David A. Horowitz: Well, good afternoon can everyone hear me. David A. Horowitz: Well, good afternoon can can everyone hear me if you could not okay very good, my name is David Horowitz I teach us, cultural and political history here at portland state. David A. Horowitz: And this is the US yo political policy in the modern era session, the young historians conference. David A. Horowitz: Let me explain a little bit how we're going to proceed. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: I will be introducing the three of you, the three presenters. David A. Horowitz: One at a time. David A. Horowitz: And by the way, for those of you who are not presenting. David A. Horowitz: I think you're really fortunate these, this is the best batch of papers to this conference that I have moderated in the 30 years i've been doing this, these are excellent excellent papers and you're really fortunate to be present to be. David A. Horowitz: attending the session so. David A. Horowitz: Each of the presenters, as you well know, will have a 15 minutes to to deliver their papers and after that I will give a general commentary. David A. Horowitz: The commentary is not supposed to be a criticism of the papers it's just whereas some of the things that people discussed in their papers, where can we take that, where does it go what is some of the questions that might occur to another His story. David A. Horowitz: What we try to do in the sessions is to make this as close as possible to a professional history conference. David A. Horowitz: In a professional history conference, they would be three or four papers, they would be a commentator. David A. Horowitz: And then they would be questions and answers from the audience and that's what we tried to do that is what the academic protocol requires so that i'm after I give my comments and we will open up floor, so to speak, to questions which you can. David A. Horowitz: Present using your Q amp a. David A. Horowitz: So with that. David A. Horowitz: Let me present rosalyn day. David A. Horowitz: The cold war. David A. Horowitz: In October, in a case study of the ending of the Cold War, one is from lake Ridge high school. ROSELYN DAI: hello, thank you for that. ROSELYN DAI: So, to begin as Dr Horowitz said, my paper is on the ending of the Cold War, with specific focused on the Ronald Reagan Presidency in the Reagan doctrine. ROSELYN DAI: So August 11 1984 was nearly a marking of the end of mankind, it was on this day that the 45th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. ROSELYN DAI: issue a statement that almost started World War three quote we began bombing in five minutes and quote. ROSELYN DAI: A miss the high tension of US obvious relations reagan's joke, of having signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever just about lead to the devastation of nuclear confrontation. ROSELYN DAI: were alive so luckily no missiles were fired but this instance symbolizes the US Soviet battle during the Cold War. ROSELYN DAI: The cold war, which began in 1947 was a strenuous conflict that dominated American politics until the beginning towards the beginning of. ROSELYN DAI: the turn of the 21st century, when it was finally ended the cause of its ending presents quite a challenging and dividing debate. ROSELYN DAI: Democrats often credit, the collapse of the Soviet economy and gorbachev's own willingness for peace for the ending of the war. ROSELYN DAI: If not, avoiding the topic entirely Republicans, on the other hand, insist that reagan's aggressive foreign policies, particularly the arms race, was what propelled the Gorbachev era and the fall of the Soviet Union. ROSELYN DAI: In my paper I analyze the US Defense conditions prior to and after the Reagan administration. ROSELYN DAI: reagan's original addresses and the Soviet economy, and from that it can be reasonably reasonably concluded that, although reagan's policies undoubtedly assertive pressure the internal factors within the Soviet Union played a much larger role in the ending of the Cold War. ROSELYN DAI: So throughout the Cold War, the US Soviet tensions waiver quite drastically peaked in the first time in 1960s, with the Cuban missile crisis. ROSELYN DAI: Calm somewhat during the 70s, with a strategic arm limitation treaties and the anti ballistic missile Treaties before which was referred to an era of detox and before taking another downturn with the Ronald Reagan administration. ROSELYN DAI: By then, the Soviets had just invaded Afghanistan and assault treaties were facing deterioration. ROSELYN DAI: reagan's presidency only served to expedite ending of detergent and ursa nation into a rapidly escalating arms race. ROSELYN DAI: reagan's foreign Defense a foreign policy approach, especially towards the Soviets was one that was quite aggressive. ROSELYN DAI: The Reagan doctrine stem from a belief that merely containing Communism was not enough and that the US must actively involve itself in dismantling Communism completely. ROSELYN DAI: In his famous evil empire speech he denounced the Soviet Union, as an evil empire and portrayed life under the Communist regime as one of totalitarian darkness. ROSELYN DAI: claiming it would eventually dominate all people Reagan rejected the idea of a nuclear freeze in America, because he believed it to be only an illusion of peace and that the reality is that peace is found through strength. ROSELYN DAI: Reagan strategy was an arms race to gain nuclear and conventional arms superiority over the Soviets to have to be able to negotiate from a position of strength. ROSELYN DAI: And to deter any possibility of attack So this was in parallel, of the ideas of previously sign ncs 68 a military buildup because Reagan. ROSELYN DAI: considered the present conditions of the military arsenal to be increasingly obsolete, for example, in the 1980s, the Soviet Union had an 11 year lead in investments so Reagan push through Congress massive Defense spending increases increasing one that total. ROSELYN DAI: Over $1.5 trillion. ROSELYN DAI: That included. ROSELYN DAI: That included a host of new button systems, one of these was reagan's most prominent and problematic proposals, the strategic Defense initiative or SDI or as the press dubbed it Star Wars. ROSELYN DAI: It was to fund research into a space based Missile Defense system as Reagan didn't believe in mutually assured destruction claiming it to be truly mad and claiming it to be mutual suicide. ROSELYN DAI: And reagan's insistence over SDI was what later cost the US it's relations with the Soviets and even potentially delaying the resolution to the decades long conflict of the Cold War. ROSELYN DAI: So by the mid 1980s, it was clear that both sides had grown tired of the conflict. ROSELYN DAI: The Soviet economy was at its lowest since the start of the decades long economic decline beginning shortly after World War Two. ROSELYN DAI: It was mutually established that there needed to be an arms reduction from both sides, there was a series of strategic arm reduction talks start. ROSELYN DAI: With one being the Geneva Conference of 1985 so in the beginning of the Conference, it was it was made clear that the Soviet sod 50% decrease in nuclear bombs and missiles, but the US was more intent on a more sustainable way to defer nuclear war and take reliance off of that. ROSELYN DAI: aiming to continue development of defensive weapon tree and specifically reagan's SDI proposal and this proved to be quite detrimental as the reagan's insistence over SDI was a cause for a stalemate in these. ROSELYN DAI: These talks, for example in the in the meeting score Bashar Gorbachev remarked that the USSR are realistic pragmatists who categorically opposed to dominate other countries and that the US overestimates the power of the Soviet Union. ROSELYN DAI: It was clear that Gorbachev was willing to negotiate, but was unwilling to compromise on SDI because of the belief that it was an attempt to weaponize space, and it would give the US a first strike advantage, however. ROSELYN DAI: STI aside the conversations were quite amiable as Reagan by that and had abandoned his quite hardline anti Communist stance, but. ROSELYN DAI: As Gorbachev put it, if the soap us and Soviets could agree to be and research and space, he would sign in two minutes. ROSELYN DAI: From this weekend see that had Reagan been more lenient on his SDI proposals and agreement for arms reduction and peace between the new two nations could have taken shape earlier. ROSELYN DAI: Despite these facts, there are still some who argue that reagan's are to build up policies force the Soviets to back down. ROSELYN DAI: However, data data doesn't support this, for example, a CIA report claim that there was virtually no effect caused by the US military buildup. ROSELYN DAI: In the 1980s on Soviet military spending. ROSELYN DAI: In fact gorbachev's and the Soviets willingness to negotiate and back down was not due to reagan's arms policy, but rather to the stagnating Soviet economy and the political and economic reforms within the Soviet Union. ROSELYN DAI: Gorbachev had was attempting to restructure the Soviet economy, using a Western capitalist model. ROSELYN DAI: He also loosened political restraints, for example, he amended to the Soviet Constitution so that the Communist Party was not the only acceptable political party. ROSELYN DAI: And these internal reforms was also a big factor in contributing to the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union and the overthrowing communists. ROSELYN DAI: So, and furthermore on it, the CIA data shows that the Soviet economy had been slowing down long before reagan's inauguration, in fact, it could be traced back to the 1950s due to. ROSELYN DAI: Due to long term issues within the Soviet economical structure itself and including mark slow Downs in the growth of Soviet industrial output, as well as. ROSELYN DAI: As well as a limited capacity to earn hard currency to pay for needed technology imports as as well as issues with couple productivity climate patterns Labor shortages oil shortages and depressed birth rates and this economic downfall has been seen and predicted. ROSELYN DAI: Throughout the Cold War and so these economic constraints lead to increased pressures within the Soviet to for reduce military expenditure. ROSELYN DAI: It was understood that high military expenditure was only harming Soviet by ability and economy and society, because the funds for the military were taken from critical, social services and. ROSELYN DAI: Educational programs, and it was evident that the economy of the Soviet could not be sustained, for a long term so it's not surprising that. ROSELYN DAI: Gorbachev was open for reform and arms reduction so to claim that reagan's policies with the arms race, was the sole factor, or what ultimately led to the fall of the Soviet Union is. ROSELYN DAI: Quite a false assumption, because although his policies would have put pressure on Soviet leadership to reciprocate militarily putting additional burdens on an already failing economy. ROSELYN DAI: The long term impacts of an insufficient economic structure itself within the Soviets and gorbachev's governmental and political changes were what finally prompted the ending of the Cold War, thank you. David A. Horowitz: Thank you roseland Thank you very much, our next paper is another at it deals with another aspect of the Cold War. David A. Horowitz: Was it Ronald Reagan landed the Cold War, or was it American jazz musicians. David A. Horowitz: Here is from coal powers from lake Ridge high school. David A. Horowitz: fighting for freedom jazz and the Cold War call you have the name of a jazz musician you could very well be one that wonderful may like. Cole Powers: Okay, plan to be. Cole Powers: well. Cole Powers: alright. Cole Powers: During the Cold War era, the US was involved in two fights for freedom on one front, the country saw itself is fighting a cold war for the victory of American democracy over the tyranny of communism. Cole Powers: On the other American citizens engaged in the civil rights movement seeking freedom for black Americans and for black people and nations across the globe. Cole Powers: When the US decided to send American jazz musicians abroad as part of a cold war propaganda effort, these two battles collided. Cole Powers: resulting intersection is a story of hypocrisy irony and contradiction jazz was perceived as a powerful symbol for freedom in both the Cold War and the civil rights contexts. Cole Powers: The State Department use this symbolism, to convince the world that the US supported freedom, even when evidence clearly pointed to the contrary jazz musicians use the same tours to push for more genuine vision of racial freedom. Cole Powers: This paper starts by describing the administrative tours leading up or administrative history leading up to the chest tours demonstrates the purpose of. Cole Powers: The United States information to agency, the USA and of the cultural programs that were carried out beneath it was to convince the world that the US supported freedom in the Cold War fight. Cole Powers: The remainder of the paper highlights six of the countless State Department tours in order to show how the USA and jazz musicians each use the tours to push their own agenda of freedom. Cole Powers: The story began with President Eisenhower Eisenhower is public statements demonstrate that, like so many other Americans during the 1950s, he saw the Cold War is a fight for freedom against tyranny. Cole Powers: He also understood that effective propaganda was crucial weapon in this fight. Cole Powers: In order to in his words when the minds and souls of men, he created the United States information agency, the USA. Cole Powers: A propaganda agency, which used a variety of media to spread information about us aims and values around the world, then in 1954 Congress authorized the creation of the cultural presentations program which administered tourism musical and performing artists. Cole Powers: It was clear from the beginning that USA officials agreed with eisenhower's claim that the Cold War was a fight against tyranny the view that America was fighting for freedom and peace was expressed again and again and documents, written by the agency's director good or straight bar. Cole Powers: Despite Eisenhower in St bart's conviction about the role of the US and the Cold War Eisenhower feared that other nations did not equate American victory with freedom. Cole Powers: Instead, he word, the growing civil rights movement in the United States would harm the country's image as it claimed it was fighting for freedom abroad. Cole Powers: Bus officials came to see the primary purpose of the USA as providing evidence to the world that America was on the right side of the fight. Cole Powers: USA documents describing early tours of performing artists reveal that this goal was a defining feature of cultural presentations program even before jazz was added to their repertoire. Cole Powers: Given the school, however jazz seem to be the perfect weapon of choice and African American music, which not only featured black band leaders and stars, but it was also powerfully symbolic of freedom. Cole Powers: jazz can be used to convince the world that the US had moved past its era of racism and segregation. Cole Powers: jazz first entered the picture with willis converse radio show which was aired on Voice of America radio. Cole Powers: The US funded international radio program conover himself saw his show as powerful propaganda in his eyes jazz was strongly symbolic of a uniquely American freedom and democracy, and then musicians agree on a broader structure within which they're free to improvise and express themselves. Cole Powers: It was ultimately Harlem democratic Congressman and civil rights activist Adam clayton Powell jr who brought jazz to the attention of the State Department. Cole Powers: Seeing symbolics power of jazz and the Cold War Pal suggested that the State Department incorporate the music into its cultural programs and then 1955 the State Department agreed a New York Times article and abstinence headline remote lands to hear old democracy boogie. Cole Powers: The first jazz musician to tour under the State Department was trumpeter and bandleader john dizzy gillespie gillespie his tour of Middle East immediately reveal the contradiction and hypocrisy which played the Program. Cole Powers: most notable is this time in Greece gillespie entered Greece during intense anti American protests over the US support greece's suppressive right wing dictatorship. Cole Powers: After his performance, the same protesters carried him out on their shoulders in appreciation event revealed a reality of the Cold War and of jazz diplomacy which different dramatically from officials idealistic statements about freedom in America. Cole Powers: US actions were not always in the interest of freedom abroad. Cole Powers: During the Cold War, the US repeatedly violated the freedom of other people's as it did when it supported greece's dictatorship and then sent jazz the ultimate symbol of American freedom and democracy to make the case that it was still on the right side of the fight. Cole Powers: gillespie returned home and found that his race prevented him from enjoying the freedom that he was sent abroad to advertise. Cole Powers: Many conservative Americans were quick to them that says music as primitive and black claiming that it was in comparable to what they considered high art form of European classical music. Cole Powers: Led by representative john Rooney Congressman focus their attacks on the high cost of the jazz tourists and succeeded and cutting funding substantially. Cole Powers: gillespie responded via email to Congressional attacks and esquire article titled jazz was too good for Americans he lamented the fact that while he was met with respect and admiration abroad his music was still not treated as illegitimate art form by his own country. Cole Powers: He pleaded that the US Government moved to memphis problem specifically if you're incorporating jazz into education. Cole Powers: gillespie saw the State Department tourism opportunity to reach for more the more genuine freedom than that which meant no more than American victory of communism instead. Cole Powers: gillespie sought freedom from the racial oppression which prevented his music from being recognized by American audiences government and institutions. Cole Powers: The State Department responded to upper over gillespie's trip by sending white musician benny Goodman and the next tour. Cole Powers: i'm good MINS trip to Thailand, the same hypocrisy that surrounded gillespie's to arose in state department's choice to target audiences of tie elite not citizens. Cole Powers: newspaper