George Kennan's career as a specialist on Russian affairs began in 1865, with his first journey to the Russian empire. A twenty-year-old telegraphic engineer at the time, he was a member of the Russian-American Telegraph Expedition, a now virtually unknown but nevertheless remarkable nineteenth-century adventure story. That bold undertaking would have established telegraph service between the United States and Russia by submarine cable across the Bering Strait, an event unfortunately upstaged by the successful laying of the Atlantic Cable. Its directors subsequently abandoned the project. But for Kennan the impact of the endeavor proved both formative and lasting; his work in northeastern Siberia as a member of the expedition had so piqued his interest in Russia that over half a century later it still was not slaked. By the time of his death in 1924, his various investigations of Russian subjects had resulted in numerous publications and lectures that had established his reputation as the leading American expert on Russia of his era. The major concern of Frederick F. Travis's book is the role of George Kennan in shaping American-Russian relations in the important half century before the Russian Revolution and its immediate aftermath. This study first establishes that Kennan began his career as an ardent Russophile, then carefully traces his shift to hostility following his investigation of the Siberian exile system in 1885-86, and explains in some detail his subsequent influence on public opinion. Kennan's later work revealed a Russia of almost unrelieved political and economic distress in the tsarist empire, and of a noble, almost hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned opposition, contributing significantly to the unpreparedness with which America faced the Revolution of 1917. Kennan's analysis of the October Revolution and its immediate aftermath served only to harden American attitudes toward the presumed evils of Bolshevism. The picture of George Kennan that emerges from this study is the fullest to appear in any language, according him a standing in the history of American-Russian relations unequaled by any official participant.

This book presents a critical edition of the lecture “Cuba and the Cubans” by George Kennan the Elder, with a wide-ranging introduction examining its influence on American public opinion of the Spanish-American War. A well-known journalist and travel writer, George Kennan went to Cuba in 1898 to report on the war and conditions on the island for American readers. After the war, he delivered his lecture “Cuba and the Cubans” to audiences across the United States, depicting a backwards, inferior culture unprepared for independence. Frank Jacob’s introduction offers rich context for his life, lecture, and influence, arguing that he contributed to the shift in public perception of Cuba from respected ally to wayward neighbor in need of American intervention. This critical edition illuminates the interaction between journalism, public opinion, and U.S. foreign policy at a key moment in the U.S.-Cuban relationship that still reverberates today.

Constantin Catacazy whipped up scandal in Washington after his appointment there as Russian Ambassador in 1869, ignoring diplomatic protocol and defying social mores. By 1871, President Grant and his Cabinet requested that he be recalled. But the timing of this request overlapped with the visit of the tsar's son to the USA - a celebrated diplomatic event symbolising the friendship and good will between the two nations. Consequently, Catacazy was allowed to travel with the tsar's son, but only as a persona non grata. This tense resolution led many to worry about the future of the Russian-American friendship. With a keen sense of the human interest, Lee A. Farrow demonstrates that this affair was one of the earliest significant complications in the relationship between Russia and the USA. Using a lively micro-historical approach and fresh materials such as the letters of Catacazy and of Secretary of State Hamilton Fish from archives in the USA, UK and Russia, Farrow explores 19th-century politics and diplomacy, and the pre-suffrage power of women in the political arena through an investigation of the Washington wives' reactions to the controversial figure of Olga Catacazy. The result is a cutting-edge analysis of this pivotal episode in modern history.

Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Biography Widely and enthusiastically acclaimed, this is the authorized, definitive biography of one of the most fascinating but troubled figures of the twentieth century by the nation's leading Cold War historian. In the late 1940s, George F. Kennan—then a bright but, relatively obscure American diplomat—wrote the "long telegram" and the "X" article. These two documents laid out United States' strategy for "containing" the Soviet Union—a strategy which Kennan himself questioned in later years. Based on exclusive access to Kennan and his archives, this landmark history illuminates a life that both mirrored and shaped the century it spanned.

George Kennan, Charles Bohlen, W. Averell Harriman, William Bullitt, Joseph E. Davies, Llewlleyn Thompson, Jack Matlock: these are important names in the history of American foreign policy. Together with a number of lesser-known officials, these diplomats played a vital role in shaping U.S. strategy and popular attitudes toward the Soviet Union throughout its 75-year history. In The Ambassadors and America's Soviet Policy, David Mayers presents the most comprehensive critical examination yet of U.S. diplomats in the Soviet Union. Mayers' vivid portrayal evokes the social and intellectual atmosphere of the American embassy in the midst of crucial episodes: the Bolshevik Revolution, the Great Purges, the Grand Alliance in World War II, the early Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the rise and decline of detente, and the heady days of perestroika and glasnost. He also offers rare portraits of the professional lives of the diplomats themselves: their adjustment to Soviet life, the quality of their analytical reporting, their contact with other diplomats in Moscow, and their influence on Washington. Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of American diplomacy in its most challenging area, this compelling book fills an important gap in the history of U.S. foreign policy and U.S.-Soviet relations. Readers interested in U.S. foreign policy, the cold war, and the policies and history of the former Soviet Union will find The Ambassadors and America's Soviet Policy an intriguing and informative work.

