The Last Superpower Summits: Reagan, Gorbachev and Bush. Conversations that Ended the Cold War.

Published by Central European University Press 2016

The Last Superpower Summits

Reagan, Gorbachev and Bush. Conversations that Ended the Cold War.

Edited by: Svetlana Savranskaya and Thomas S. Blanton

In the series National Security Archive Cold War Reader

https://doi.org/10.1515/9789633861714

Overview
Contents

About this book

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 Gorbachev Foundation and the State Archive of the Russian Federation in Moscow, and from the personal donation of Anatoly Chernyaev, these previously Top Secret verbatim transcripts combine with key declassified preparatory and after-action documents from both sides to create a unique interactive documentary record of these historic highest-level talks – the conversations that ended the Cold War. The summits fueled a process of learning on both sides, as the authors argue in contextual essays on each summit and detailed headnotes on each document. Geneva 1985 and Reykjavik 1986 reduced Moscow's sense of threat and unleashed Reagan's inner abolitionist. Malta 1989 and Washington 1990 helped dampen any superpower sparks that might have flown in a time of revolutionary change in Eastern Europe, set off by Gorbachev and by Eastern Europeans (Solidarity, dissidents, reform Communists). The high level and scope of the dialogue between these world leaders was unprecedented, and is likely never to be repeated.

Author / Editor information

Savranskaya Svetlana :

Svetlana Savranskaya is a Senior Research Fellow of the National Security Archive at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and since 2001 the director of the Archive's Russia programs.

Blanton Thomas S. :

Thomas S. Blanton is Director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Reviews

"Über 150 Schriftstücke dokumentieren hier vor allem den Austausch zwischen Michail Gorbačev und Ronald Reagan bzw. Georg W. Bush, Außenministergespräche sowie Memoranden und Bilanzen ihrer Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter, die im Umfeld der Gipfel entstanden. Die Herausgeberin und der Herausgeber haben die Abschnitte vom ersten Gipfel in Genf 1985 über Treffen unter anderem in Reykjavík sowie je zweimal Washington und Moskau bis Madrid 1991 mit prägnanten Einleitungen versehen, die allerdings nur den englischsprachigen sowie, in sehr knapper Auswahl, den russischsprachigen Forschungsstand aufgreifen. Der Band verzichtet auf jede weitere Kommentierung der einzelnen Dokumente. Rücksichten auf Wählerschichten oder auf spezifische bürokratische und militärische Interessen, der Einfluss konservativer Experten, der unverhoffte Druck plötzlicher innenpolitischer oder außenpolitischer Krisen und selbständige Agenden Dritter trieben die Führungen zum Teil mehr vor sich her, als dass sie die Ereignisse hätten kooperativ managen können – wenn sie es, wie erwähnt, überhaupt gewollt haben. Immerhin ließ Bush sen. im bereits zitierten Austausch im Juli 1991 Gorbačev wissen, dass vor allem das, was gut für die USA sei, auch gut für die Sowjetunion sei. Die Widersprüche zwischen Visionen einer gemeinsamen Weltpolitik und nationalen Perspektiven traten mit dem Verfall der Gorbačev’schen Machtbasis immer mehr hervor. Der Band erweist sich als wichtiges Hilfsmittel, um diese ambivalenten Prozesse zu analysieren."

"The anthology offers a fascinating glimpse into the relationship that defined the waning years of the Cold War—from a hawkish Ronald Reagan softening his tone in his second presidential term to Mikhail Gorbachev's dissolution of the Soviet Union. The volume is thoughtfully laid out, starting with an introduction about the collection, a time line of key dates, and a list of "main actors," which enables readers to keep straight the many names mentioned in the work. Each of the ten summits is covered in a chapter, preceded by a historical essay that provides useful commentary and places transcripts in context. Overall, this is an excellent work issued collaboratively in the "National Security Archive Cold War Readers" series. Summing up: Highly recommended."

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Preface and Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xix
Main Actors Publicly Available Download PDF	xxv
Chronology of Events Publicly Available Download PDF	xxix
Chapter 1: THE GENEVA SUMMIT, 1985 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 2: THE REYKJAVIK SUMMIT, 1986 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	121
Chapter 3: THE WASHINGTON SUMMIT, 1987 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	253
Chapter 4: THE MOSCOW SUMMIT, 1988 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	365
Chapter 5: THE GOVERNORS ISLAND SUMMIT, 1988 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	451
Chapter 6: THE MALTA SUMMIT, 1989 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	479
Chapter 7: THE WASHINGTON AND CAMP DAVID SUMMIT, 1990 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	571
Chapter 8: THE HELSINKI SUMMIT, PARIS, AND THE WAR IN THE GULF, 1990 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	705
Chapter 9: THE MOSCOW SUMMIT, 1991 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	797
Epilogue: MADRID, 1991 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	907
Selected Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	995
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1001

Language: English
Publisher: Central European University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 1080
Keywords: Cold War; Diplomatic history; Foreign relations; History; Sources; Soviet Union; United States

eBook

Published: November 1, 2016
ISBN: 9789633861714