articles referring to mass audiences as unsophisticated reveal the public agreed with the vision that the elite, are the most important target of diplomacy by us rhetoric celebrated freedom for the masses policy focused on improving relations with the lead our. Cole Powers: Racial tension surrounding the tourists were inflamed in 1957 when Eisenhower refused to enforce court ordered desegregation of schools and little rock Arkansas the jazz world responded vehemently eisenhower's decision. Cole Powers: With louie Armstrong refusing to attend previously planted tours for the State Department. Cole Powers: was only after Eisenhower agreed to send troops to little rock to enforce desegregation that Armstrong indicated that he might reconsider playing the role of musical diplomat. Cole Powers: In 1958 Dave brubeck toward Poland in the Middle East, as with gillespie in Greece and Goodman in Thailand rubik's performances were designed to advance us interest not freedom. Cole Powers: You know the end of the year, the State Department extended webex trips suddenly and without warning to include engagements in Iran and Iraq. Cole Powers: He performed in Iran under partial sponsorship from the Iranian oil refinery company only weeks after brubeck left Iraq general abdel-karim cussing overthrew the Iraqi Government threatening us oil interests, given the situation, the reason behind remix tour was quite. Cole Powers: Despite this brubeck viewed his tour as a diplomatic and personal success upon returning home he published a statement in the New York Times, in which he commented on the power of jazz to transcend boundaries between different cultures and races. Cole Powers: and in doing so, to foster genuine understanding freedom and peace. Cole Powers: In 1960 louie Armstrong to with Africa, of all the jazz tours armstrong's 1960 trip most clearly demonstrated how jazz was used to achieve both the edge of the State Department and a musician. Cole Powers: Despite the contradictions between these names, the news reporting of the event clearly reveal the paradox of jazz diplomacy. Cole Powers: New York Times articles reporting on africa's response to the tour revealed three notable sentiments African officials were proud that a black man had achieve world fame. Cole Powers: armstrong's tourists signal that black Americans were moving rapidly towards equality and many African saw Armstrong as speaking for the rights of black people worldwide. Cole Powers: On one hand, the tour served America as a Cold War weapon convincing other nations that black Americans were progressing quickly towards equality some even achieving world fame. Cole Powers: On the other hand, armstrong's fame and his music spoke for black freedom and serve as a weapon in the fight for black civil rights and African sovereignty. Cole Powers: Like gillespie's engagement in Greece and rubik's and Iraq armstrong's visit to Africa to place against a tumultuous political backdrop in 1960 the Congo declared independence from Belgium, under the leadership of socialist Patrice emery remember. Cole Powers: The shift threatened us access to minerals and uranium reserves in the Congo, while opening these reserves, up to the Soviet Union, the US responded by detaining and then assassinating remember. Cole Powers: Armstrong was then sent into this crisis as proof that America was stone the side of freedom nowhere in the story of jazz diplomacy was irony as heavily President as when armstrong's music. Cole Powers: and music which spoke for the sovereignty of African nations was used towards the US aims of engineering African states. Cole Powers: Throughout the 1950s jazz grew increasingly more popular among Soviet you and the State Department decided to capitalize on the Soviets newfound appreciation of the music. Cole Powers: By sending tours into the Soviet Union benny Goodman was chosen for the first of these trips in New York Times reporting on the growing appreciation of jazz in the Soviet Union and on governments tour. Cole Powers: told the story of a Soviet youth which yearned for freedom and found it in American jazz that made its way past the restrictive Soviet regime. Cole Powers: To the press and the public jazz infiltration into the Soviet Union was powerful moment of symbolism it represented a great victory of American freedom over communism. Cole Powers: And late 1960s, yet another musician was sent abroad to compensate for US actions Duke ellington's tour targeted Syria and Iraq. Cole Powers: Not long before his tour of the US at support at successful accused by the by at this party. Cole Powers: Against the pro Communist government both countries, only three days after ellington left Iraqi forces performed a successful coup against the bias government. Cole Powers: Like brubeck Armstrong ellington was thrown into the battlefield of the Cold War, in order to push the narrative that the US still supported freedom after it violated the sovereignty of the Syrian Government. Cole Powers: Throughout the tour ellington spoke strongly against racism and elitism. Cole Powers: When he and his band were shipped between cities and the cargo plane ellington was furious calling the planet cattle car for negros he demanded better accommodations and send that awake orchestra would not have received such barbaric treatment. Cole Powers: When asked about race abroad ellington strongly condemned racism in the United States, he also complained that many of his audience works audiences were composed entirely of neo colonial elites, he argued that this defeated his own purpose of reaching new masses with his music. Cole Powers: Around the Cold War, the American public and the USA clung tightly to the belief that America American victory meant freedom. Cole Powers: jazz as seen by the American public and described by williston over perfectly symbolized this American freedom, so the US and jazz bands abroad to clear up what it saw as misconceptions that America was on the wrong side of the fight. Cole Powers: To USA officials and too many other Americans, the jazz tours were no more than affirmations of the truth, but the reality was that america's actions at home and abroad we're not always steps towards a for your world. Cole Powers: Bus the actual function of the jazz tours was different than that which was perceived by most Americans. Cole Powers: They served to quiet anger over us actions to convince the world the US was fighting for freedom, despite frequent violations of the sovereignty of other nations and the civil rights of its own people. Cole Powers: Only the musicians themselves could truly claim that they fought for freedom. Cole Powers: gillespie brubeck Armstrong ellington and countless other musicians department tourists spoke for recognition of the masses, rather than the elite respect for black people and black music sovereignty for African nations mutual understanding and peace. Cole Powers: Even as the US Government exploited them for its own interest, these musicians and ways to fight for freedom, not just American freedom, but real freedom, which included all peoples. Cole Powers: At times, with subtlety and, at times, with no offense they fought for a better world than the US I imagine. Cole Powers: Thank you. David A. Horowitz: Thank you cool. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much. David A. Horowitz: Paper is going to be presented by him Rania van sickle of St mary's the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev. David A. Horowitz: And their effect on the USSR. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Thank you for the introduction, so the Soviet Union, the nation of communism of Stalinism enough the color red. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The Soviet Union had a brief brief stint during the 20th century, and today i'm going to be examining the root causes of failure to succeed as a country, specifically analyzing the history of what led to the Soviet coup of 1991 and the Union subsequent collapse. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The successive early 20th century leadership with the Union of Soviet socialist republics, the USSR. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): All use communism to enforce governance and safeguarding its national demise proverbs Soviet socialism, founded on Marxist Communism departed from his Marxist foundation and morphed into a party state that contradicted the very principles of communist ideology. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Throughout the Cold War, this modified Communism stood as the hallmark of the Soviet Union, when that separated us always from Russian allies over late 20th century USSR largely due to the influence of Mikhail Gorbachev was General Secretary of the Communist Party, the Soviet Union. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): fell away from socialism instead turns to capitalism and a more democratic form of leadership. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): influencing Communist Russia through is more liberal policies of glasnost and perestroika Mikhail Gorbachev upset the balance of Russian politics and threatened military power by weakening of the control and influence of the CPS you. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): As a result of this power struggle, a coup ensued on August 21 1991 and the Soviet Union collapsed shortly after. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So, today I will be arguing that due to the Soviets creation of a party state of a socialist party state that contradicted Marxist ideology. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): gorbachev's liberalizing attempts to democratize the Union there was policies with glasnost and perestroika proved incompatible with the continuation of Soviet governance and this led to the downfall of the Soviet regime. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): For a little background on a Soviet Union, it was founded in early early 20th century why Vladimir Lenin in a group of revolutionaries. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): who rose up against the ruling elite and formed a coalition of republic's in the eastern in Eastern Europe. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And it was founded on communism and Communism is a political ideology that are used for a classless stateless society. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): in which there is no perfect property all means of production are controlled by the proletariat the working class and each person gets paid according to their ability and needs. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Over this founding ideology of the Soviet Union shifted away from the founding idea throughout the years to an ideology notice Darwinism which shifted the union's governance to be stricter and to rely more on party authority. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Due to Stalinism and due to leadership from the beginning to later ends later end of the Union, there was a lot of corruption which Brett economic problems. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): By the time Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union CPS you in 1985. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The USSR was in the midst of an economic disaster and entire leader perform Gorbachev created two main policies. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): of glasnost and perestroika to achieve reform glasnost was a new willingness to tolerate dissident opinions and perestroika was the comprehensive reform of the Soviet political and economic system. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): glasnost openness and perestroika is restructuring became the tenants of gorbachev's reforms, because they're all attempts to democratize the Union were met with resistance, however, and ultimately at the end of the scene of the union's adherence to socialism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So the crux of the issue was that Soviet Socialism was a contradictory in perfect reflection of communism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Marxist ideology as laid forth by Karl Marx call it for the stage of communism to be an to be a successor to the necessary development stage of capitalism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): But the founder of the Union, Vladimir Lenin skipped the stage so traditional country might go from feudalism to capitalism to communism, but the Soviet Union went from feudalism over capitalism to communism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Political scientists Valerie bonds notes that absent from the Russian experience was the development of private property. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Rational bureaucracy, the rule of law and an independent ability What this means is that the Russians never went through the stages of social and economic development, necessary to build a Communist nation. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Russia was mostly funeral nation, at the beginning of the 20th century, but the founders of the Union ingrained into this feudal nation, the ideology of one of the most progressive advanced ways of social organization communism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And inability to fulfill certain Marxist principles, but the installment of the corrupt party state which set the nation up for future failure. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In theory, when Communism is enacted correctly, the state should wither away and leave into place a stateless society. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): But the Soviet Union Soviet state could not die out due to pressure from outside enemies, namely the West, countries such as Britain and the US. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The existence of the State defied the very tenants of the ideology that the State claims to uphold and led to the creation prevalence of a party state. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): party of the Union, the Communist Party, the Soviet Union it governed as a dictatorship of the proletariat it was comprised of 10% of a working class, which in turn comprised of only 10% of the total population. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The nation needed the party in order to function, the party manage everything from a planned economy and the economic sphere. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And one party intraparty democracy in the political sphere to eventually no democracy at all, not even within the party. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The CPS You ran the government to such a degree in fact that there are merged two separate governments, the actual Soviet government and then behind it, a shadow government. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): That was comprised of only party members and ran the actual government, so we have socialism, because of its deviation from Marcus Communism into an all powerful two tiered or toxicity of shadow government actual government set the nation up for failure in future decades. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In action, the survey regimes party state necessitated perform due to its corruption and ineffective this. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The years, corruption and bread and competence which bread economic disarray Mikhail Gorbachev due to this was a new position to refuse reform when he took office, as General Secretary in 1985. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Two minutes, the economic most and crises that Gorbachev encountered when he took office, he said about creating an agenda of reforms centered on making both government and economy more efficient he introduced his policies of glasnost and perestroika to do this in 1985. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): gorbachev's policy of glasnost we assumes the CPS us hold on mainstream thought and political on mainstream political thought by allowing new parties dissenting views and criticisms to be brought forward. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): perestroika, on the other hand, focus on regulate on deregulating and restructuring economics and politics. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): This included trying to fix the economic disarray handed to him by shifting from the command economy to marketers demand economy. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): or a striker which allowing for structural changes in the economy, enabled the beginning of capitalist markets and political reforms, like the creation of a new national legislature. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And action glasnost appear to be quite liberating it lifted many government restrictions on the press and allowed for open criticism of the government and government sanctioned history. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Initially glasnost and perestroika would work well together, because there's still these became more vocal cost for democracy, increased which led to restructuring so glasnost is. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Affected perestroika which affected state. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): 1987, for example, the Communist Party central planning committee approved gorbachev's plan to allow voters to choose candidates and local elections and by 1989 the first free elections in over 70 years were held for the Congress of people step beauties the new national legislature. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In addition to increase democracy perestroika relaxed trade restrictions and curtis Western investment and the 1988 allowed for the creation of limited cooperative business which shifted many businesses towards privatized towards privatization. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): However, despite gorbachev's best interests, the reforms fail to do, he intended. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): glasnost and perestroika though seemingly a symbiotic relationship were incompatible with each other. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The CPS you and, by extension, state socialism rely on unquestioning obedience that disappeared under glasnost. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And contrast perestroika was a restructuring of state socialism and of the CP seo and that's needed the power and authority of the CPS you to work. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): glasnost threatened party control and Chris ducker could not exist or function without party control Gorbachev reformed away his own influence, essentially because by restructuring the USSR you broke a systems, giving him power. