Soviet Union

• 
• SOURCE: NY Times
  September 27, 2019
  

  She's Rising from the Depths of Soviet Music History

  by Gabrielle Cornish

  Interest is building in Galina Ustvolskaya, the reclusive Russian composer born 100 years ago whose nickname was “the lady with the hammer.”

• 
• 9/29/19
  

  Betrayal in Berlin: Soviet Disinformation and the Berlin Crisis

  by Steve Vogel

  While Russian bots and fake Facebook accounts are relatively new, efforts to undercut Western values and democracy and sow division among allies have long been part of the playbook for Russian and Soviet intelligence.

• 
• SOURCE: NY Times
  9/24/19
  

  A Slain Jewish Girl’s Diary of Life Under the Soviets and the Nazis

  At a moment when basic agreement over simple truths has become a political battleground and history a weapon, the publication of the book, “Renia’s Diary,” offers a reminder of the power of bearing witness.

• 
• SOURCE: Time
  9/3/19
  

  World War II Launched a New Age of Global Power. 80 Years After the War Began, That Era Is Ending

  by David Kaiser

  The world order created after World War II has begun to collapse. 

• 
• SOURCE: National Security Archive
  9/9/19
  

  National Security Archive Publishes New Documents on the First Soviet Nuclear Test Offering New Information on Beginning of Nuclear Arms Race

  by William Burr

  The newly declassified documents reveal the Soviet atomic project posed a major challenge to U.S. intelligence and expands our knowledge of the role of German scientists in advancing the Soviet nuclear program.

• 
• 9/8/19
  

  Trump’s Wall and the Aggrandizement of Despots

  by Walter G. Moss

  Egotistical rulers like Trump often have grandiose architectural plans. Hitler had his “Germania," Mao had his “10 Great Buildings," and Stalin had his never-built Palace of Soviets. 

• 
• 9/8/19
  

  The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Trollope Ploy Myth

  by Sheldon M. Stern

  What we often get wrong about the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  8/30/19
  

  Why Soviets Sent Dogs to Space While Americans Used Primates

  The goal for the Cold War rivals was the same: to prove that animals could survive in orbit so that people could, too. But why did the Soviets use dogs, while the Americans used primates?

• 
• 8/25/19
  

  Devil's Bargain: The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact 80 Years Later

  by David Carlin

  Eighty years ago, two dictators agreed to divide up Eastern Europe. Their agreement would change the lives of millions.

• 
• SOURCE: National Security Archive
  8/15/19
  

  National Security Archive Releases New Briefing Book on Chernobyl through the Eyes of the Soviet Politburo, KGB, and U.S. Intelligence

  Declassified documents detail highest-level reactions, cover-ups, critiques using sources never before translated into English.

• 
• August 11, 2019
  

  Russian History Gives the United States an Ominous Warning

  by Laura Engelstein

  What can Russia's tumultuous history teach us about the brevity of stable governments. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  8/5/2019
  

  Lessons From Moscow: How China Might Handle Hong Kong

  Soviet experiences from decades past offer examples for what Beijing may do to quell protests in the city.

• 
• SOURCE: Time
  7/24/19
  

  Is Capitalism or Communism Better for Women? How the Kitchen Debate Gave a New Meaning to the Cold War 'Home Front'

   In American and Soviet homes, the capitalism-communism divide was a topic of conversation at many a kitchen table — and, most famously, in one model kitchen.

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  6/30/2019
  

  A Monster to History, Stalin Is a Tourist Magnet in His Hometown

  Stalin inspires deep emotions in the country where he spent his earliest years, and one of them is reverence.

• 
• SOURCE: Daily Mail
  5/19/19
  

  Historian Ben Macintyre reveals the gripping story of the KGB agent who saved us from Armageddon in 1983

  How did double agent Oleg Gordievsky stop Russia launching a nuclear strike on the West?

• 
• SOURCE: Wall Street Journal
  4/29/19
  

  The Madness of Nuclear Deterrence

  by Mikhail Gorbachev

  The dangers have only become more acute in the decades since I tried to convince Thatcher.

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  3/2/19
  

  The Island That Changed History

  by Sergey Radchenko

  A 1969 border clash between Moscow and Beijing pushed the two apart, and opened the door for Nixon to go to China.

• 
• SOURCE: National Security Archive
  1/29/19
  

  National Security Archive Releases New documents on Soviet 1979 Invasion of Afghanistan

  Declassified Documents Show Moscow’s Fear of an Afghan Flip, U.S. Diplomat’s Meeting with Afghan Leader Helped Put Soviets Over the Edge

• 
• SOURCE: Tom Dispatch
  1/24/19
  

  Amnesia in Washington

  by Tom Engelhardt

  Afghanistan and the Implosion of America

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  1/18/19
  

  4,141 Latvians Were Just Outed as K.G.B. Informants

  For many Latvians. the appearance of their names, code names and dates of recruitment in a recently released K.G.B. archive has come as a traumatic surprise.