George Kennan for Our Time examines the work and thought of the most distinguished American diplomat of the twentieth century and extracts lessons for today. In his writings and lectures, Kennan outlined the proper conduct of foreign policy and issued warnings to an American society on the edge of the abyss. Lee Congdon identifies the principles Kennan applied to US relations with Russia and Eastern Europe, and to the Far and Near East. He takes particular note of Kennan's role in formulating postwar policy in Japan, measured response to North Korea's invasion of South Korea, and opposition to the war in Vietnam. Congdon also considers Kennan's strong criticisms of his own country, its egalitarianism, unrestricted immigration, and multiple addictions. He cites Kennan's call for a greater closeness to nature, a revival of religious faith, and a return to the representative government established by the Founding Fathers. George Kennan for Our Time describes the often-disastrous results of rejecting Kennan's counsel, and the dangers, international and national, posed by an ongoing failure to draw upon his wisdom. In view of America's foreign policy disasters in Afghanistan, Iraq, and around the world, Kennan's realist approach provides important lessons for our current age.

New Perspectives on Russian-American Relations includes eighteen articles on Russian-American relations from an international roster of leading historians. Covering topics such as trade, diplomacy, art, war, public opinion, race, culture, and more, the essays show how the two nations related to one another across time from their first interactions as nations in the eighteenth century to now. Instead of being dominated by the narrative of the Cold War, New Perspectives on Russian-American Relations models the exciting new scholarship that covers more than the political and diplomatic worlds of the later twentieth century and provides scholars with a wide array of the newest research in the field.

Russian-American Dialogue on Cultural Relations, 1776-1914, the third volume in the Russian-American Dialogues series, provides English translations of the best Russian scholarship on cultural relations. Each essay originally appeared as an article in the former Soviet Union. Five issues are discussed: the contributions that each country made to the cultural life of the other; the correspondence and interactions between scientists, writers, and others from the two nations; the development of public perceptions and how these changed over time; the "American focus" in Russian periodicals during the nineteenth century; and the significant roles of Russians and the Russian presence in American history. The Russian articles on each of these subjects are followed by comments from American historians. The articles by the Russian scholars make extensive use of and liberally cite material from Russian archives and publications. As a result, they provide American readers with new scientific exchanges, personalities, and points of view. The result is a plethora of new material for Western historians of Russia as well as of the United States. The book provides an opportunity for scholars to examine more thoroughly the relevant issues of Russian-American cultural relations. An important scholarly contribution, Russian-American Dialogue on Cultural Relations, 1776-1914 brings a new dimension to the relationship between the United States and Russia before 1914. It will be of interest not only to historians of this period but to all historians and students of international cultural relations.

Most Americans believe the United States had been an isolationist power until the twentieth century. This is wrong. In a riveting and brilliantly revisionist work of history, Robert Kagan, bestselling author of Of Paradise and Power, shows how Americans have in fact steadily been increasing their global power and influence from the beginning. Driven by commercial, territorial, and idealistic ambitions, the United States has always perceived itself, and been seen by other nations, as an international force. This is a book of great importance to our understanding of our nation’s history and its role in the global community.

Covers the entire range of the history of U.S. foreign relations from the colonial period to the beginning of the 21st century. A Companion to U.S. Foreign Relations is an authoritative guide to past and present scholarship on the history of American diplomacy and foreign relations from its seventeenth century origins to the modern day. This two-volume reference work presents a collection of historiographical essays by prominent scholars. The essays explore three centuries of America’s global interactions and the ways U.S. foreign policies have been analyzed and interpreted over time. Scholars offer fresh perspectives on the history of U.S. foreign relations; analyze the causes, influences, and consequences of major foreign policy decisions; and address contemporary debates surrounding the practice of American power. The Companion covers a wide variety of methodologies, integrating political, military, economic, social and cultural history to explore the ideas and events that shaped U.S. diplomacy and foreign relations and continue to influence national identity. The essays discuss topics such as the links between U.S. foreign relations and the study of ideology, race, gender, and religion; Native American history, expansion, and imperialism; industrialization and modernization; domestic and international politics; and the United States’ role in decolonization, globalization, and the Cold War. A comprehensive approach to understanding the history, influences, and drivers of U.S. foreign relation, this indispensable resource: Examines significant foreign policy events and their subsequent interpretations Places key figures and policies in their historical, national, and international contexts Provides background on recent and current debates in U.S. foreign policy Explores the historiography and primary sources for each topic Covers the development of diverse themes and methodologies in histories of U.S. foreign policy Offering scholars, teachers, and students unmatched chronological breadth and analytical depth, A Companion to U.S. Foreign Relations: Colonial Era to the Present is an important contribution to scholarship on the history of America’s interactions with the world.