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): However, apart from the ability of glasnost and perestroika to work together, the reforms are generally ineffective in part because of pushback from all sides due to consequences like inflation and because of party lines. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In the early months of 1991 strikes occurred frequently which force the government to create some concessions, even outside of the CPS you. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): For example, Boris Yeltsin President of Russia at the time granted striking writers, the freedom of selling 20% of the profits on the free market. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Other workers began wanting to sell their outfit for dollars, this increase in preference for a free market economy threatens party control over foreign foreign currency earnings which was a main source of the parties power. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The proletariat the working class in whose name the CPS who governed became dissatisfied and wanted the party removed from the workplace entirely a full 1.8 million members left a party in 1990 which still a hard blows with party influence. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The underlining impact of gorbachev's contradictory ineffective reforms on the CPS you said was subsequently meant a loss of party control over the military. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): By 1991 the party had ceased to be a party in any ideological sense, instead of clinging to this last vestiges of influence, by remaining a source of power and privilege for its Members. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): stuff yet military provided to see psu its final authority, the party depends more on the military industrial complex in fact that for its power, then, on its own members. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In a survey conducted 1991 more than 60% of mid level officers wanted to remove the military from the parties influence the party last support and splintered and it's hold on a military dwindled. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The final days of the Soviet Union points to arbitrage reforms being the catalyst of a coup invest, ultimately, the end of the Soviet Union. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): was in charge of a party split between support for an opposition against a decentralized government and he couldn't wait everybody support. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In March of 1991 our nationwide referendum voted to support gorbachev's plan for looser Union but six republic's boycotted the vote and anti Kremlin initiatives took hold and many other republic's. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The democracy, encouraged by corporate talks glasnost directly translated to a lessening of unity, but nonetheless in July of that year, a new Union trudy was drafted. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): This Treaty and gave unprecedented amount of federal power to the republic's and came close to creating a federation Gorbachev support of the Treaty, pointed towards more decentralization of power and the military did not want power to be decentralized any fruit that already was. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): To prevent for this Sunday to prevent further centralization of power, but still, for your army, the KGB Ministry of Interior and the rest of the military and industry. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): undertook a coup from August 18 to August 21 peaceful resistant efforts one out in the end, but party authority finally broke. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): A few months later, measured against his own ambitions, the USSR died a monumental failure. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): built on the grandest of ideologies, but on the shakiest foundations, the Soviet Union dissolved on December 25 1991. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The Soviet Union could not be reformed reforming the Union to align with gorbachev's goals lead in the end to a transformation of the Union into a different entity one no longer in accordance with this Communist beginnings. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The USSR state socialism required so many are forms to function efficiently without corruption that it changed entirely through his reforms Gorbachev found himself trying to reform away the very essence of the USSR and in the end, he succeeded. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Once perestroika got close to restructuring the state glasnost swept in dissolve the blind party obedience perestroika needed to build structure around. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): If the Soviets had not instituted state socialism, that would have been no state in need of restructuring, there would have been no state, and neither liberalisation or democratic efforts go gorbachev's reforms we're doomed from the start, because of this. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And the end it was gorbachev's restructuring of the party and if governments in tandem with this openness to criticism that enabled the military to rise up in a coup and boss, and the Union, thank you. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much for every year. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much, I guess the moral is be careful what you wish for. David A. Horowitz: i'm now going to deliver some comments. David A. Horowitz: i'm very excited about all three of these papers, I think this is the highest quality of work and i'm not just saying that to make people feel good it's based on a certain amount of experience of dealing with a student papers. David A. Horowitz: roseland days paper on Reagan and the end of the Cold War is a wonderful summation of the scholarship that is out there on this intriguing period in in US history in the 1980s and Ronald Reagan and. David A. Horowitz: It seems as if she really gets to the heart of the matter. David A. Horowitz: When she quotes the CIA report. David A. Horowitz: That said. David A. Horowitz: reagan's military buildup. David A. Horowitz: had no effect. David A. Horowitz: On Soviet military spending in the 1980s that meant that it was a myth that the American military buildup simply force the Russians to go bankrupt and trying to equal the armaments structure that Reagan had negotiated with his own economy. David A. Horowitz: One of the interesting aspects. David A. Horowitz: Of the perception among American conservatives in the 1980s was that the Soviets had greater mega time. David A. Horowitz: Big nuclear weapons that there was a myth that was basically a nuclear weapons get. David A. Horowitz: That the Soviets mega Tom bombs were totally going to dominate the United States but later research shows that, while the Soviets did have an advantage of those heavy megaton bomb. David A. Horowitz: missiles that were aimed at Western Europe, the United States had more effective precision weapons so there wasn't such a tremendous gap as some conservatives said there was. David A. Horowitz: The other interesting thing. David A. Horowitz: That. David A. Horowitz: That Rosalind paper points out is that Reagan had actually begun to soften his stance. David A. Horowitz: toward the Soviet Union in 1983 which was 18 months before go Robert chef took power, so it wasn't just the opportunity that Gorbachev present that enabled Reagan becomes something like a peacemaker. David A. Horowitz: The Star Wars. David A. Horowitz: Star Wars factor is very interesting Gorbachev would have gone for a more complete arms deal if Reagan had given up Star Wars, but I wonder. David A. Horowitz: If Reagan was clinging to Star Wars as a way of assuring the American people. David A. Horowitz: That he could go about. David A. Horowitz: A certain level of nuclear disarmament, with the Soviets without jeopardizing the security of the American people. David A. Horowitz: The space satellite laser weapons were supposed to stop incoming missiles, maybe Star Wars was just part of reagan's strategy to move toward nuclear disarmament. David A. Horowitz: And it's so fascinating that Reagan lost faith in nuclear deterrence and mutual assured destruction that if you built up your nuclear weapons. David A. Horowitz: The other side wouldn't they are mess with you, he thought that was immoral that could be accidents and that it really wouldn't work. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: there's a great irony in the story, I think. David A. Horowitz: And essentially roseland paper touched on it, and that is. David A. Horowitz: Reagan won the Cold War by making peace. David A. Horowitz: Reagan who often represented this militant kind of American nationalism. David A. Horowitz: Actually deprived Gorbachev. David A. Horowitz: Have any reason to fear the United States if the US was going to participate in this nuclear disarmament which eventually became the I n F treaty. David A. Horowitz: there's an anecdote that when Reagan and Gorbachev were at that first summit in in Cuba. David A. Horowitz: They were sitting in this room, with all of the technicians going back and forth on all of the intricacies of nuclear weapons and Reagan nudges Gorbachev, this is gonna be let's go out and get some fresh air, you know and they go take a walk. David A. Horowitz: And they come to some informal agreement that they want to work towards real disarmament an incredible moment. David A. Horowitz: reagan's advisors went crazy with that. David A. Horowitz: If what he was giving away the store but. David A. Horowitz: That as soon as Reagan earned the trust of Gorbachev. David A. Horowitz: The whole rationale for the Cold War collapsed and the whole rationale for the Soviet states collapse. David A. Horowitz: Because the Soviet leaders kept telling the people we've got to have this repression we've got to have unity we've got to put all of our resources into weapons because we're being surrounded by capitalists who want to take us over. David A. Horowitz: And once that rationale was gone for their own rule there was no rationale for their own maybe one of the reasons Soviet Union fell. David A. Horowitz: It is interesting. David A. Horowitz: The irony that you win the Cold War by making peace by emotionally disarming your adversaries panic. David A. Horowitz: Paul powers. David A. Horowitz: delivers a very interesting paper. David A. Horowitz: On jazz and the Cold War. David A. Horowitz: And I was taken by the fact that he introduces it by saying. David A. Horowitz: This story has elements of hypocrisy irony and contradiction. David A. Horowitz: And you know it occurred to me. David A. Horowitz: The policy irony and contradiction is about 90% of what history teachers profess it's what we do history, he made me is about. David A. Horowitz: Hypocrisy irony and. David A. Horowitz: He talks about these two these twin crusades one against communism in one against races sometimes they overlapped and sometimes they collide it. David A. Horowitz: But somewhere in the paper toward the end. David A. Horowitz: He invokes the sentiment of some of these African American musicians, who really believe that music spoke its own language, which is a beautiful thought. David A. Horowitz: And although kohl's paper. David A. Horowitz: very realistically dissects us intentions in the Cold War world and the end the use of these musicians to suggest that the United States stands for freedom, when, in many cases, it did not nevertheless. David A. Horowitz: The idea of these musicians. David A. Horowitz: going over and engaging people, even if they happen to be the elites of those countries. David A. Horowitz: As something in it that seems very rewarding. David A. Horowitz: and music does speak its own language, and I was reminded of the way swing music during World War Two help to energize and unify the American people in what was, to a certain extent. David A. Horowitz: i'd oh that's horrendous problems, a multi racial and multicultural democracy, fighting Nazis and Fascists and around the rhythms of swing music. David A. Horowitz: One of the questions that occurred to me was was there a difference in the Eisenhower State Department from the candidate State or in the use of these musicians and that that'd be something interesting to pursue. David A. Horowitz: In terms of government support for the arts, this was not the first example of US government support of the arts. David A. Horowitz: Government supported the arts included. David A. Horowitz: folk music recordings live orchestra and concert band performances. David A. Horowitz: Part of the new deals massive infrastructure program under the works progress administration in the 1930s, a theater project music project folklore. David A. Horowitz: a wonderful renaissance of American culture that occurred with a painting project with the Federal support in the 1930s. David A. Horowitz: In the longer version of the paper cold discusses the kind of controversial appointment of benny Goodman to be one of the emissaries who goes. David A. Horowitz: across to I guess the Soviet Union, as an emissary of American freedom and there were some resentment apparently on the part of some of the African American musicians why this safe white musician who's come in the 1930s was the one that was being. David A. Horowitz: presented to represent the United States and the idea that this this white band musician didn't really represent American jazz, but there is an irony there. David A. Horowitz: Because benny Goodman had been the first white band leader to retain African American musicians in the late 1930s, and I will name them. David A. Horowitz: Excuse me. David A. Horowitz: ganas Teddy Wilson. David A. Horowitz: Electric guitarist Charlie Christian and viper phone performer Lionel Hampton these were not just disorder musicians, these were the geniuses in their field, he broke the color barrier. David A. Horowitz: And swing band music in the late 1930s and the 1940s, and although his music may have gotten very mild and safe by the 1950s. David A. Horowitz: Is a giant figure in the history of jazz. David A. Horowitz: That Rania van sickles. David A. Horowitz: paper on gorbachev's reforms truly is a fascinating exploration of the inside of Soviet and Russian. David A. Horowitz: And there's so many on our knees in this. David A. Horowitz: little bit jeff's openness and his restructuring did encourage the transition from a command economy to a demand economy. David A. Horowitz: that's the essence of capitalism. David A. Horowitz: Is that supposedly consumers are supposed to demand the kind of products they want instead of commerce ours deciding what gets made this the old story that Russian factories in order to produce more shoes. David A. Horowitz: Just produce loads of shoes of the same size that way it looked good in the production quotas. David A. Horowitz: There was the other apocryphal story that rushing working people, used to say. David A. Horowitz: They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work. David A. Horowitz: But there's something here that I think is interesting. David A. Horowitz: today. David A. Horowitz: A lot of young Americans asked what's wrong with socialist. David A. Horowitz: Why can't I have free health insurance why can't I have free tuition for college. David A. Horowitz: And older Americans, many of them are aghast at the notion of a socialist economy, because it is older Americans who tend to to have experienced the Cold War. David A. Horowitz: And who saw. David A. Horowitz: The abuse of the economy and in a command economy like Soviet communism, but also. David A. Horowitz: There are many Americans who are immigrants from socialist countries who fled those countries because of the lack of opportunity because of a stagnant economy because of political operatives making the decisions about the economy, so it is interesting, it gives you some insight. David A. Horowitz: on them. David A. Horowitz: there's a section of for fed erroneous paper which describes the difficulties of restructuring, a system. David A. Horowitz: When powerful vested interests have a stake in keeping that system going. David A. Horowitz: and interesting. David A. Horowitz: The three sectors that she mentioned. David A. Horowitz: With the Soviet military industrial complex. David A. Horowitz: The agro industrial complex. David A. Horowitz: And the fuel and the complex curiously Those are three pockets. David A. Horowitz: of resistance to change in the United States, there are some similarities and then she mentions, of course, him to make it even more complicated in the Soviet Union ethnic rivalries, which we know something about as well in the United States. David A. Horowitz: Another interesting parallel that I found to the American experience. David A. Horowitz: those on the Right. David A. Horowitz: criticize gorbachev's reforms is too radical. David A. Horowitz: those on the Left criticize gorbachev's reforms as to incremental. David A. Horowitz: That gridlock that stalemate that comes when ideologies collide. David A. Horowitz: At any rate I thoroughly enjoyed all three of these papers, they are all infused with intelligence that makes me feel really good. David A. Horowitz: about young historians and they both deal with conventional wisdom and turning it on its side and all are beautifully expressed and well written. David A. Horowitz: This is really excellent so now. David A. Horowitz: What i'd like you to consider doing is using your Q amp a function. David A. Horowitz: and addressing questions, perhaps to particular presenters so we can open up our discussion. David A. Horowitz: To the audience and I will click and see what we've got going here. David A. Horowitz: Okay, this is a question for Mr powers. David A. Horowitz: From Zen green What would you say was the most important thing that the musicians got out of their experience. