Human Rights, Perestroika, and the End of the Cold War - Softcover

Adamishin, Anatoly ; Schifter, Richard

9781601270405: Human Rights, Perestroika, and the End of the Cold War

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1601270402 ISBN 13: 9781601270405

Publisher: United States Institute of Peace Press, 2009

View all copies of this ISBN edition

0 Used

1 New

From � 28.37

A diplomatic memoir unlike any other, this volume takes the reader behind the scenes on both sides of the Cold War as two men form an unlikely partnership to help transform Soviet-American relations. When U.S. assistant secretary of state Richard Schifter first met Soviet deputy foreign minister Anatoly Adamishin to discuss human rights, the Reagan administration was still skeptical of Gorbachev's reformist credentials. But skepticism soon gave way not just to belief but to active support. Like their immediate superiors George Shultz and Eduard Shevardnadze, Schifter and Adamishin became partners in the process of rapprochement. Together, they helped free political prisoners, spur Jewish emigration, support perestroika against its domestic enemies, and contribute to the mutual trust that allowed the Cold War to end swiftly and peacefully. Each chapter consists of two parts, one by each author, that offer complementary perspectives on the same events. The result is a volume that reveals much about the policymaking process during a historic era and exemplifies the power of diplomatic negotiation. It also argues provocatively that once the Cold War had ended, U.S. assistance to the Soviet Union could have helped prevent Gorbachev's fall from power, which ultimately damaged the democratic cause in Russia.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Anatoly Adamishin has had a distinguished career in the foreign ministry of both the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation, serving as a deputy foreign minister and as ambassador to Italy and the United Kingdom. Richard Schifter was a lawyer turned diplomat who served in three presidential administrations, including as the State Department’s point person on international human rights issues from 1985 to 1992. The fundamental right of human beings to live without facing discrimination had been a personal issue for Mr. Schifter, who lost his parents in the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Mr. Schifter spent more than three decades as a lawyer representing Native American tribes before he was selected by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 to serve as assistant secretary of state for human rights and humanitarian affairs. In that capacity, he headed the State Department’s Bureau of Human Rights, now called the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.