In this lecture, Dr. Amit Das Gupta, an expert on Indian foreign policy, will analyze the background and mindset of a realist school of thought in Indian foreign affairs and contrast it with Nehru and Menon’s idealist and partly ideological policy. He will show how the conflict between these two schools of thought manifested itself during major crises of the Cold War, such as the Hungarian uprising of 1956 and India’s boundary dispute with China. His presentation will be based on extensive research in Indian archival materials, some of which remain classified.
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Jovan Cavoski, an expert on the history of Yugoslavia’s international position, will discuss the forces that provoked Yugoslavia’s gradual transition from a staunch ally of the Soviet bloc to a fully-fledged non-aligned country principally allied with Asian and African countries in their struggle for political and economic independence and equality.
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Canada is relatively overlooked in the literature on NATO and especially the Euromissile Crisis of the early 1980s. In this talk, Luc-André Brunet argues that successive Canadian governments in the 1980s were torn between a desire to help improve relations between East and West in the context of the ‘Second Cold War’ and a policy of firm solidarity with NATO as ‘Euromissiles’ were being deployed in Western Europe. Under the left-leaning prime minister Pierre Trudeau, Canada pursued initiatives aimed at international arms control and East-West dialogue which proved to be popular domestically, but caused considerable strains with NATO allies. From 1984, the new Conservative government led by Brian Mulroney pledged to repair relations with allies, particularly the United States, but was unwilling to completely jettison popular arms control initiatives. Based on newly available archives in nine countries, this talk re-evaluates how Canadian policies were viewed by the allies, shedding new light on intra-NATO relations during the final decade of the Cold War.
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Japan and the United States faced a serious rift in relations in the late 1970s over the future of civilian nuclear power. Japan hoped that the reprocessing of spent reactor fuel into plutonium would provide an abundant, domestically produced, and economical power source. The United States, especially under the Carter administration, saw an increase in the global stockpile of plutonium as a major proliferation threat. Japan had previously accommodated itself to secondary global status by adhering to the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) largely due to the promise of unfettered access to the peaceful applications of nuclear technology. America's efforts on plutonium ran counter to these interests and provoked a sharp reaction. Japan’s diplomats and leaders used bilateral and multi-lateral means to advance its nuclear power interests and managed to achieve a great deal of success. At stake, though, was more than fuel, as issues of status, prestige, and hierarchy loomed large in these efforts.
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Has American foreign policy been a reflection of a desire to promote democracy, or a simple product of hard-nosed geopolitics? In this talk, Jennifer Miller argues that democratic ideals were crucial, but not in the way most defenders claim. Focusing on the postwar occupation of Japan, she examines how the Cold War produced a new understanding of democracy as rooted in psychologies and mentalities. This vision motivated American efforts to democratize postwar Japan, yet also facilitated America’s rapprochement with the political and military leaders that once led Japan’s brutal war.
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Decision-makers and scholars often assume that diplomatic signals are received as they are intended. They have faith in both their ability to convey their messages to others and to correctly interpret others’ behavior. Robert Jervis’ research shows that this is not true and that international politics often resembles the famous Japanese movie Rashomon. Perceptions are strongly influenced by people’s theories and expectations on the one hand and their personal and political needs on the other. Both historical scholarship and policy-making would be improved by an understanding of how people perceive.
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