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: i'll answer that. Cole Powers: yeah I don't. Cole Powers: I don't know I feel like it's hard to pinpoint a single important thing. Cole Powers: But definitely. Cole Powers: Like being able to speak for Racial freedom and having like a pulpit to do that from and being backed by the US while doing that was a hugely important part. Cole Powers: And then also just probably you know, like her what's you're talking about the government spending in the arts and. Cole Powers: That became before these programs, but I think they're also was kind of an increase in government spending in the arts and specifically with jazz jazz hasn't really received much attention from the US before so. Cole Powers: that's another important part they're getting out of it and, like go SP is advocating in his article that he wrote afterwards, for more government support for the arts so they're kind of. Cole Powers: They are for the first time, being funded and supported by the government. David A. Horowitz: You know. David A. Horowitz: One of the interesting sidelights was many of the bebop musicians had turned to. David A. Horowitz: Islam as a religion rejected Christianity and so, in terms of some of these tours that the Middle East, you know that probably had some residents as well. David A. Horowitz: Alright let's see what we have here. David A. Horowitz: This is from Nina sigh Dale, and this is Nicole lucky guy I was wondering if you could talk about how the effect of these tours as a tool of American cold war propaganda or different abroad versus in America. Cole Powers: i'm i'm not sure how much I can talk about that. The. Cole Powers: It was. Cole Powers: brubeck talks a little bit about it in his article where he talks about when he's in Europe. Cole Powers: People like meeting him backstage and saying why don't artists rule the world like this is your your being here, means that we have freedoms, there were definitely areas where it was powerfully symbolic. Cole Powers: In the Soviet Union. Cole Powers: There were. Cole Powers: It was the youth was turning especially to jazz us kind of this symbol of American freedom. Cole Powers: And of like. Cole Powers: that's what I guess one look at it i've also read articles that say youth, just like jazz and it wasn't really symbolizing freedom, so I think that's Another question is like how much. Cole Powers: Was this music just popular and how much did it actually. Cole Powers: Like professed what the State Department was trying to save it and convey the symbolism of freedom to other countries, I don't know I think that's a question that i've read both sides of. David A. Horowitz: I have a question from an anonymous attendee. David A. Horowitz: To roseland was the American public aware of the collapse within the USSR that into the Cold War, and if they were what were the responses. David A. Horowitz: sure. ROSELYN DAI: i'm. ROSELYN DAI: To be honest, this wasn't an aspect I looked too much into but from what I can tell. ROSELYN DAI: It was knowledge for a long time that the Soviet economy was not doing well, I think the extent of it, I stayed in the CIO reports was probably not known to the public, but they were aware of that and they were aware of the reforms to. ROSELYN DAI: Within the Soviet Union, and I think. ROSELYN DAI: The response to that, and the other quarter, I think, also. ROSELYN DAI: Had a factor of surprise for many people, including the American public in specific towards like what like the collapsing, of the USSR and what Reagan did to it, many of republican supporters were really displeased by his reactions to what was going on. ROSELYN DAI: And then I think addressing Dr Horowitz your idea about St, I think, maybe one of the reasons why Reagan was still so willing to cling on to that was for his republican base as well. David A. Horowitz: let's see i've got another anonymous attendee or maybe it's the same anonymous attendee. David A. Horowitz: To five Rania. David A. Horowitz: there's a long question. David A. Horowitz: Do you think there was a way to reform the Soviet Union, without complete collapse. David A. Horowitz: Or do you think it was inevitable and a new government was required for change, for instance slower reforms to put less stress on the system. David A. Horowitz: Or, more monumental changes to quickly change, this is the without the problematic transition. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So that's a really good question. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): There are multiple answers so Gorbachev could have taken different reformatted routes, you could have gone slower he could have gone he couldn't really have gone quicker because of pushback but he could have gone slower and if he hadn't gone. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): as fast as he did the state still would have collapsed in a few decades that's what my research showed due to the in effect. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The ineffectiveness of the to government thing it was going to class anyway, whether or not he did anything, eventually, but what he made it collapse sooner, is what his reforms did he caused the coup, because of the conflict between perestroika and glasnost yeah. David A. Horowitz: anonymous attendees back for a Rania why didn't go a bit chefs policy reforms focus on pushing the USSR two or more Marxist form of comedy. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): That is because they had already done, the Marxist route in their eyes. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): They had looked at it, they had lived through it, they decided that it wasn't working. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): They had also done, I think, under crucial was a leader in the 16th of the Union, they had done experiments. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Like simulated experiments on capitalist economies and they found that those worked better than what their current Communist economy is doing. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So they looked at those experiments and they looked at what was happening with Communism currently and they concluded that a capitalist emotion would be better. David A. Horowitz: I think we've gotten to the end of our questions. David A. Horowitz: This is such a fascinating period, in my view, I just finished teaching Reagan in the 1980s. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: it's so interesting. David A. Horowitz: How someone like Reagan who certainly was limited in many ways. David A. Horowitz: could nevertheless have this instinct. David A. Horowitz: That it was time to negotiate disarmament and that I an F Treaty, which was about intermediate missiles in Europe, and so forth. David A. Horowitz: It kind of broke the ice and it took away the rationale for the Soviet empire. David A. Horowitz: At least for a while. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: i'm very much affected by a book by jack diggins john diggins on Reagan. David A. Horowitz: Who talks about Reagan is a great hero with peace. David A. Horowitz: As the President, who really did win the Cold War by abandoning it. David A. Horowitz: And there again we get to irony. David A. Horowitz: hypocrisy and contradiction of those elements of historical analysis. David A. Horowitz: which makes the enterprise so interesting. David A. Horowitz: let's see, I have oh there's some another question. David A. Horowitz: Thank you, sorry, excuse me. David A. Horowitz: Did Reagan tried to force the Star Wars issue because he thought the Soviets were more vulnerable at the time of their economic stress. David A. Horowitz: That would be for rosalie. ROSELYN DAI: yeah that's a good question I think Reagan was really intent on the Star Wars issue, not necessarily because. ROSELYN DAI: You wanted to push the Soviets further in like a time of crisis, for them, but more that he really wanted just assurance for nuclear like deterrence, because he didn't believe in mad, and he found it necessary to have some Defense against. ROSELYN DAI: Like weaponry and nuclear nuclear weaponry, in particular. David A. Horowitz: Well, I think we've come to the end of our run here I think it's been a very fruitful conversation. David A. Horowitz: It really helps me have thoughtful papers. David A. Horowitz: To be able to have an interesting conversation now, if you look at your your chat there's some instructions from our host Claire. David A. Horowitz: That some links to. David A. Horowitz: The next sessions that are available to you in this conference, otherwise I think we're going to wrap up Is there anyone. David A. Horowitz: Who has anything else to say. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much for such wonderful papers. David A. Horowitz: And this is, as I say about the best session i've ever chair. David A. Horowitz: So I am going, you can check your chat for the rest of the afternoon. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: Well, good afternoon can everyone hear me. David A. Horowitz: Well, good afternoon can can everyone hear me if you could not okay very good, my name is David Horowitz I teach us, cultural and political history here at portland state. David A. Horowitz: And this is the US yo political policy in the modern era session, the young historians conference. David A. Horowitz: Let me explain a little bit how we're going to proceed. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: I will be introducing the three of you, the three presenters. David A. Horowitz: One at a time. David A. Horowitz: And by the way, for those of you who are not presenting. David A. Horowitz: I think you're really fortunate these, this is the best batch of papers to this conference that I have moderated in the 30 years i've been doing this, these are excellent excellent papers and you're really fortunate to be present to be. David A. Horowitz: attending the session so. David A. Horowitz: Each of the presenters, as you well know, will have a 15 minutes to to deliver their papers and after that I will give a general commentary. David A. Horowitz: The commentary is not supposed to be a criticism of the papers it's just whereas some of the things that people discussed in their papers, where can we take that, where does it go what is some of the questions that might occur to another His story. David A. Horowitz: What we try to do in the sessions is to make this as close as possible to a professional history conference. David A. Horowitz: In a professional history conference, they would be three or four papers, they would be a commentator. David A. Horowitz: And then they would be questions and answers from the audience and that's what we tried to do that is what the academic protocol requires so that i'm after I give my comments and we will open up floor, so to speak, to questions which you can. David A. Horowitz: Present using your Q amp a. David A. Horowitz: So with that. David A. Horowitz: Let me present rosalyn day. David A. Horowitz: The cold war. David A. Horowitz: In October, in a case study of the ending of the Cold War, one is from lake Ridge high school. ROSELYN DAI: hello, thank you for that. ROSELYN DAI: So, to begin as Dr Horowitz said, my paper is on the ending of the Cold War, with specific focused on the Ronald Reagan Presidency in the Reagan doctrine. ROSELYN DAI: So August 11 1984 was nearly a marking of the end of mankind, it was on this day that the 45th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. ROSELYN DAI: issue a statement that almost started World War three quote we began bombing in five minutes and quote. ROSELYN DAI: A miss the high tension of US obvious relations reagan's joke, of having signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever just about lead to the devastation of nuclear confrontation. ROSELYN DAI: were alive so luckily no missiles were fired but this instance symbolizes the US Soviet battle during the Cold War. ROSELYN DAI: The cold war, which began in 1947 was a strenuous conflict that dominated American politics until the beginning towards the beginning of. ROSELYN DAI: the turn of the 21st century, when it was finally ended the cause of its ending presents quite a challenging and dividing debate. ROSELYN DAI: Democrats often credit, the collapse of the Soviet economy and gorbachev's own willingness for peace for the ending of the war. ROSELYN DAI: If not, avoiding the topic entirely Republicans, on the other hand, insist that reagan's aggressive foreign policies, particularly the arms race, was what propelled the Gorbachev era and the fall of the Soviet Union. ROSELYN DAI: In my paper I analyze the US Defense conditions prior to and after the Reagan administration. ROSELYN DAI: reagan's original addresses and the Soviet economy, and from that it can be reasonably reasonably concluded that, although reagan's policies undoubtedly assertive pressure the internal factors within the Soviet Union played a much larger role in the ending of the Cold War. ROSELYN DAI: So throughout the Cold War, the US Soviet tensions waiver quite drastically peaked in the first time in 1960s, with the Cuban missile crisis. ROSELYN DAI: Calm somewhat during the 70s, with a strategic arm limitation treaties and the anti ballistic missile Treaties before which was referred to an era of detox and before taking another downturn with the Ronald Reagan administration. ROSELYN DAI: By then, the Soviets had just invaded Afghanistan and assault treaties were facing deterioration. ROSELYN DAI: reagan's presidency only served to expedite ending of detergent and ursa nation into a rapidly escalating arms race. ROSELYN DAI: reagan's foreign Defense a foreign policy approach, especially towards the Soviets was one that was quite aggressive. ROSELYN DAI: The Reagan doctrine stem from a belief that merely containing Communism was not enough and that the US must actively involve itself in dismantling Communism completely. ROSELYN DAI: In his famous evil empire speech he denounced the Soviet Union, as an evil empire and portrayed life under the Communist regime as one of totalitarian darkness. ROSELYN DAI: claiming it would eventually dominate all people Reagan rejected the idea of a nuclear freeze in America, because he believed it to be only an illusion of peace and that the reality is that peace is found through strength. ROSELYN DAI: Reagan strategy was an arms race to gain nuclear and conventional arms superiority over the Soviets to have to be able to negotiate from a position of strength. ROSELYN DAI: And to deter any possibility of attack So this was in parallel, of the ideas of previously sign ncs 68 a military buildup because Reagan. ROSELYN DAI: considered the present conditions of the military arsenal to be increasingly obsolete, for example, in the 1980s, the Soviet Union had an 11 year lead in investments so Reagan push through Congress massive Defense spending increases increasing one that total. ROSELYN DAI: Over $1.5 trillion. ROSELYN DAI: That included. ROSELYN DAI: That included a host of new button systems, one of these was reagan's most prominent and problematic proposals, the strategic Defense initiative or SDI or as the press dubbed it Star Wars. ROSELYN DAI: It was to fund research into a space based Missile Defense system as Reagan didn't believe in mutually assured destruction claiming it to be truly mad and claiming it to be mutual suicide. ROSELYN DAI: And reagan's insistence over SDI was what later cost the US it's relations with the Soviets and even potentially delaying the resolution to the decades long conflict of the Cold War. ROSELYN DAI: So by the mid 1980s, it was clear that both sides had grown tired of the conflict. ROSELYN DAI: The Soviet economy was at its lowest since the start of the decades long economic decline beginning shortly after World War Two. ROSELYN DAI: It was mutually established that there needed to be an arms reduction from both sides, there was a series of strategic arm reduction talks start. ROSELYN DAI: With one being the Geneva Conference of 1985 so in the beginning of the Conference, it was it was made clear that the Soviet sod 50% decrease in nuclear bombs and missiles, but the US was more intent on a more sustainable way to defer nuclear war and take reliance off of that. ROSELYN DAI: aiming to continue development of defensive weapon tree and specifically reagan's SDI proposal and this proved to be quite detrimental as the reagan's insistence over SDI was a cause for a stalemate in these. ROSELYN DAI: These talks, for example in the in the meeting score Bashar Gorbachev remarked that the USSR are realistic pragmatists who categorically opposed to dominate other countries and that the US overestimates the power of the Soviet Union. ROSELYN DAI: It was clear that Gorbachev was willing to negotiate, but was unwilling to compromise on SDI because of the belief that it was an attempt to weaponize space, and it would give the US a first strike advantage, however. ROSELYN DAI: STI aside the conversations were quite amiable as Reagan by that and had abandoned his quite hardline anti Communist stance, but. ROSELYN DAI: As Gorbachev put it, if the soap us and Soviets could agree to be and research and space, he would sign in two minutes. ROSELYN DAI: From this weekend see that had Reagan been more lenient on his SDI proposals and agreement for arms reduction and peace between the new two nations could have taken shape earlier. ROSELYN DAI: Despite these facts, there are still some who argue that reagan's are to build up policies force the Soviets to back down. ROSELYN DAI: However, data data doesn't support this, for example, a CIA report claim that there was virtually no effect caused by the US military buildup. ROSELYN DAI: In the 1980s on Soviet military spending. ROSELYN DAI: In fact gorbachev's and the Soviets willingness to negotiate and back down was not due to reagan's arms policy, but rather to the stagnating Soviet economy and the political and economic reforms within the Soviet Union. ROSELYN DAI: Gorbachev had was attempting to restructure the Soviet economy, using a Western capitalist model. ROSELYN DAI: He also loosened political restraints, for example, he amended to the Soviet Constitution so that the Communist Party was not the only acceptable political party. ROSELYN DAI: And these internal reforms was also a big factor in contributing to the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union and the overthrowing communists. ROSELYN DAI: So, and furthermore on it, the CIA data shows that the Soviet economy had been slowing down long before reagan's inauguration, in fact, it could be traced back to the 1950s due to. ROSELYN DAI: Due to long term issues within the Soviet economical structure itself and including mark slow Downs in the growth of Soviet industrial output, as well as. ROSELYN DAI: As well as a limited capacity to earn hard currency to pay for needed technology imports as as well as issues with couple productivity climate patterns Labor shortages oil shortages and depressed birth rates and this economic downfall has been seen and predicted. ROSELYN DAI: Throughout the Cold War and so these economic constraints lead to increased pressures within the Soviet to for reduce military expenditure. ROSELYN