About the 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.
Table of Contents:
Preface and Acknowledgements Main Actors Chronology of Events Chapter 1: The Geneva Summit, 1985 Document No. 1: Record of Conversation between Thatcher and Reagan, December 22, 1984 Document No. 2: Memorandum from Yakovlev to Gorbachev: “About Reagan,” March 12, 1985 Document No. 3: Letter from Reagan to Gorbachev, April 30, 1985 Document No. 4: CIA Intelligence Analysis: “Gorbachev, the New Broom,” June 1985 Document No. 5: Record of Main Content of Conversation between Gorbachev and U.S. Senate Delegation, September 3, 1985 Document No. 6: Memorandum Dictated by Reagan: “Gorbachev,” November, 1985 Document No. 7: CIA paper: “Sharing SDI Technology with the Soviets,” November 1, 1985 Document No. 8: Memorandum from McFarlane to the President: “Papers on the Soviet Union: Gorbachev and his Geneva Agenda,” November 12, 1985 Document No. 9: Memorandum of Conversation, Reagan-Gorbachev, First Private Meeting, Geneva, 10:20 a.m. - 11:20 a.m., November 19, 1985 Document No. 10: Memorandum of Conversation, Reagan-Gorbachev, First Plenary Meeting, Geneva, 11:27 a.m. - 12:15 p.m., November 19, 1985 Document No. 11: Memorandum of Conversation, Reagan-Gorbachev, Second Plenary Meeting, Geneva, 2:30 p.m. - 3:40 p.m., November 19, 1985 Document No. 12: Memorandum of Conversation, Reagan-Gorbachev, Second Private Meeting, Geneva, 3:40 p.m. - 4:45 p.m., November 19, 1985 Document No. 13: Memorandum of Conversation, Reagan-Gorbachev, Dinner Hosted by the Gorbachevs, Geneva, 8:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m., November 19, 1985 Document No. 14: Memorandum of Conversation, Reagan-Gorbachev, Third Private Meeting, Geneva, 10:15 a.m. - 11:25 a.m., November 20, 1985 Document No. 15: Memorandum of Conversation, Reagan-Gorbachev, Third Plenary Meeting, Geneva, 11:30 a.m. - 12:40 p.m., November 20, 1985 Document No. 16: Memorandum of Conversation, Reagan-Gorbachev, Fourth Plenary Meeting, Geneva, 2:45 p.m. - 3:30 p.m., November 20, 1985 Document No. 17: Memorandum of Conversation, Reagan-Gorbachev, Dinner Hosted by President and Mrs. Reagan, Geneva, 8:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m., November 20, 1985 Document No. 18: Draft Private Letter from Reagan to Gorbachev, November 28, 1985 Document No. 19: Letter from Gorbachev to Reagan, December 24, 1985 Chapter 2: The Reykjavik Summit, 1986 Document No. 20: Letter from Gorbachev to Reagan, January 14, 1986 Document No. 21: Letter from Reagan to Gorbachev, February 22, 1986 Document No. 22: Record of Conversation between Gorbachev and Members of the U.S. Congress Fascell and Broomfield, April 4, 1986 Document No. 23: Letter from Gorbachev to Reagan, September 15, 1986 Document No. 24: Meeting in the Secretariat Room with Members of the Politburo and Assistants, September 22, 1986 Document No. 25: Memorandum from Shultz to the President: “Reykjavik,” October 2, 1986 Document No. 26: Gorbachev’s Instructions to the Reykjavik Preparation Group, October 4, 1986 Document No. 27: Notes of a CC CPSU Politburo Session, October 8, 1986 Document No. 28: Memorandum of Conversation, Reagan-Gorbachev, First Meeting, Reykjavik, 10:40 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., October 11, 1986 Document No. 29: Memorandum of Conversation, Reagan-Gorbachev, Second Meeting, Reykjavik, 3:30 p.m. - 5:40 p.m., October 11, 1986 Document No. 30: Record of Conversation in the Working Group on Military Issues, October 11-12, 1986 Document No. 31: Transcript of Reagan-Gorbachev Reykjavik Talks, October 12, 1986 Document No. 32: Memorandum of Conversation, Reagan-Gorbachev, Fourth Meeting, Reykjavik 3:25 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., October 12, 1986 Document No. 33: Transcript of Gorbachev-Reagan Reykjavik Talks, Final Meeting, October 12, 1986 Document No. 34: State Department: “Lessons of Reykjavik,” October 12, 1986 Document No. 35: Gorbachev’s Thoughts on Reykjavik, October 12, 1986 Document No. 36: Memorandum from Poindexter for the President: “Why We Can’t Commit to Eliminating All Nuclear Weapons Within 10 Years,” October 16, 1986 Document No. 37: Memorandum from Shultz ....
About the Author :
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.
Thomas S. Blanton is Director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Review :
"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."
"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."
