political elite, transformation, Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations, Cold War, disintegration, USSR, Western historiography, M. Gorbachev, “Perestroika”.

At the apex of international Cold War tension, an alliance of Greek military leaders seized power in Athens. Seven years of violent political repression followed in Greece, yet, as Cold War allies, the Greek colonels had continued international support – especially from Britain. Why did the Wilson and Heath governments choose to pursue an alliance with these military dictators? Alexandros Nafpliotis’ book examines British foreign policy towards Greece, exposing a guiding principle of pragmatism above all else. This is the first systematic study of Britain and the Junta to be based on newly released National Archive documents, US and Greek sources and personal interviews with leading actors. Britain and the Greek Colonels is a comprehensive history of international diplomacy and realpolitik in the Cold War period.

Review:
‘Britain and the Greek Colonels is a lucid and detailed account of the relations between Britain and the first military regime established in Europe after World War II. Nafpliotis’ thorough research of the pertinent British, US and Greek archival records and his cogent analysis provide us with a clear understanding of the factors that influenced the formulation of British policy towards the dictatorship in Greece. London’s stance resembled that of the US and the major Western European, and eventually European Community, partners of Britain. With the exception of the policy followed by the Labour government that succeeded the Conservatives in 1974, Cold War considerations and commercial interests took precedence over political liberties and human rights and provided the background of what the author correctly identifies as the accommodation of the Greek dictatorship in the Cold War context.’
Dr Sotiris Rizas, Director of Research, Research Centre for the Study of Modern Greek History, Academy of Athens

In contrast to the standard German Cold War narrative, this article argues that the German-German contradiction cannot be identified as the chief theme underlying German public diplomacies - neither in case of the Federal Republic of Germany nor in case of the German Democratic Republic. This paper theorizes that a history of German Cold War public diplomacies would be unreasonably limited if it were to confine itself to the German-German contradiction because such an approach would ignore all the evidence that suggests that even during the Cold War, German public diplomacies remained tools to represent ‘the own’, and not misrepresent ‘the other’, and therefore were a blunt weapon in the German-German contradiction controversy. Using Africa as a case study, this paper presents evidence to foster this theory, and thereby helps to reset the overemphasized role that the German-German contradiction usually plays in Germany’s Cold War history.

This chapter aims at discussing the socialist international truck drivers during the Cold War as a liminal group, stemming from two basic considerations: The first one is that roads and borders, which constitute the essence of the international truck drivers' identity, practices and status, should be considered as classical liminal spaces; and the second is that the notion of liminality should be used as an independent analytical concept, not directly related to the ritual context. Drawing on state archival documents , and interviews with former Bulgarian international truck drivers, the chapter conceptualizes the road system as a liminal space, then outlines the Bulgarian policies and practices governing border activity during the Cold War, within which Bulgarian international truck drivers emerged as a group. Further, the truckers are presented as crossing state and ideological borders, as oscillating between different official and non-official practices related to the ambivalent characteristics of Cold War relations, as possessing boundary and thus contradicting identities, and as existing in between different social statuses. This analysis of the liminal status and activities of the truck drivers allows for the grasping of the ambivalence of the Cold War as simultaneously a global conflict and an everyday experience, as a time of seclusion and intensive contacts, and allows us to look at the Cold War processes not just from below, from the standpoint of people of a lower-class position, such as the truckers, but from inside—from the interstitial space of the transnational road network, which both epitomized the ambivalence of the Cold War, but also was shaped by it.

This article reviews Joseph Jockel’s classic study of bilateral Canadian–American defence arrangements during the early Cold War: No Boundaries Upstairs. It considers the pol- itical context in which Jockel wrote and highlights the bilateral experiences that con- tributed to his unique perspective. It also reviews Jockel’s account and analysis of the evolution of Canadian–American continental defence cooperation from 1945 to 1958. Finally, this article describes the longevity of Jockel’s analysis as well as how historians and political scientists continue to build on his research.

"Per quindici anni, a cavallo tra seconda guerra mondiale e guerra fredda, la Voce dell'America portò nelle case degli italiani una versione della 'verità' confezionata dai propagandisti di Washington. Con un budget di svariati milioni di dollari, negli anni cinquanta l'emittente arrivò a trasmettere in 45 lingue in tutto il mondo, e l'Italia fu da subito in cima alla lista dei paesi nel mirino della diplomazia culturale delle amministrazioni Truman e Eisenhower. Questo libro prende in esame tutto ciò che avveniva a microfoni spenti, dai legami tra intelligence, politiche governative statunitensi e radio italiana, fino a i network creati per conquistare i cuori e le menti degli ascoltatori delle Rai. Una stretta collaborazione, che si realizzò nonostante la fiera resistenza di alcuni suoi dirigenti, permise alla Rai di trasmettere regolarmente programmi prodotti a New York e Washington dalle agenzie governative americane, e di lanciare quello che presto sarebbe diventato uno dei personaggi più importanti del broadcasting italiano: Mike Bongiorno".

International respect for individual rights experienced a tremendous boost by the revolutions of 1989. Many of the revolutions protagonists – the so-called “dissidents” – had been involved in a broader human rights revolution since the late 1960s. Is respect for human rights thus a legacy of their struggle and thus of 1989? To answer this question, the essay seeks to reconstruct the specific meanings human rights acquired in the writings of East-Central European and Soviet dissidents and contrasts it with the social “imaginaire” underpinning the human rights culture of our time. The article is thus a contribution to a new historiography of human rights which understands them as a contested notion.