Professor Herbert Romerstein discussed espionage in a panel with the publisher of The Nation and the executive director of the International Spy Museum, among others, at a symposium at the National Archives on October 21.
Students were invited to attend the day-long “Cold War: An Eyewitness Perspective” event at a steeply discounted rate. The event was at the National Archives on Constitution Avenue, between 7th and 9th Streets NW, in Washington. Details from the National Archives website follow:
Symposium: The Cold War—An Eyewitness Perspective
Saturday, October 21
William G. McGowan Theater
Keynote Remarks
9–10 a.m.
Remarks will be provided by Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein, author of two books on the Cold War, and Ambassador Harlan Cleveland, U.S. Ambassador to NATO (1965–69).
Cold War Ideologies: The Struggle for Hearts and Minds
10–11 a.m.
Archivist Allen Weinstein leads a discussion with historians Ronald Radosh and Ellen Schrecker about the philosophical debate at the heart of the Cold War and the ideological fault lines of the era.
Cold War Mediation: Unraveling the Knots of War
11:15 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
During the Cold War, both East and West were pushed and pulled to the brink during crises—especially the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. “Unraveling the Knots of War” describes the turning point in the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union during the early 1960s.
Join Nixon Library Director Timothy Naftali as he engages these distinguished eyewitnesses in a discussion of Cold War confrontation and mediation: Sergei Khrushchev, son of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev; Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower; and Ted Sorensen, speechwriter, adviser, and legal counsel to President John F. Kennedy.
Cold War Reporting: Global Views and Results
2:15–4:15 p.m.
Former CNN world affairs correspondent Ralph Begleiter moderates a panel discussion with NPR’s senior news analyst Daniel Schorr, former news director of Radio Free Europe Gene Mater, historian Thomas C. Wolfe, historian Vladislav Zubok, and Russian journalist Vladimir Abarinov as they detail their eyewitness accounts of journalism during the Cold War era and their perspectives on how reporting has changed since that time.
Cold War Espionage: Through the Looking Glass
4:30–6:30 p.m.
Was the extent of Soviet espionage in the United States before and during the Cold War significantly exaggerated? Whether or not it was, the hunt for the enemy within led to the use of tactics that challenged individual civil liberties and constitutional rights.
Archivist Allen Weinstein moderates a panel of experts on the dimensions of Cold War espionage and its influence. Panelists include Herbert Romerstein, staff member, U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (1978–83); Nixon Library Director Timothy Naftali; Ronald Radosh, author of The Rosenberg File; Victor Navasky, publisher of The Nation; Francis Gary Powers, Jr., founder of the Cold War Museum in Virginia; and International Spy Museum Executive Director Peter Earnest.
Reception for all participants.
6:30–8 p.m.
“The Cold War: An Eyewitness Perspective” has been developed by the National Archives and Records Administration (including the Presidential libraries and the Center for the National Archives Experience) and has received underwriting from the Foundation for th