Vincent J. Intondi’s Saving the World from Nuclear War offers a compelling history of the planning, execution, and legacy of the fabled June 12, 1982 nuclear disarmament rally in New York City. Accompanied by musicians like Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, and others, an enormous crowd of people gathered in Central Park to resist the arms…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Forum (43) on the Importance of the Scholarship of Robert Divine
In the early 1980s the precinct judge in the Austin neighborhood where I voted was Barbara Divine. Her duties were to ensure that the voting was fair, which involved keeping the advocates of the different candidates from approaching too near the polling place proper. A charming woman in other circumstances, she was formidable in enforcing…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Roundtable 14-26 on Sarotte, Not One Inch
Not One Inch, Mary E. Sarotte’s excellent study of the origins of the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) could not be timelier. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine brings to a head the debate over NATO enlargement that has been roiling since the end of the Cold War.
H-Diplo|RJISSF Review Essay 71: Buono on Bowen, Original Sin
To grasp what Bleddyn Bowen calls “the original sin of space technology” (3)—its military heritage—one only need follow the daily press. Lawmakers are pushing to create a Space National Guard from which the fledgling US Space Force can draw experienced personnel.[1] SpaceX, after providing internet services to Ukrainian troops through its Starlink satellite constellation, has…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Policy Roundtable II-4: NATO’s Northern Enlargement: How Did It Happen, Where Will It Lead?
Since Russia launched its threat diplomacy towards Ukraine and the West, most clearly in December 2021 with the presentation of an ultimatum in the form of “draft agreements” between Russia on the one hand and NATO and the United States respectively on the other, this author was far from the only one to have predicted…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Roundtable on Maurer, Competitive Arms Control
Arms control is complicated. It is a process marked by countless studies and even more meetings, ranging from early internal deliberations weighing the benefits and drawbacks of talks to the give-and-take of years spent at the bargaining table.
H-Diplo|RJISSF Article Review 161: Shaev on Costa, “From East-West Balancing to Militant Anti-Communism”
Ettore Costa wrote his dissertation and book on the UK Labour Party’s contribution to the re-founding of the postwar Socialist International (SI) from 1944 to 1951.[1] He returns to examine international socialism after completing a postdoctoral project on socialist reactions to technological change and the Moon landings in the 1950s-1960s.[2] In his new, highly welcome…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Policy Roundtable II-3: Sustaining Conversations between Political Scientists and Historians
This H-Diplo|RJISSF roundtable features three essays in which authors reflect on the current state of the conversation between historians and political scientists, particularly in the areas of diplomatic history and security studies. Drawing on their own recent efforts to bridge disciplinary boundaries, the authors discuss problems, best practices, and ways forward. As the essays suggest,…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Policy Roundtable II-2: Biden’s Conventional Arms Transfer Policy
In February 2023, the Biden administration released its Conventional Arms Transfer (CAT) policy.[1] The new CAT policy was a long time coming, but whether it was worth the wait and will substantively shape US arms transfers is a matter of debate. On the campaign trail, Biden had made numerous statements about better controlling US arms…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Review Essay 70 on Lindsey, Delegated Diplomacy
“By God, this is the end of diplomacy!” Lord Palmerston exclaimed upon receiving his first diplomatic telegram in the 1860s.[1] He feared that the introduction of instantaneous international communication between heads of state would render ambassadors obsolete. Though this prediction never entirely came to pass, the fear of Palmerston’s prognostication remains alive among oft-marginalized diplomats.