DAI: It was understood that high military expenditure was only harming Soviet by ability and economy and society, because the funds for the military were taken from critical, social services and. ROSELYN DAI: Educational programs, and it was evident that the economy of the Soviet could not be sustained, for a long term so it's not surprising that. ROSELYN DAI: Gorbachev was open for reform and arms reduction so to claim that reagan's policies with the arms race, was the sole factor, or what ultimately led to the fall of the Soviet Union is. ROSELYN DAI: Quite a false assumption, because although his policies would have put pressure on Soviet leadership to reciprocate militarily putting additional burdens on an already failing economy. ROSELYN DAI: The long term impacts of an insufficient economic structure itself within the Soviets and gorbachev's governmental and political changes were what finally prompted the ending of the Cold War, thank you. David A. Horowitz: Thank you roseland Thank you very much, our next paper is another at it deals with another aspect of the Cold War. David A. Horowitz: Was it Ronald Reagan landed the Cold War, or was it American jazz musicians. David A. Horowitz: Here is from coal powers from lake Ridge high school. David A. Horowitz: fighting for freedom jazz and the Cold War call you have the name of a jazz musician you could very well be one that wonderful may like. Cole Powers: Okay, plan to be. Cole Powers: well. Cole Powers: alright. Cole Powers: During the Cold War era, the US was involved in two fights for freedom on one front, the country saw itself is fighting a cold war for the victory of American democracy over the tyranny of communism. Cole Powers: On the other American citizens engaged in the civil rights movement seeking freedom for black Americans and for black people and nations across the globe. Cole Powers: When the US decided to send American jazz musicians abroad as part of a cold war propaganda effort, these two battles collided. Cole Powers: resulting intersection is a story of hypocrisy irony and contradiction jazz was perceived as a powerful symbol for freedom in both the Cold War and the civil rights contexts. Cole Powers: The State Department use this symbolism, to convince the world that the US supported freedom, even when evidence clearly pointed to the contrary jazz musicians use the same tours to push for more genuine vision of racial freedom. Cole Powers: This paper starts by describing the administrative tours leading up or administrative history leading up to the chest tours demonstrates the purpose of. Cole Powers: The United States information to agency, the USA and of the cultural programs that were carried out beneath it was to convince the world that the US supported freedom in the Cold War fight. Cole Powers: The remainder of the paper highlights six of the countless State Department tours in order to show how the USA and jazz musicians each use the tours to push their own agenda of freedom. Cole Powers: The story began with President Eisenhower Eisenhower is public statements demonstrate that, like so many other Americans during the 1950s, he saw the Cold War is a fight for freedom against tyranny. Cole Powers: He also understood that effective propaganda was crucial weapon in this fight. Cole Powers: In order to in his words when the minds and souls of men, he created the United States information agency, the USA. Cole Powers: A propaganda agency, which used a variety of media to spread information about us aims and values around the world, then in 1954 Congress authorized the creation of the cultural presentations program which administered tourism musical and performing artists. Cole Powers: It was clear from the beginning that USA officials agreed with eisenhower's claim that the Cold War was a fight against tyranny the view that America was fighting for freedom and peace was expressed again and again and documents, written by the agency's director good or straight bar. Cole Powers: Despite Eisenhower in St bart's conviction about the role of the US and the Cold War Eisenhower feared that other nations did not equate American victory with freedom. Cole Powers: Instead, he word, the growing civil rights movement in the United States would harm the country's image as it claimed it was fighting for freedom abroad. Cole Powers: Bus officials came to see the primary purpose of the USA as providing evidence to the world that America was on the right side of the fight. Cole Powers: USA documents describing early tours of performing artists reveal that this goal was a defining feature of cultural presentations program even before jazz was added to their repertoire. Cole Powers: Given the school, however jazz seem to be the perfect weapon of choice and African American music, which not only featured black band leaders and stars, but it was also powerfully symbolic of freedom. Cole Powers: jazz can be used to convince the world that the US had moved past its era of racism and segregation. Cole Powers: jazz first entered the picture with willis converse radio show which was aired on Voice of America radio. Cole Powers: The US funded international radio program conover himself saw his show as powerful propaganda in his eyes jazz was strongly symbolic of a uniquely American freedom and democracy, and then musicians agree on a broader structure within which they're free to improvise and express themselves. Cole Powers: It was ultimately Harlem democratic Congressman and civil rights activist Adam clayton Powell jr who brought jazz to the attention of the State Department. Cole Powers: Seeing symbolics power of jazz and the Cold War Pal suggested that the State Department incorporate the music into its cultural programs and then 1955 the State Department agreed a New York Times article and abstinence headline remote lands to hear old democracy boogie. Cole Powers: The first jazz musician to tour under the State Department was trumpeter and bandleader john dizzy gillespie gillespie his tour of Middle East immediately reveal the contradiction and hypocrisy which played the Program. Cole Powers: most notable is this time in Greece gillespie entered Greece during intense anti American protests over the US support greece's suppressive right wing dictatorship. Cole Powers: After his performance, the same protesters carried him out on their shoulders in appreciation event revealed a reality of the Cold War and of jazz diplomacy which different dramatically from officials idealistic statements about freedom in America. Cole Powers: US actions were not always in the interest of freedom abroad. Cole Powers: During the Cold War, the US repeatedly violated the freedom of other people's as it did when it supported greece's dictatorship and then sent jazz the ultimate symbol of American freedom and democracy to make the case that it was still on the right side of the fight. Cole Powers: gillespie returned home and found that his race prevented him from enjoying the freedom that he was sent abroad to advertise. Cole Powers: Many conservative Americans were quick to them that says music as primitive and black claiming that it was in comparable to what they considered high art form of European classical music. Cole Powers: Led by representative john Rooney Congressman focus their attacks on the high cost of the jazz tourists and succeeded and cutting funding substantially. Cole Powers: gillespie responded via email to Congressional attacks and esquire article titled jazz was too good for Americans he lamented the fact that while he was met with respect and admiration abroad his music was still not treated as illegitimate art form by his own country. Cole Powers: He pleaded that the US Government moved to memphis problem specifically if you're incorporating jazz into education. Cole Powers: gillespie saw the State Department tourism opportunity to reach for more the more genuine freedom than that which meant no more than American victory of communism instead. Cole Powers: gillespie sought freedom from the racial oppression which prevented his music from being recognized by American audiences government and institutions. Cole Powers: The State Department responded to upper over gillespie's trip by sending white musician benny Goodman and the next tour. Cole Powers: i'm good MINS trip to Thailand, the same hypocrisy that surrounded gillespie's to arose in state department's choice to target audiences of tie elite not citizens. Cole Powers: newspaper articles referring to mass audiences as unsophisticated reveal the public agreed with the vision that the elite, are the most important target of diplomacy by us rhetoric celebrated freedom for the masses policy focused on improving relations with the lead our. Cole Powers: Racial tension surrounding the tourists were inflamed in 1957 when Eisenhower refused to enforce court ordered desegregation of schools and little rock Arkansas the jazz world responded vehemently eisenhower's decision. Cole Powers: With louie Armstrong refusing to attend previously planted tours for the State Department. Cole Powers: was only after Eisenhower agreed to send troops to little rock to enforce desegregation that Armstrong indicated that he might reconsider playing the role of musical diplomat. Cole Powers: In 1958 Dave brubeck toward Poland in the Middle East, as with gillespie in Greece and Goodman in Thailand rubik's performances were designed to advance us interest not freedom. Cole Powers: You know the end of the year, the State Department extended webex trips suddenly and without warning to include engagements in Iran and Iraq. Cole Powers: He performed in Iran under partial sponsorship from the Iranian oil refinery company only weeks after brubeck left Iraq general abdel-karim cussing overthrew the Iraqi Government threatening us oil interests, given the situation, the reason behind remix tour was quite. Cole Powers: Despite this brubeck viewed his tour as a diplomatic and personal success upon returning home he published a statement in the New York Times, in which he commented on the power of jazz to transcend boundaries between different cultures and races. Cole Powers: and in doing so, to foster genuine understanding freedom and peace. Cole Powers: In 1960 louie Armstrong to with Africa, of all the jazz tours armstrong's 1960 trip most clearly demonstrated how jazz was used to achieve both the edge of the State Department and a musician. Cole Powers: Despite the contradictions between these names, the news reporting of the event clearly reveal the paradox of jazz diplomacy. Cole Powers: New York Times articles reporting on africa's response to the tour revealed three notable sentiments African officials were proud that a black man had achieve world fame. Cole Powers: armstrong's tourists signal that black Americans were moving rapidly towards equality and many African saw Armstrong as speaking for the rights of black people worldwide. Cole Powers: On one hand, the tour served America as a Cold War weapon convincing other nations that black Americans were progressing quickly towards equality some even achieving world fame. Cole Powers: On the other hand, armstrong's fame and his music spoke for black freedom and serve as a weapon in the fight for black civil rights and African sovereignty. Cole Powers: Like gillespie's engagement in Greece and rubik's and Iraq armstrong's visit to Africa to place against a tumultuous political backdrop in 1960 the Congo declared independence from Belgium, under the leadership of socialist Patrice emery remember. Cole Powers: The shift threatened us access to minerals and uranium reserves in the Congo, while opening these reserves, up to the Soviet Union, the US responded by detaining and then assassinating remember. Cole Powers: Armstrong was then sent into this crisis as proof that America was stone the side of freedom nowhere in the story of jazz diplomacy was irony as heavily President as when armstrong's music. Cole Powers: and music which spoke for the sovereignty of African nations was used towards the US aims of engineering African states. Cole Powers: Throughout the 1950s jazz grew increasingly more popular among Soviet you and the State Department decided to capitalize on the Soviets newfound appreciation of the music. Cole Powers: By sending tours into the Soviet Union benny Goodman was chosen for the first of these trips in New York Times reporting on the growing appreciation of jazz in the Soviet Union and on governments tour. Cole Powers: told the story of a Soviet youth which yearned for freedom and found it in American jazz that made its way past the restrictive Soviet regime. Cole Powers: To the press and the public jazz infiltration into the Soviet Union was powerful moment of symbolism it represented a great victory of American freedom over communism. Cole Powers: And late 1960s, yet another musician was sent abroad to compensate for US actions Duke ellington's tour targeted Syria and Iraq. Cole Powers: Not long before his tour of the US at support at successful accused by the by at this party. Cole Powers: Against the pro Communist government both countries, only three days after ellington left Iraqi forces performed a successful coup against the bias government. Cole Powers: Like brubeck Armstrong ellington was thrown into the battlefield of the Cold War, in order to push the narrative that the US still supported freedom after it violated the sovereignty of the Syrian Government. Cole Powers: Throughout the tour ellington spoke strongly against racism and elitism. Cole Powers: When he and his band were shipped between cities and the cargo plane ellington was furious calling the planet cattle car for negros he demanded better accommodations and send that awake orchestra would not have received such barbaric treatment. Cole Powers: When asked about race abroad ellington strongly condemned racism in the United States, he also complained that many of his audience works audiences were composed entirely of neo colonial elites, he argued that this defeated his own purpose of reaching new masses with his music. Cole Powers: Around the Cold War, the American public and the USA clung tightly to the belief that America American victory meant freedom. Cole Powers: jazz as seen by the American public and described by williston over perfectly symbolized this American freedom, so the US and jazz bands abroad to clear up what it saw as misconceptions that America was on the wrong side of the fight. Cole Powers: To USA officials and too many other Americans, the jazz tours were no more than affirmations of the truth, but the reality was that america's actions at home and abroad we're not always steps towards a for your world. Cole Powers: Bus the actual function of the jazz tours was different than that which was perceived by most Americans. Cole Powers: They served to quiet anger over us actions to convince the world the US was fighting for freedom, despite frequent violations of the sovereignty of other nations and the civil rights of its own people. Cole Powers: Only the musicians themselves could truly claim that they fought for freedom. Cole Powers: gillespie brubeck Armstrong ellington and countless other musicians department tourists spoke for recognition of the masses, rather than the elite respect for black people and black music sovereignty for African nations mutual understanding and peace. Cole Powers: Even as the US Government exploited them for its own interest, these musicians and ways to fight for freedom, not just American freedom, but real freedom, which included all peoples. Cole Powers: At times, with subtlety and, at times, with no offense they fought for a better world than the US I imagine. Cole Powers: Thank you. David A. Horowitz: Thank you cool. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much. David A. Horowitz: Paper is going to be presented by him Rania van sickle of St mary's the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev. David A. Horowitz: And their effect on the USSR. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Thank you for the introduction, so the Soviet Union, the nation of communism of Stalinism enough the color red. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The Soviet Union had a brief brief stint during the 20th century, and today i'm going to be examining the root causes of failure to succeed as a country, specifically analyzing the history of what led to the Soviet coup of 1991 and the Union subsequent collapse. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The successive early 20th century leadership with the Union of Soviet socialist republics, the USSR. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): All use communism to enforce governance and safeguarding its national demise proverbs Soviet socialism, founded on Marxist Communism departed from his Marxist foundation and morphed into a party state that contradicted the very principles of communist ideology. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Throughout the Cold War, this modified Communism stood as the hallmark of the Soviet Union, when that separated us always from Russian allies over late 20th century USSR largely due to the influence of Mikhail Gorbachev was General Secretary of the Communist Party, the Soviet Union. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): fell away from socialism instead turns to capitalism and a more democratic form of leadership. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): influencing Communist Russia through is more liberal policies of glasnost and perestroika Mikhail Gorbachev upset the balance of Russian politics and threatened military power by weakening of the control and influence of the CPS you. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): As a result of this power struggle, a coup ensued on August 21 1991 and the Soviet Union collapsed shortly after. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So, today I will be arguing that due to the Soviets creation of a party state of a socialist party state that contradicted Marxist ideology. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): gorbachev's liberalizing attempts to democratize the Union there was policies with glasnost and perestroika proved incompatible with the continuation of Soviet governance and this led to the downfall of the Soviet regime. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): For a little background on a Soviet Union, it was founded in early early 20th century why Vladimir Lenin in a group of revolutionaries. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): who rose up against the ruling elite and formed a coalition of republic's in the eastern in Eastern Europe. