During the prolonged years of the Cold War, USIA [United States Information Agency] executed over a dozen exhibits highlighting components…
Living Through History with a Historian—Witnessing Monumental Societal Change in the Soviet Union from the 60s to the 90s
American diplomats and their families abroad become accustomed to living through exciting or harrowing events; but occasionally their lives provide…
Atomic Age Uncertainty—Tension Between the United States and the Soviet Union
One of the most defining moments of the twentieth century was the detonation of an atomic bomb over the Japanese…
End of an Era: The August Coup and the Final Days of the Soviet Union
In August 1991, Soviet hardliners attempted to overthrow the progressive Mikhail Gorbachev, Secretary General of the Communist Party, in a…
Hungary Escapes the Shadow of the Soviet Union
For those trapped in Eastern Europe in the 20th century, the horrors of World War II were supplanted by the…
From START to Finish: Behind the Scenes of the Tense U.S.-Soviet Nuclear Disarmament in Reykjavík
The 45-year-long Cold War of protracted geopolitical contention between two global powerhouses helped determine the unprecedented magnitude of nuclear weapons…
Negotiating the Helsinki Final Act—Soviet Style
Following Allied victory in World War II, the world plunged headfirst into a bitter rivalry lasting decades between the two…
Ceaușescu and the Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia: The Early Years of Dealing with a Dictator
The Romanian Führer. The West’s “favorite communist.” Both of these descriptions have been used to describe Nicolae Ceaușescu, the rapacious…
A Precursor to the Downfall: Living Through Soviet Perestroika and Glasnost
The international community hoped great changes would come to the Soviet Union after Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in March…
From the Ground Up: USAID in Post-Soviet Russia
Six months after the fall of the Soviet Union, James (Jim) Norris became the USAID mission director in Russia. Not…