{"product_id":"engaging-the-evil-empire-simon-miles-9781501751691","title":"Engaging the Evil Empire: Washington, Moscow, and the Beginning of the End of the Cold War","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn a narrative-redefining approach, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEngaging the Evil Empire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e dramatically alters how we look at the beginning of the end of the Cold War.\u003c\/b\u003e Tracking key events in US-Soviet relations across the years between 1980 and 1985, Simon Miles shows that covert engagement gave way to overt conversation as both superpowers determined that open diplomacy was the best means of furthering their own, primarily competitive, goals. Miles narrates the history of these dramatic years, as President Ronald Reagan consistently applied a disciplined carrot-and-stick approach, reaching out to Moscow while at the same time excoriating the Soviet system and building up US military capabilities.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe received wisdom in diplomatic circles is that the beginning of the end of the Cold War came from changing policy preferences and that President Reagan in particular opted for a more conciliatory and less bellicose diplomatic approach. In reality, Miles clearly demonstrates, Reagan and ranking officials in the National Security Council had determined that the United States enjoyed a strategic margin of error that permitted it to engage Moscow overtly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs US grand strategy developed, so did that of the Soviet Union. \u003ci\u003eEngaging the Evil Empire\u003c\/i\u003e covers five critical years of Cold War history when Soviet leaders tried to reduce tensions between the two nations in order to gain economic breathing room and, to ensure domestic political stability, prioritize expenditures on butter over those on guns. Miles's bold narrative shifts the focus of Cold War historians away from exclusive attention on Washington by focusing on the years of back-channel communiqu駸 and internal strategy debates in Moscow as well as Prague and East Berlin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Simon Miles\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1501751697\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781501751691\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Cornell University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/15\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 248\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 7.60w x 0.80d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/01\/2021","brand":"Simon Miles","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43986514477311,"sku":"9781501751691","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_bd8d3692-6904-45c0-a6c1-6aee297a2afa.jpg?v=1683283797","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/engaging-the-evil-empire-simon-miles-9781501751691","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}