NWC INS Lecture Series -- Lecture 3: "Why Russia Lost the Cold War," Sept. 29, 2020.
Channel: U.S. Naval War College
Date: 2020-09-30

From Professor Paine: Some have argued that Ronald Reagan won the Cold War. Interviews of the principals in the Reagan and Gorbachev administrations conducted by the Gorbachev Foundation and the Hoover Institution suggest a more complicated story. The lecture explores both what others did to the Russians and what the Russians did to themselves. It is structured around argument and counterargument. 

Sarah C. M. Paine is William S. Sims University Professor of History and Grand Strategy in the Strategy & Policy Department of the U.S. Naval War College. Nine years of research in Australia, China, Japan, Russia, and Taiwan form the basis for her publications: The Japanese Empire (Cambridge, 2017); Wars for Asia, 1911-1949 (Cambridge, 2012, Gelber prize longlist; Leopold Prize and PROSE award for European & World History), The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 (Cambridge, 2003), and Imperial Rivals: China, Russia, and Their Disputed Frontier (M. E. Sharpe, 1996, Jelavich prize). She has also written: Nation Building, State Building, and Economic Development (edited, M.E. Sharpe, 2010); Modern China: Continuity and Change 1644 to the Present, 2nd ed. (co-author with Bruce A. Elleman, Rowman & Littlefield, 2019); and five naval books: Naval Blockades and Seapower: Strategies and Counter-Strategies 1805-2005, Naval Coalition Warfare: From the Napoleonic War to Operation Iraqi Freedom, Naval Power and Expeditionary Warfare: Peripheral Campaigns and New Theaters of Naval Warfare, Commerce Raiding: Historical Case Studies, 1755-2009, and Navies and Soft Power: Historical Case Studies of Naval Power and the Nonuse of Military Force (all co-edited with Bruce A. Elleman, Routledge, 2006-11; Naval War College Press 2014-15). Most recently she co-edited with Andrea J. Dew and Marc A. Genest, From Quills to Tweets: How America Communicates about War and Revolution (Georgetown University Press, 2019). Her degrees include: B.A. Latin American Studies, Harvard University; M.I.A. Columbia University School for International and Public Affairs; certificates from both the East Asian and Russian Institutes; M.A. Russian, Middlebury College; and Ph.D. history, Columbia University.  

About the Lecture Series

The Issues in National Security (INS ) lectures are specifically designed to offer scholarly lectures to the spouses, partners and significant others of our students; military/civilian employees assigned to the Naval War College and Naval Station Newport and its tenant activities; NWC Foundation members; and local-area retirees or active/reserve personnel.

Participation is voluntary and neither reading nor writing assignments are required. In previous years these lectures were presented live in Pringle Auditorium. Due to the current COVID-19 situation, these lectures will be conducted on-line using Zoom. In-person lectures may be reinstated when conditions allow.

Lectures will he held approximately every other week on Tuesday afternoons from 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. followed by a 30-minute Family Discussion Group meeting.

18 lectures will be offered from September 2020 through May 2021. No formal academic credit will be awarded. Participants who complete at least 60% of the offered lectures will receive a Certificate of Participation at the end of the series.