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And it was founded on communism and Communism is a political ideology that are used for a classless stateless society. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): in which there is no perfect property all means of production are controlled by the proletariat the working class and each person gets paid according to their ability and needs. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Over this founding ideology of the Soviet Union shifted away from the founding idea throughout the years to an ideology notice Darwinism which shifted the union's governance to be stricter and to rely more on party authority. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Due to Stalinism and due to leadership from the beginning to later ends later end of the Union, there was a lot of corruption which Brett economic problems. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): By the time Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union CPS you in 1985. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The USSR was in the midst of an economic disaster and entire leader perform Gorbachev created two main policies. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): of glasnost and perestroika to achieve reform glasnost was a new willingness to tolerate dissident opinions and perestroika was the comprehensive reform of the Soviet political and economic system. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): glasnost openness and perestroika is restructuring became the tenants of gorbachev's reforms, because they're all attempts to democratize the Union were met with resistance, however, and ultimately at the end of the scene of the union's adherence to socialism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So the crux of the issue was that Soviet Socialism was a contradictory in perfect reflection of communism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Marxist ideology as laid forth by Karl Marx call it for the stage of communism to be an to be a successor to the necessary development stage of capitalism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): But the founder of the Union, Vladimir Lenin skipped the stage so traditional country might go from feudalism to capitalism to communism, but the Soviet Union went from feudalism over capitalism to communism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Political scientists Valerie bonds notes that absent from the Russian experience was the development of private property. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Rational bureaucracy, the rule of law and an independent ability What this means is that the Russians never went through the stages of social and economic development, necessary to build a Communist nation. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Russia was mostly funeral nation, at the beginning of the 20th century, but the founders of the Union ingrained into this feudal nation, the ideology of one of the most progressive advanced ways of social organization communism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And inability to fulfill certain Marxist principles, but the installment of the corrupt party state which set the nation up for future failure. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In theory, when Communism is enacted correctly, the state should wither away and leave into place a stateless society. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): But the Soviet Union Soviet state could not die out due to pressure from outside enemies, namely the West, countries such as Britain and the US. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The existence of the State defied the very tenants of the ideology that the State claims to uphold and led to the creation prevalence of a party state. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): party of the Union, the Communist Party, the Soviet Union it governed as a dictatorship of the proletariat it was comprised of 10% of a working class, which in turn comprised of only 10% of the total population. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The nation needed the party in order to function, the party manage everything from a planned economy and the economic sphere. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And one party intraparty democracy in the political sphere to eventually no democracy at all, not even within the party. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The CPS You ran the government to such a degree in fact that there are merged two separate governments, the actual Soviet government and then behind it, a shadow government. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): That was comprised of only party members and ran the actual government, so we have socialism, because of its deviation from Marcus Communism into an all powerful two tiered or toxicity of shadow government actual government set the nation up for failure in future decades. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In action, the survey regimes party state necessitated perform due to its corruption and ineffective this. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The years, corruption and bread and competence which bread economic disarray Mikhail Gorbachev due to this was a new position to refuse reform when he took office, as General Secretary in 1985. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Two minutes, the economic most and crises that Gorbachev encountered when he took office, he said about creating an agenda of reforms centered on making both government and economy more efficient he introduced his policies of glasnost and perestroika to do this in 1985. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): gorbachev's policy of glasnost we assumes the CPS us hold on mainstream thought and political on mainstream political thought by allowing new parties dissenting views and criticisms to be brought forward. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): perestroika, on the other hand, focus on regulate on deregulating and restructuring economics and politics. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): This included trying to fix the economic disarray handed to him by shifting from the command economy to marketers demand economy. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): or a striker which allowing for structural changes in the economy, enabled the beginning of capitalist markets and political reforms, like the creation of a new national legislature. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And action glasnost appear to be quite liberating it lifted many government restrictions on the press and allowed for open criticism of the government and government sanctioned history. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Initially glasnost and perestroika would work well together, because there's still these became more vocal cost for democracy, increased which led to restructuring so glasnost is. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Affected perestroika which affected state. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): 1987, for example, the Communist Party central planning committee approved gorbachev's plan to allow voters to choose candidates and local elections and by 1989 the first free elections in over 70 years were held for the Congress of people step beauties the new national legislature. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In addition to increase democracy perestroika relaxed trade restrictions and curtis Western investment and the 1988 allowed for the creation of limited cooperative business which shifted many businesses towards privatized towards privatization. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): However, despite gorbachev's best interests, the reforms fail to do, he intended. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): glasnost and perestroika though seemingly a symbiotic relationship were incompatible with each other. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The CPS you and, by extension, state socialism rely on unquestioning obedience that disappeared under glasnost. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And contrast perestroika was a restructuring of state socialism and of the CP seo and that's needed the power and authority of the CPS you to work. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): glasnost threatened party control and Chris ducker could not exist or function without party control Gorbachev reformed away his own influence, essentially because by restructuring the USSR you broke a systems, giving him power. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): However, apart from the ability of glasnost and perestroika to work together, the reforms are generally ineffective in part because of pushback from all sides due to consequences like inflation and because of party lines. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In the early months of 1991 strikes occurred frequently which force the government to create some concessions, even outside of the CPS you. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): For example, Boris Yeltsin President of Russia at the time granted striking writers, the freedom of selling 20% of the profits on the free market. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Other workers began wanting to sell their outfit for dollars, this increase in preference for a free market economy threatens party control over foreign foreign currency earnings which was a main source of the parties power. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The proletariat the working class in whose name the CPS who governed became dissatisfied and wanted the party removed from the workplace entirely a full 1.8 million members left a party in 1990 which still a hard blows with party influence. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The underlining impact of gorbachev's contradictory ineffective reforms on the CPS you said was subsequently meant a loss of party control over the military. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): By 1991 the party had ceased to be a party in any ideological sense, instead of clinging to this last vestiges of influence, by remaining a source of power and privilege for its Members. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): stuff yet military provided to see psu its final authority, the party depends more on the military industrial complex in fact that for its power, then, on its own members. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In a survey conducted 1991 more than 60% of mid level officers wanted to remove the military from the parties influence the party last support and splintered and it's hold on a military dwindled. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The final days of the Soviet Union points to arbitrage reforms being the catalyst of a coup invest, ultimately, the end of the Soviet Union. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): was in charge of a party split between support for an opposition against a decentralized government and he couldn't wait everybody support. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In March of 1991 our nationwide referendum voted to support gorbachev's plan for looser Union but six republic's boycotted the vote and anti Kremlin initiatives took hold and many other republic's. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The democracy, encouraged by corporate talks glasnost directly translated to a lessening of unity, but nonetheless in July of that year, a new Union trudy was drafted. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): This Treaty and gave unprecedented amount of federal power to the republic's and came close to creating a federation Gorbachev support of the Treaty, pointed towards more decentralization of power and the military did not want power to be decentralized any fruit that already was. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): To prevent for this Sunday to prevent further centralization of power, but still, for your army, the KGB Ministry of Interior and the rest of the military and industry. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): undertook a coup from August 18 to August 21 peaceful resistant efforts one out in the end, but party authority finally broke. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): A few months later, measured against his own ambitions, the USSR died a monumental failure. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): built on the grandest of ideologies, but on the shakiest foundations, the Soviet Union dissolved on December 25 1991. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The Soviet Union could not be reformed reforming the Union to align with gorbachev's goals lead in the end to a transformation of the Union into a different entity one no longer in accordance with this Communist beginnings. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The USSR state socialism required so many are forms to function efficiently without corruption that it changed entirely through his reforms Gorbachev found himself trying to reform away the very essence of the USSR and in the end, he succeeded. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Once perestroika got close to restructuring the state glasnost swept in dissolve the blind party obedience perestroika needed to build structure around. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): If the Soviets had not instituted state socialism, that would have been no state in need of restructuring, there would have been no state, and neither liberalisation or democratic efforts go gorbachev's reforms we're doomed from the start, because of this. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And the end it was gorbachev's restructuring of the party and if governments in tandem with this openness to criticism that enabled the military to rise up in a coup and boss, and the Union, thank you. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much for every year. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much, I guess the moral is be careful what you wish for. David A. Horowitz: i'm now going to deliver some comments. David A. Horowitz: i'm very excited about all three of these papers, I think this is the highest quality of work and i'm not just saying that to make people feel good it's based on a certain amount of experience of dealing with a student papers. David A. Horowitz: roseland days paper on Reagan and the end of the Cold War is a wonderful summation of the scholarship that is out there on this intriguing period in in US history in the 1980s and Ronald Reagan and. David A. Horowitz: It seems as if she really gets to the heart of the matter. David A. Horowitz: When she quotes the CIA report. David A. Horowitz: That said. David A. Horowitz: reagan's military buildup. David A. Horowitz: had no effect. David A. Horowitz: On Soviet military spending in the 1980s that meant that it was a myth that the American military buildup simply force the Russians to go bankrupt and trying to equal the armaments structure that Reagan had negotiated with his own economy. David A. Horowitz: One of the interesting aspects. David A. Horowitz: Of the perception among American conservatives in the 1980s was that the Soviets had greater mega time. David A. Horowitz: Big nuclear weapons that there was a myth that was basically a nuclear weapons get. David A. Horowitz: That the Soviets mega Tom bombs were totally going to dominate the United States but later research shows that, while the Soviets did have an advantage of those heavy megaton bomb. David A. Horowitz: missiles that were aimed at Western Europe, the United States had more effective precision weapons so there wasn't such a tremendous gap as some conservatives said there was. David A. Horowitz: The other interesting thing. David A. Horowitz: That. David A. Horowitz: That Rosalind paper points out is that Reagan had actually begun to soften his stance. David A. Horowitz: toward the Soviet Union in 1983 which was 18 months before go Robert chef took power, so it wasn't just the opportunity that Gorbachev present that enabled Reagan becomes something like a peacemaker. David A. Horowitz: The Star Wars. David A. Horowitz: Star Wars factor is very interesting Gorbachev would have gone for a more complete arms deal if Reagan had given up Star Wars, but I wonder. David A. Horowitz: If Reagan was clinging to Star Wars as a way of assuring the American people. David A. Horowitz: That he could go about. David A. Horowitz: A certain level of nuclear disarmament, with the Soviets without jeopardizing the security of the American people. David A. Horowitz: The space satellite laser weapons were supposed to stop incoming missiles, maybe Star Wars was just part of reagan's strategy to move toward nuclear disarmament. David A. Horowitz: And it's so fascinating that Reagan lost faith in nuclear deterrence and mutual assured destruction that if you built up your nuclear weapons. David A. Horowitz: The other side wouldn't they are mess with you, he thought that was immoral that could be accidents and that it really wouldn't work. