You welcome.

I still ask why he is still alive.

But my husband and I have talked about this for the last year. Yes, some of his service was during the waning days of the Cold War. And we both wonder if the people advising the White House, including the national security advisor, understand some of this.

When I was in graduate school the people teaching were Soviet emigres. I was discouraged from pursuing this, because the Cold War is over. The most valuable instructor I ever had when it comes to this was in undergraduate, a political scientist who in a previous life was a Kremlinologist for the CIA. His fear was the lessons of the Cold War would be forgotten.

Much of how Eastern Europe is studied still is through a Russian lens. I know some area experts, but not enough.

The lessons were forgotten. One reason Nikita Khrushchev backed down during the Cuban missile crisis was force. We literally sortied the Atlantic fleet. He lost face and lost power in the presidium within five years. We came this close to a full exchange. There is a story of a sub where the political officer literally saved the day by the way. One reason they did that, is they thought the young American president was inexperienced and could be cowed.


This also goes for the NYT…don’t get me started on the gray lady…

Here, the wiki entry of that sub incident. It’s worth reading. And it was not the last time. Russia has come close to launching a few times.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Arkhipov