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Tag Archives: cold war
Ambassador Matlock Sees the Nuclear Dimension to Ukraine
In a post earlier this month, I decried that the news coverage of the Ukrainian crisis was largely overlooking the nuclear dimension to the risk, and thereby increasing that risk. As I listened today to the Q&A following Ambassador Jack Matlock’s February 11 speech, I was pleased to see him repeatedly highlight that concern. I therefore began to transcribe the Q&A, and share what I’ve done thus far under my signature line. If anyone has the time to continue the process, please post it as a comment. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged cold war, critical thinking, Jack Matlock, martin hellman, nuclear risk, nuclear war, putin, russia, stanford, ukraine, war and peace
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Reagan’s Ambassador to Moscow Says US Suffers from Autistic Foreign Policy
Three days ago, I posted excerpts I had found in news articles from an important speech, but overlooked speech by Ambassador Jack Matlock, our Ambassador to Moscow under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. Today I found both a full transcript of his speech and its YouTube video. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Ambassador Jack Matlock, autistic foreign policy, cold war, martin hellman, nuclear risk, putin, russia, stanford, ukraine, war and peace
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Gorbachev Fears Cold War Could Turn Hot
Mikhail Gorbachev, who let the Soviet union break up rather than shed blood, warned in an interview last week that we are already in a new Cold War and expressed fears that it could turn hot:
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged cold war, critical thinking, gorbachev, martin hellman, nuclear risk, russia, stanford, ukraine, war and peace
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Is the Ukrainian Crisis Spiraling Out of Control?
Today’s news indicates a heightened nuclear risk due to a dangerous feedback process at work in the Ukraine. The New York Times’ page 1 ominous headline was, “Striking Town, Ukraine Forces Defy Warning,” and the Wall Street Journal echoed that warning, “Ukraine Sends Troops East As Pro-Russia Forces Strike.” Is the Ukrainian crisis spiraling out of control, and if so, what might we do to reverse that dangerous process? Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged cold war, critical thinking, martin hellman, nuclear risk, nuclear weapons, putin, stanford, ukraine, Yanukovych
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Nixon’s Adviser Warns Ukraine Could Have “Echoes of 1914”
An interview in The New Republic presents yet another perspective on the Ukrainian crisis. In it, Dmitri Simes warns that actions by the Obama administration could lead to “worse than anything we have witnessed during the Cold War. We would hear the echoes of 1914.” Simes is the founding president of The Nixon Center, now known as The Center for the National Interest, and served as an unofficial policy adviser to President Nixon. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged cold war, critical thinking, Dimitri Simes, Dmitri Simes, martin hellman, nuclear risk, nuclear war, stanford, The New Republic, ukraine, war and peace
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Risky Business
Even though the Cold War is supposed to have ended, the US and Russia still test each other’s air defenses. How much risk is there in such actions? More than one might think. Continue reading
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Tagged 9/11, cold war, martin hellman, nuclear risk, nuclear war, russia, Russian bombers, stanford
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Poking the Russian Bear: A New Cold War?
The Jackson-Vanik Amendment and the Magnitsky Bill are almost unknown in this country, but are frequently cited in Russia as proof that the US is stuck in a Cold War mentality. NYU Russian Studies Prof. Stephen Cohen cites these issues as key elements in what he calls “America’s New Cold War With Russia.” Here’s a quick, simplified time line: Continue reading
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Tagged cold war, Dima Yakovlev, Jackson-Vanik, Magnitsky, martin hellman, nuclear deterrence, nuclear risk, nuclear weapons, stanford
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Poking the Russian Bear – Again
There have been some important new developments on the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, which has an impact on nuclear risk. Most Americans don’t even know that this 1974 relic of the Cold War even exists, but it is frequently cited in the … Continue reading
JFK’s Airstrike Speech
How would the Cuban Missile Crisis have played out if President Kennedy, instead of a naval blockade, had ordered air strikes to destroy the missiles, followed by an invasion of Cuba? Would I be here to write this post, or you to read it? Continue reading
How Logical is Nuclear Deterrence? Part 2
Deterrence’s demand for irrationality is spelled out clearly in a 1995 USSTRATCOM report, “Essentials of Post-Cold War Deterrence”: Because of the value that comes from the ambiguity of what the US may do to an adversary if the acts we … Continue reading
Defusing the Nuclear Threat 