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: there's a great irony in the story, I think. David A. Horowitz: And essentially roseland paper touched on it, and that is. David A. Horowitz: Reagan won the Cold War by making peace. David A. Horowitz: Reagan who often represented this militant kind of American nationalism. David A. Horowitz: Actually deprived Gorbachev. David A. Horowitz: Have any reason to fear the United States if the US was going to participate in this nuclear disarmament which eventually became the I n F treaty. David A. Horowitz: there's an anecdote that when Reagan and Gorbachev were at that first summit in in Cuba. David A. Horowitz: They were sitting in this room, with all of the technicians going back and forth on all of the intricacies of nuclear weapons and Reagan nudges Gorbachev, this is gonna be let's go out and get some fresh air, you know and they go take a walk. David A. Horowitz: And they come to some informal agreement that they want to work towards real disarmament an incredible moment. David A. Horowitz: reagan's advisors went crazy with that. David A. Horowitz: If what he was giving away the store but. David A. Horowitz: That as soon as Reagan earned the trust of Gorbachev. David A. Horowitz: The whole rationale for the Cold War collapsed and the whole rationale for the Soviet states collapse. David A. Horowitz: Because the Soviet leaders kept telling the people we've got to have this repression we've got to have unity we've got to put all of our resources into weapons because we're being surrounded by capitalists who want to take us over. David A. Horowitz: And once that rationale was gone for their own rule there was no rationale for their own maybe one of the reasons Soviet Union fell. David A. Horowitz: It is interesting. David A. Horowitz: The irony that you win the Cold War by making peace by emotionally disarming your adversaries panic. David A. Horowitz: Paul powers. David A. Horowitz: delivers a very interesting paper. David A. Horowitz: On jazz and the Cold War. David A. Horowitz: And I was taken by the fact that he introduces it by saying. David A. Horowitz: This story has elements of hypocrisy irony and contradiction. David A. Horowitz: And you know it occurred to me. David A. Horowitz: The policy irony and contradiction is about 90% of what history teachers profess it's what we do history, he made me is about. David A. Horowitz: Hypocrisy irony and. David A. Horowitz: He talks about these two these twin crusades one against communism in one against races sometimes they overlapped and sometimes they collide it. David A. Horowitz: But somewhere in the paper toward the end. David A. Horowitz: He invokes the sentiment of some of these African American musicians, who really believe that music spoke its own language, which is a beautiful thought. David A. Horowitz: And although kohl's paper. David A. Horowitz: very realistically dissects us intentions in the Cold War world and the end the use of these musicians to suggest that the United States stands for freedom, when, in many cases, it did not nevertheless. David A. Horowitz: The idea of these musicians. David A. Horowitz: going over and engaging people, even if they happen to be the elites of those countries. David A. Horowitz: As something in it that seems very rewarding. David A. Horowitz: and music does speak its own language, and I was reminded of the way swing music during World War Two help to energize and unify the American people in what was, to a certain extent. David A. Horowitz: i'd oh that's horrendous problems, a multi racial and multicultural democracy, fighting Nazis and Fascists and around the rhythms of swing music. David A. Horowitz: One of the questions that occurred to me was was there a difference in the Eisenhower State Department from the candidate State or in the use of these musicians and that that'd be something interesting to pursue. David A. Horowitz: In terms of government support for the arts, this was not the first example of US government support of the arts. David A. Horowitz: Government supported the arts included. David A. Horowitz: folk music recordings live orchestra and concert band performances. David A. Horowitz: Part of the new deals massive infrastructure program under the works progress administration in the 1930s, a theater project music project folklore. David A. Horowitz: a wonderful renaissance of American culture that occurred with a painting project with the Federal support in the 1930s. David A. Horowitz: In the longer version of the paper cold discusses the kind of controversial appointment of benny Goodman to be one of the emissaries who goes. David A. Horowitz: across to I guess the Soviet Union, as an emissary of American freedom and there were some resentment apparently on the part of some of the African American musicians why this safe white musician who's come in the 1930s was the one that was being. David A. Horowitz: presented to represent the United States and the idea that this this white band musician didn't really represent American jazz, but there is an irony there. David A. Horowitz: Because benny Goodman had been the first white band leader to retain African American musicians in the late 1930s, and I will name them. David A. Horowitz: Excuse me. David A. Horowitz: ganas Teddy Wilson. David A. Horowitz: Electric guitarist Charlie Christian and viper phone performer Lionel Hampton these were not just disorder musicians, these were the geniuses in their field, he broke the color barrier. David A. Horowitz: And swing band music in the late 1930s and the 1940s, and although his music may have gotten very mild and safe by the 1950s. David A. Horowitz: Is a giant figure in the history of jazz. David A. Horowitz: That Rania van sickles. David A. Horowitz: paper on gorbachev's reforms truly is a fascinating exploration of the inside of Soviet and Russian. David A. Horowitz: And there's so many on our knees in this. David A. Horowitz: little bit jeff's openness and his restructuring did encourage the transition from a command economy to a demand economy. David A. Horowitz: that's the essence of capitalism. David A. Horowitz: Is that supposedly consumers are supposed to demand the kind of products they want instead of commerce ours deciding what gets made this the old story that Russian factories in order to produce more shoes. David A. Horowitz: Just produce loads of shoes of the same size that way it looked good in the production quotas. David A. Horowitz: There was the other apocryphal story that rushing working people, used to say. David A. Horowitz: They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work. David A. Horowitz: But there's something here that I think is interesting. David A. Horowitz: today. David A. Horowitz: A lot of young Americans asked what's wrong with socialist. David A. Horowitz: Why can't I have free health insurance why can't I have free tuition for college. David A. Horowitz: And older Americans, many of them are aghast at the notion of a socialist economy, because it is older Americans who tend to to have experienced the Cold War. David A. Horowitz: And who saw. David A. Horowitz: The abuse of the economy and in a command economy like Soviet communism, but also. David A. Horowitz: There are many Americans who are immigrants from socialist countries who fled those countries because of the lack of opportunity because of a stagnant economy because of political operatives making the decisions about the economy, so it is interesting, it gives you some insight. David A. Horowitz: on them. David A. Horowitz: there's a section of for fed erroneous paper which describes the difficulties of restructuring, a system. David A. Horowitz: When powerful vested interests have a stake in keeping that system going. David A. Horowitz: and interesting. David A. Horowitz: The three sectors that she mentioned. David A. Horowitz: With the Soviet military industrial complex. David A. Horowitz: The agro industrial complex. David A. Horowitz: And the fuel and the complex curiously Those are three pockets. David A. Horowitz: of resistance to change in the United States, there are some similarities and then she mentions, of course, him to make it even more complicated in the Soviet Union ethnic rivalries, which we know something about as well in the United States. David A. Horowitz: Another interesting parallel that I found to the American experience. David A. Horowitz: those on the Right. David A. Horowitz: criticize gorbachev's reforms is too radical. David A. Horowitz: those on the Left criticize gorbachev's reforms as to incremental. David A. Horowitz: That gridlock that stalemate that comes when ideologies collide. David A. Horowitz: At any rate I thoroughly enjoyed all three of these papers, they are all infused with intelligence that makes me feel really good. David A. Horowitz: about young historians and they both deal with conventional wisdom and turning it on its side and all are beautifully expressed and well written. David A. Horowitz: This is really excellent so now. David A. Horowitz: What i'd like you to consider doing is using your Q amp a function. David A. Horowitz: and addressing questions, perhaps to particular presenters so we can open up our discussion. David A. Horowitz: To the audience and I will click and see what we've got going here. David A. Horowitz: Okay, this is a question for Mr powers. David A. Horowitz: From Zen green What would you say was the most important thing that the musicians got out of their experience. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: i'll answer that. Cole Powers: yeah I don't. Cole Powers: I don't know I feel like it's hard to pinpoint a single important thing. Cole Powers: But definitely. Cole Powers: Like being able to speak for Racial freedom and having like a pulpit to do that from and being backed by the US while doing that was a hugely important part. Cole Powers: And then also just probably you know, like her what's you're talking about the government spending in the arts and. Cole Powers: That became before these programs, but I think they're also was kind of an increase in government spending in the arts and specifically with jazz jazz hasn't really received much attention from the US before so. Cole Powers: that's another important part they're getting out of it and, like go SP is advocating in his article that he wrote afterwards, for more government support for the arts so they're kind of. Cole Powers: They are for the first time, being funded and supported by the government. David A. Horowitz: You know. David A. Horowitz: One of the interesting sidelights was many of the bebop musicians had turned to. David A. Horowitz: Islam as a religion rejected Christianity and so, in terms of some of these tours that the Middle East, you know that probably had some residents as well. David A. Horowitz: Alright let's see what we have here. David A. Horowitz: This is from Nina sigh Dale, and this is Nicole lucky guy I was wondering if you could talk about how the effect of these tours as a tool of American cold war propaganda or different abroad versus in America. Cole Powers: i'm i'm not sure how much I can talk about that. The. Cole Powers: It was. Cole Powers: brubeck talks a little bit about it in his article where he talks about when he's in Europe. Cole Powers: People like meeting him backstage and saying why don't artists rule the world like this is your your being here, means that we have freedoms, there were definitely areas where it was powerfully symbolic. Cole Powers: In the Soviet Union. Cole Powers: There were. Cole Powers: It was the youth was turning especially to jazz us kind of this symbol of American freedom. Cole Powers: And of like. Cole Powers: that's what I guess one look at it i've also read articles that say youth, just like jazz and it wasn't really symbolizing freedom, so I think that's Another question is like how much. Cole Powers: Was this music just popular and how much did it actually. Cole Powers: Like professed what the State Department was trying to save it and convey the symbolism of freedom to other countries, I don't know I think that's a question that i've read both sides of. David A. Horowitz: I have a question from an anonymous attendee. David A. Horowitz: To roseland was the American public aware of the collapse within the USSR that into the Cold War, and if they were what were the responses. David A. Horowitz: sure. ROSELYN DAI: i'm. ROSELYN DAI: To be honest, this wasn't an aspect I looked too much into but from what I can tell. ROSELYN DAI: It was knowledge for a long time that the Soviet economy was not doing well, I think the extent of it, I stayed in the CIO reports was probably not known to the public, but they were aware of that and they were aware of the reforms to. ROSELYN DAI: Within the Soviet Union, and I think. ROSELYN DAI: The response to that, and the other quarter, I think, also. ROSELYN DAI: Had a factor of surprise for many people, including the American public in specific towards like what like the collapsing, of the USSR and what Reagan did to it, many of republican supporters were really displeased by his reactions to what was going on. ROSELYN DAI: And then I think addressing Dr Horowitz your idea about St, I think, maybe one of the reasons why Reagan was still so willing to cling on to that was for his republican base as well. David A. Horowitz: let's see i've got another anonymous attendee or maybe it's the same anonymous attendee. David A. Horowitz: To five Rania. David A. Horowitz: there's a long question. David A. Horowitz: Do you think there was a way to reform the Soviet Union, without complete collapse. David A. Horowitz: Or do you think it was inevitable and a new government was required for change, for instance slower reforms to put less stress on the system. David A. Horowitz: Or, more monumental changes to quickly change, this is the without the problematic transition. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So that's a really good question. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): There are multiple answers so Gorbachev could have taken different reformatted routes, you could have gone slower he could have gone he couldn't really have gone quicker because of pushback but he could have gone slower and if he hadn't gone. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): as fast as he did the state still would have collapsed in a few decades that's what my research showed due to the in effect. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The ineffectiveness of the to government thing it was going to class anyway, whether or not he did anything, eventually, but what he made it collapse sooner, is what his reforms did he caused the coup, because of the conflict between perestroika and glasnost yeah. David A. Horowitz: anonymous attendees back for a Rania why didn't go a bit chefs policy reforms focus on pushing the USSR two or more Marxist form of comedy. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): That is because they had already done, the Marxist route in their eyes. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): They had looked at it, they had lived through it, they decided that it wasn't working. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): They had also done, I think, under crucial was a leader in the 16th of the Union, they had done experiments. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Like simulated experiments on capitalist economies and they found that those worked better than what their current Communist economy is doing. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So they looked at those experiments and they looked at what was happening with Communism currently and they concluded that a capitalist emotion would be better. David A. Horowitz: I think we've gotten to the end of our questions. David A. Horowitz: This is such a fascinating period, in my view, I just finished teaching Reagan in the 1980s. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: it's so interesting. David A. Horowitz: How someone like Reagan who certainly was limited in many ways. David A. Horowitz: could nevertheless have this instinct. David A. Horowitz: That it was time to negotiate disarmament and that I an F Treaty, which was about intermediate missiles in Europe, and so forth. David A. Horowitz: It kind of broke the ice and it took away the rationale for the Soviet empire. David A. Horowitz: At least for a while. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: i'm very much affected by a book by jack diggins john diggins on Reagan. David A. Horowitz: Who talks about Reagan is a great hero with peace. David A. Horowitz: As the President, who really did win the Cold War by abandoning it. David A. Horowitz: And there again we get to irony. David A. Horowitz: hypocrisy and contradiction of those elements of historical analysis. David A. Horowitz: which makes the enterprise so interesting. David A. Horowitz: let's see, I have oh there's some another question. David A. Horowitz: Thank you, sorry, excuse me. David A. Horowitz: Did Reagan tried to force the Star Wars issue because he thought the Soviets were more vulnerable at the time of their economic stress. David A. Horowitz: That would be for rosalie. ROSELYN DAI: yeah that's a good question I think Reagan was really intent on the Star Wars issue, not necessarily because. ROSELYN DAI: You wanted to push the Soviets further in like a time of crisis, for them, but more that he really wanted just assurance for nuclear like deterrence, because he didn't believe in mad, and he found it necessary to have some Defense against. ROSELYN DAI: Like weaponry and nuclear nuclear weaponry, in particular. David A. Horowitz: Well, I think we've come to the end of our run here I think it's been a very fruitful conversation. David A. Horowitz: It really helps me have thoughtful papers. David A. Horowitz: To be able to have an interesting conversation now, if you look at your your chat there's some instructions from our host Claire. David A. Horowitz: That some links to. David A. Horowitz: The next sessions that are available to you in this conference, otherwise I think we're going to wrap up Is there anyone. David A. Horowitz: Who has anything else to say. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much for such wonderful papers. David A. Horowitz: And this is, as I say about the best session i've ever chair. David A. Horowitz: So I am going, you can check your chat for the rest of the afternoon. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: Well, good afternoon can everyone hear me. David A. Horowitz: Well, good afternoon can can everyone hear me if you could not okay very good, my name is David Horowitz I teach us, cultural and political history here at portland state. David A. Horowitz: And this is the US yo political policy in the modern era session, the young historians conference. David A. Horowitz: Let me explain a little bit how we're going to proceed. