About the Book
This book presents and interprets archival records of the meetings between Mikhail Gorbachev and George W. Bush between 1989 and 1991, including transcripts of conversations between top leaders on the rapid and monumental events of the final days of the Cold War. Particularly effective interlocutors were the foreign ministers Eduard Shevardnadze and James Baker, especially interesting when they interacted directly with Bush or Gorbachev. The documents were obtained from the Gorbachev Foundation and the Russian State Archives and from the United States government through requests under the Freedom of Information Act. Taking place at a time of revolutionary change in Eastern Europe, stimulated in part by Gorbachev and by Eastern Europeans (the Solidarity movement, dissidents, reform communists), the Malta Summit of 1989 and subsequent meetings helped defuse any potential for superpower conflict. Each of the five summits is covered in a separate chapter, introduced by an essay that places the transcripts in historical context. The anthology offers a fascinating glimpse into the relationship that defined the last, waning years of the Cold War—a unique record of these historic, highest-level conversations that effectively brought it to a close. The quality and scope of the dialogue between these world leaders was unprecedented and is likely never to be repeated.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: The Malta Summit, 1989
Document No. 71: Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, Bush-Gorbachev, 12:33 p.m. -12:46 p.m., January 23, 1989
Document No. 72: CIA Intelligence Estimate: "Moscow's 1989 Agenda for U.S.-Soviet Relations," February 1989
Document No. 73: Memorandum from Scowcroft for the President: "Getting Ahead of Gorbachev," March 1, 1989
Document No. 74: Record of Conversation between Gorbachev and Baker, Moscow, May 11, 1989
Document No. 75: Memorandum from Scowcroft for the President: "Scope Paper--Your Visit to Poland," June 29, 1989
Document No. 76: Letter from Bush to Gorbachev, July 21, 1989
Document No. 77: Memorandum of Conversation, Bush-Shevardnadze, Washington, 2:00 p.m. - 3:05 p.m., September 21, 1989
Document No. 78: Letter from Bush to Gorbachev, November 22, 1989
Document No. 79: Memorandum from Baker for the President: "Your December Meeting With Gorbachev," November 29, 1989
Document No. 80: Record of Conversation between Gorbachev and John Paul II, December 1, 1989
Document No. 81: Memorandum of Conversation, Bush-Gorbachev, First Expanded Bilateral Meeting, Malta, 10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m., December 2, 1989
Document No. 82: Memorandum of Conversation, Bush-Gorbachev, First Restricted Bilateral Meeting, Malta, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m., December 2, 1989
Document No. 83: Memorandum of Conversation, Bush-Gorbachev, Luncheon Meeting, Malta, 1:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m., December 2, 1989
Document No. 84: Memorandum of Conversation: Bush-Gorbachev, Second Restricted Bilateral Meeting, Malta, 11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m., December 3, 1989
Document No. 85: Memorandum of Conversation: Bush-Gorbachev, Second Expanded Bilateral Meeting, Malta, 4:35 p.m. - 6:45 p.m., December 3, 1989
Document No. 86: Memorandum from Rice to Scowcroft, December 5, 1989
Document No. 87: Chernyaev Diary, January 2, 1990
Chapter 2: The Washington and Camp David Summit, 1990
Document No. 88: Memorandum from Scowcroft for the President: "Objectives for U.S.-Soviet Relations in 1990," January 1990
Document No. 89: Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, Bush-Gorbachev, 7:04 a.m. - 7:30 a.m., January 31, 1990
Document No. 90: Memorandum of Conversation, Gates-Kryuchkov, KGB Headquarters, Moscow, 3:00 p.m. - 5:15 p.m., February 9, 1990
Document No. 91: Memorandum of Conversation, Bush-Kohl, Camp David, 2:37 p.m. - 4:50 p.m., February 24, 1990
Document No. 92: Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, Bush-Gorbachev, 7:14 a.m. - 7:51 a.m., February 28, 1990
Document No. 93: Memorandum of Conversation, Bush-Shevardnadze, Washington, 10:00 a.m. - 11:40 a.m., April 6, 1990
Document No. 94: Cable from U.S. Embassy Moscow to Department of State: "Gorbachev Confronts Crisis of Power," May 11, 1990
Document No. 95: Record of Conversation between Gorbachev and Baker (with delegations), Moscow, May 18, 1990
Document No. 96: Memorandum from Scowcroft for the President: "Scope Paper--The Gorbachev Summit," Late May 1990
Document No. 97: Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, Bush-Kohl, 7:34 a.m. - 7:43 a.m., May 30, 1990
Document No. 98: Memorandum of Conversation, Bush-Gorbachev, First Private Meeting, Washington, 10:54 a.m. - 12:45 p.m., May 31, 1990
Document No. 99: Record of Conversation between Gorbachev and Bush, Washington, 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m., May 31, 1990
Document No. 100: Memorandum of Conversation, Bush-Gorbachev, Second Private Meeting, Washington, 11:00 a.m. - 11:48 a.m., June 1, 1990
Document No. 101: Memorandum of Conversation, Bush-Gorbachev, Second Plenary Meeting, Washington, 11:50 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., June 1, 1990
Document No. 102: Memorandum of Conversation, Bush-Gorbachev, Final Private Meeting, Camp David, 11:15 a.m. - 12:59 p.m., and 3:00 p.m., June 2, 1990
Document No. 103: "Briefing Allies on Washington Summit," U.S. Department of State Cable, June 15, 1990
Document No. 104: ....
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.
