Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Academic and public debates about the Cold War's end (Who won? Why? What does it mean? Whose theories are vindicated?) tend to overlook the role of diplomats in general and the Moscow diplomatic corps in particular. This paper, written by the US Ambassador to the Soviet Union between 1987 and 1991, describes not only the US embassy's role in managing relations between the two former Cold War adversaries during this historically-significant period, but also how the embassy related to others in the Moscow corps. The paper thus considers such issues as how events of the time were filtered through, interpreted, and influenced by the assortment of embassies and diplomats in the Moscow corps; the role of key ambassadors and embassies; the observance of common professional norms; relations with Russian society; and the sharing of information and assessments on internal developments - including whether the corps fell prey to a conventional wisdom about Gorbachev - and on the likely fate of the Soviet system.