Review Essay: What Did the Cold War Teach Us?

In the late 1940s scholars and practitioners reached for the lessons learned from World Wars I and II to combat the growing threat posed by the Soviet Union. The United States established a free trade order to ensure Western prosperity, built peacetime alliances around the world to help contain Soviet power, and went to war to save South Korea and to demonstrate that aggression would not pay. For four decades Americans experienced a Cold War with the Soviet Union. The two superpowers engaged in a massive arms race and almost went to war over Berlin, Cuba, and the Middle East

Psychological Approaches

This article addresses the following question: Under what conditions, in what ways, and to what degree should various strands of theorizing at the international level — structural realism, institutionalism, constructivism — incorporate various categories of psychological theory? The article samples the diverse ways in which such interweaving of levels of analysis has either already begun or could be readily initiated given recent empirical and theoretical developments. The most promising candidates for conceptual integration are organized into four broad categories which identify: the appropriate boundary conditions for the applicability of clashing hypotheses within the structural-realist tradition; the factors that facilitate and impede the creation of international institutions and norm enforcement mechanisms within the institutionalist tradition; the factors that determine whether policy-makers and epistemic communities frame issues in terms of the logic of consequential action or the logic of obligatory action within the constructivist tradition; and the price that international relations theorists pay for placing a hedgehog-style premium on theoretical parsimony and the value of adopting a more flexible, foxlike, contextualist style in future theory-building exercises

Evaluating NATO enlargement: scholarly debates, policy implications, and roads not taken

NATO’s enlargement into Central and Eastern Europe after the Cold War is the subject of significant debate in academic and policy circles. With few exceptions, however, this debate focuses on single issues, such as whether enlargement led to the decline of the West’s relations with Russia. In this framing document, we look to expand the debate. We do so by sequentially reviewing the process by which NATO enlarged, outlining the array of issue areas within which to assess the consequences of NATO enlargement, and highlighting the particular importance of counterfactual analysis to any judgment of enlargement’s legacy. Building on a May 2019 workshop at Boston University, we also summarize the results of several articles that collectively evaluate the consequence of expansion for the USA, Russia, non-US NATO members, and the organization itself. Finally, we conclude by outlining elements of a broader research program on the aftereffects of NATO enlargement.Accepted manuscrip

H-Diplo/ISSF Forum 25 on the Importance of White HousePresidential Tapes in Scholarship

A forum discussion on the importance of White House presidential tapes in scholarship

The Distribution of Melanocytes in the Leptomeninges of the Human Brain

The purpose of this study was to determine the qualitative and quantitative distribution of melanocytes in human leptomeninges by histochemical and ultrastructural techniques and to search for melanocytes in the mesothelial linings of the pleural and peritoneal cavities. Knowledge of the extracutaneous distribution of pigment cells will facilitate the interpretation of systemic symptoms in depigmentation disorders, such as vitiligo and the Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome.In 15 brains examined, leptomeningeal pigment cells were found principally over the ventrolateral surfaces of the medulla oblongata. Only isolated pigment-containing cells were found in the meninges covering other parts of the brain. The mean number of pigment cells in the medullary meninges of 5 brains was 325/mm2 ± 96. The presence of melanosomes as single, membrane- bound granules in all stages of melanization confirms that the melanin-containing dendritic cells of the leptomeninges are melanocytes and not macrophages.No pigmented cells were observed in the pleural or peritoneal samples examined

Dissuasion in America's Russia Policy; Strategic Insights, v. 3 issue 10 (October 2004)

This article appeared in Strategic Insights, v.3 issue 10 (October 2004)PROBLEM BITSTREA

Bill and Boris: A Window Into a Most Important Post-Cold War Relationship (August 2018)

Against the backdrop of an enormous power differential between their two countries, Clinton and Yeltsin established a close personal rapport. They used those positive feelings to interact effectively even when they were being frank in their disagreements, the most serious of which were over NATO enlargement — a major sore spot for Yeltsin — and the Kosovo War, the greatest test of the two leaders’ personal relationship.LBJ School of Public Affair

"The European Union, the post-communist world, and the shaping of national agendas"

[From the Introduction]. ...kin-state activism in Central and Eastern Europe has increased despite a substantive improvement of minority rights in most societies in this region and the fact that most Central and Eastern European societies are now either part of the EU (or expect to join in the near future). The purpose of our paper is to advance the understanding of this phenomenon. First, we outline the types of kin-state strategies that have emerged as popular in the region, with a particular focus on benefit laws and citizenship laws. We then turn to an analysis of the Hungarian case, which has been seemingly the most consistent and coherent virtual nationalism policy as well as the most controversial one, attracting a great degree of attention from policy-makers in the region, European officials, and scholars of nationalism. Finally, to gain further insight into the differences on the spectrum of virtual nationalism, we discuss the strategies pursued by Romania and Russia