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: I will be introducing the three of you, the three presenters. David A. Horowitz: One at a time. David A. Horowitz: And by the way, for those of you who are not presenting. David A. Horowitz: I think you're really fortunate these, this is the best batch of papers to this conference that I have moderated in the 30 years i've been doing this, these are excellent excellent papers and you're really fortunate to be present to be. David A. Horowitz: attending the session so. David A. Horowitz: Each of the presenters, as you well know, will have a 15 minutes to to deliver their papers and after that I will give a general commentary. David A. Horowitz: The commentary is not supposed to be a criticism of the papers it's just whereas some of the things that people discussed in their papers, where can we take that, where does it go what is some of the questions that might occur to another His story. David A. Horowitz: What we try to do in the sessions is to make this as close as possible to a professional history conference. David A. Horowitz: In a professional history conference, they would be three or four papers, they would be a commentator. David A. Horowitz: And then they would be questions and answers from the audience and that's what we tried to do that is what the academic protocol requires so that i'm after I give my comments and we will open up floor, so to speak, to questions which you can. David A. Horowitz: Present using your Q amp a. David A. Horowitz: So with that. David A. Horowitz: Let me present rosalyn day. David A. Horowitz: The cold war. David A. Horowitz: In October, in a case study of the ending of the Cold War, one is from lake Ridge high school. ROSELYN DAI: hello, thank you for that. ROSELYN DAI: So, to begin as Dr Horowitz said, my paper is on the ending of the Cold War, with specific focused on the Ronald Reagan Presidency in the Reagan doctrine. ROSELYN DAI: So August 11 1984 was nearly a marking of the end of mankind, it was on this day that the 45th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. ROSELYN DAI: issue a statement that almost started World War three quote we began bombing in five minutes and quote. ROSELYN DAI: A miss the high tension of US obvious relations reagan's joke, of having signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever just about lead to the devastation of nuclear confrontation. ROSELYN DAI: were alive so luckily no missiles were fired but this instance symbolizes the US Soviet battle during the Cold War. ROSELYN DAI: The cold war, which began in 1947 was a strenuous conflict that dominated American politics until the beginning towards the beginning of. ROSELYN DAI: the turn of the 21st century, when it was finally ended the cause of its ending presents quite a challenging and dividing debate. ROSELYN DAI: Democrats often credit, the collapse of the Soviet economy and gorbachev's own willingness for peace for the ending of the war. ROSELYN DAI: If not, avoiding the topic entirely Republicans, on the other hand, insist that reagan's aggressive foreign policies, particularly the arms race, was what propelled the Gorbachev era and the fall of the Soviet Union. ROSELYN DAI: In my paper I analyze the US Defense conditions prior to and after the Reagan administration. ROSELYN DAI: reagan's original addresses and the Soviet economy, and from that it can be reasonably reasonably concluded that, although reagan's policies undoubtedly assertive pressure the internal factors within the Soviet Union played a much larger role in the ending of the Cold War. ROSELYN DAI: So throughout the Cold War, the US Soviet tensions waiver quite drastically peaked in the first time in 1960s, with the Cuban missile crisis. ROSELYN DAI: Calm somewhat during the 70s, with a strategic arm limitation treaties and the anti ballistic missile Treaties before which was referred to an era of detox and before taking another downturn with the Ronald Reagan administration. ROSELYN DAI: By then, the Soviets had just invaded Afghanistan and assault treaties were facing deterioration. ROSELYN DAI: reagan's presidency only served to expedite ending of detergent and ursa nation into a rapidly escalating arms race. ROSELYN DAI: reagan's foreign Defense a foreign policy approach, especially towards the Soviets was one that was quite aggressive. ROSELYN DAI: The Reagan doctrine stem from a belief that merely containing Communism was not enough and that the US must actively involve itself in dismantling Communism completely. ROSELYN DAI: In his famous evil empire speech he denounced the Soviet Union, as an evil empire and portrayed life under the Communist regime as one of totalitarian darkness. ROSELYN DAI: claiming it would eventually dominate all people Reagan rejected the idea of a nuclear freeze in America, because he believed it to be only an illusion of peace and that the reality is that peace is found through strength. ROSELYN DAI: Reagan strategy was an arms race to gain nuclear and conventional arms superiority over the Soviets to have to be able to negotiate from a position of strength. ROSELYN DAI: And to deter any possibility of attack So this was in parallel, of the ideas of previously sign ncs 68 a military buildup because Reagan. ROSELYN DAI: considered the present conditions of the military arsenal to be increasingly obsolete, for example, in the 1980s, the Soviet Union had an 11 year lead in investments so Reagan push through Congress massive Defense spending increases increasing one that total. ROSELYN DAI: Over $1.5 trillion. ROSELYN DAI: That included. ROSELYN DAI: That included a host of new button systems, one of these was reagan's most prominent and problematic proposals, the strategic Defense initiative or SDI or as the press dubbed it Star Wars. ROSELYN DAI: It was to fund research into a space based Missile Defense system as Reagan didn't believe in mutually assured destruction claiming it to be truly mad and claiming it to be mutual suicide. ROSELYN DAI: And reagan's insistence over SDI was what later cost the US it's relations with the Soviets and even potentially delaying the resolution to the decades long conflict of the Cold War. ROSELYN DAI: So by the mid 1980s, it was clear that both sides had grown tired of the conflict. ROSELYN DAI: The Soviet economy was at its lowest since the start of the decades long economic decline beginning shortly after World War Two. ROSELYN DAI: It was mutually established that there needed to be an arms reduction from both sides, there was a series of strategic arm reduction talks start. ROSELYN DAI: With one being the Geneva Conference of 1985 so in the beginning of the Conference, it was it was made clear that the Soviet sod 50% decrease in nuclear bombs and missiles, but the US was more intent on a more sustainable way to defer nuclear war and take reliance off of that. ROSELYN DAI: aiming to continue development of defensive weapon tree and specifically reagan's SDI proposal and this proved to be quite detrimental as the reagan's insistence over SDI was a cause for a stalemate in these. ROSELYN DAI: These talks, for example in the in the meeting score Bashar Gorbachev remarked that the USSR are realistic pragmatists who categorically opposed to dominate other countries and that the US overestimates the power of the Soviet Union. ROSELYN DAI: It was clear that Gorbachev was willing to negotiate, but was unwilling to compromise on SDI because of the belief that it was an attempt to weaponize space, and it would give the US a first strike advantage, however. ROSELYN DAI: STI aside the conversations were quite amiable as Reagan by that and had abandoned his quite hardline anti Communist stance, but. ROSELYN DAI: As Gorbachev put it, if the soap us and Soviets could agree to be and research and space, he would sign in two minutes. ROSELYN DAI: From this weekend see that had Reagan been more lenient on his SDI proposals and agreement for arms reduction and peace between the new two nations could have taken shape earlier. ROSELYN DAI: Despite these facts, there are still some who argue that reagan's are to build up policies force the Soviets to back down. ROSELYN DAI: However, data data doesn't support this, for example, a CIA report claim that there was virtually no effect caused by the US military buildup. ROSELYN DAI: In the 1980s on Soviet military spending. ROSELYN DAI: In fact gorbachev's and the Soviets willingness to negotiate and back down was not due to reagan's arms policy, but rather to the stagnating Soviet economy and the political and economic reforms within the Soviet Union. ROSELYN DAI: Gorbachev had was attempting to restructure the Soviet economy, using a Western capitalist model. ROSELYN DAI: He also loosened political restraints, for example, he amended to the Soviet Constitution so that the Communist Party was not the only acceptable political party. ROSELYN DAI: And these internal reforms was also a big factor in contributing to the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union and the overthrowing communists. ROSELYN DAI: So, and furthermore on it, the CIA data shows that the Soviet economy had been slowing down long before reagan's inauguration, in fact, it could be traced back to the 1950s due to. ROSELYN DAI: Due to long term issues within the Soviet economical structure itself and including mark slow Downs in the growth of Soviet industrial output, as well as. ROSELYN DAI: As well as a limited capacity to earn hard currency to pay for needed technology imports as as well as issues with couple productivity climate patterns Labor shortages oil shortages and depressed birth rates and this economic downfall has been seen and predicted. ROSELYN DAI: Throughout the Cold War and so these economic constraints lead to increased pressures within the Soviet to for reduce military expenditure. ROSELYN DAI: It was understood that high military expenditure was only harming Soviet by ability and economy and society, because the funds for the military were taken from critical, social services and. ROSELYN DAI: Educational programs, and it was evident that the economy of the Soviet could not be sustained, for a long term so it's not surprising that. ROSELYN DAI: Gorbachev was open for reform and arms reduction so to claim that reagan's policies with the arms race, was the sole factor, or what ultimately led to the fall of the Soviet Union is. ROSELYN DAI: Quite a false assumption, because although his policies would have put pressure on Soviet leadership to reciprocate militarily putting additional burdens on an already failing economy. ROSELYN DAI: The long term impacts of an insufficient economic structure itself within the Soviets and gorbachev's governmental and political changes were what finally prompted the ending of the Cold War, thank you. David A. Horowitz: Thank you roseland Thank you very much, our next paper is another at it deals with another aspect of the Cold War. David A. Horowitz: Was it Ronald Reagan landed the Cold War, or was it American jazz musicians. David A. Horowitz: Here is from coal powers from lake Ridge high school. David A. Horowitz: fighting for freedom jazz and the Cold War call you have the name of a jazz musician you could very well be one that wonderful may like. Cole Powers: Okay, plan to be. Cole Powers: well. Cole Powers: alright. Cole Powers: During the Cold War era, the US was involved in two fights for freedom on one front, the country saw itself is fighting a cold war for the victory of American democracy over the tyranny of communism. Cole Powers: On the other American citizens engaged in the civil rights movement seeking freedom for black Americans and for black people and nations across the globe. Cole Powers: When the US decided to send American jazz musicians abroad as part of a cold war propaganda effort, these two battles collided. Cole Powers: resulting intersection is a story of hypocrisy irony and contradiction jazz was perceived as a powerful symbol for freedom in both the Cold War and the civil rights contexts. Cole Powers: The State Department use this symbolism, to convince the world that the US supported freedom, even when evidence clearly pointed to the contrary jazz musicians use the same tours to push for more genuine vision of racial freedom. Cole Powers: This paper starts by describing the administrative tours leading up or administrative history leading up to the chest tours demonstrates the purpose of. Cole Powers: The United States information to agency, the USA and of the cultural programs that were carried out beneath it was to convince the world that the US supported freedom in the Cold War fight. Cole Powers: The remainder of the paper highlights six of the countless State Department tours in order to show how the USA and jazz musicians each use the tours to push their own agenda of freedom. Cole Powers: The story began with President Eisenhower Eisenhower is public statements demonstrate that, like so many other Americans during the 1950s, he saw the Cold War is a fight for freedom against tyranny. Cole Powers: He also understood that effective propaganda was crucial weapon in this fight. Cole Powers: In order to in his words when the minds and souls of men, he created the United States information agency, the USA. Cole Powers: A propaganda agency, which used a variety of media to spread information about us aims and values around the world, then in 1954 Congress authorized the creation of the cultural presentations program which administered tourism musical and performing artists. Cole Powers: It was clear from the beginning that USA officials agreed with eisenhower's claim that the Cold War was a fight against tyranny the view that America was fighting for freedom and peace was expressed again and again and documents, written by the agency's director good or straight bar. Cole Powers: Despite Eisenhower in St bart's conviction about the role of the US and the Cold War Eisenhower feared that other nations did not equate American victory with freedom. Cole Powers: Instead, he word, the growing civil rights movement in the United States would harm the country's image as it claimed it was fighting for freedom abroad. Cole Powers: Bus officials came to see the primary purpose of the USA as providing evidence to the world that America was on the right side of the fight. Cole Powers: USA documents describing early tours of performing artists reveal that this goal was a defining feature of cultural presentations program even before jazz was added to their repertoire. Cole Powers: Given the school, however jazz seem to be the perfect weapon of choice and African American music, which not only featured black band leaders and stars, but it was also powerfully symbolic of freedom. Cole Powers: jazz can be used to convince the world that the US had moved past its era of racism and segregation. Cole Powers: jazz first entered the picture with willis converse radio show which was aired on Voice of America radio. Cole Powers: The US funded international radio program conover himself saw his show as powerful propaganda in his eyes jazz was strongly symbolic of a uniquely American freedom and democracy, and then musicians agree on a broader structure within which they're free to improvise and express themselves. Cole Powers: It was ultimately Harlem democratic Congressman and civil rights activist Adam clayton Powell jr who brought jazz to the attention of the State Department. Cole Powers: Seeing symbolics power of jazz and the Cold War Pal suggested that the State Department incorporate the music into its cultural programs and then 1955 the State Department agreed a New York Times article and abstinence headline remote lands to hear old democracy boogie. Cole Powers: The first jazz musician to tour under the State Department was trumpeter and bandleader john dizzy gillespie gillespie his tour of Middle East immediately reveal the contradiction and hypocrisy which played the Program. Cole Powers: most notable is this time in Greece gillespie entered Greece during intense anti American protests over the US support greece's suppressive right wing dictatorship. Cole Powers: After his performance, the same protesters carried him out on their shoulders in appreciation event revealed a reality of the Cold War and of jazz diplomacy which different dramatically from officials idealistic statements about freedom in America. Cole Powers: US actions were not always in the interest of freedom abroad. Cole Powers: During the Cold War, the US repeatedly violated the freedom of other people's as it did when it supported greece's dictatorship and then sent jazz the ultimate symbol of American freedom and democracy to make the case that it was still on the right side of the fight. Cole Powers: gillespie returned home and found that his race prevented him from enjoying the freedom that he was sent abroad to advertise. Cole Powers: Many conservative Americans were quick to them that says music as primitive and black claiming that it was in comparable to what they considered high art form of European classical music. Cole Powers: Led by representative john Rooney Congressman focus their attacks on the high cost of the jazz tourists and succeeded and cutting funding substantially. Cole Powers: gillespie responded via email to Congressional attacks and esquire article titled jazz was too good for Americans he lamented the fact that while he was met with respect and admiration abroad his music was still not treated as illegitimate art form by his own country. Cole Powers: He pleaded that the US Government moved to memphis problem specifically if you're incorporating jazz into education. Cole Powers: gillespie saw the State Department tourism opportunity to reach for more the more genuine freedom than that which meant no more than American victory of communism instead. Cole Powers: gillespie sought freedom from the racial oppression which prevented his music from being recognized by American audiences government and institutions. Cole Powers: The State Department responded to upper over gillespie's trip by sending white musician benny Goodman and the next tour. Cole Powers: i'm good MINS trip to Thailand, the same hypocrisy that surrounded gillespie's to arose in state department's choice to target audiences of tie elite not citizens. Cole Powers: newspaper articles referring to mass audiences as unsophisticated reveal the public agreed with the vision that the elite, are the most important target of diplomacy by us rhetoric celebrated freedom for the masses policy focused on improving relations with the lead our. Cole Powers: Racial tension surrounding the tourists were inflamed in 1957 when Eisenhower refused to enforce court ordered desegregation of schools and little rock Arkansas the jazz world responded vehemently eisenhower's decision. Cole Powers: With louie Armstrong refusing to attend previously planted tours for the State Department. Cole Powers: was only after Eisenhower agreed to send troops to little rock to enforce desegregation that Armstrong indicated that he might reconsider playing the role of musical diplomat. Cole Powers: In 1958 Dave brubeck toward Poland in the Middle East, as with gillespie in Greece and Goodman in Thailand rubik's performances were designed to advance us interest not freedom. Cole Powers: You know the end of the year, the State Department extended webex trips suddenly and without warning to include engagements in Iran and Iraq. Cole Powers: He performed in Iran under partial sponsorship from the Iranian oil refinery company only weeks after brubeck left Iraq general abdel-karim cussing overthrew the Iraqi Government threatening us oil interests, given the situation, the reason behind remix tour was quite. Cole Powers: Despite this brubeck viewed his tour as a diplomatic and personal success upon returning home he published a statement in the New York Times, in which he commented on the power of jazz to transcend boundaries between different cultures and races. Cole Powers: and in doing so, to foster genuine understanding freedom and peace. Cole Powers: In 1960 louie Armstrong to with Africa, of all the jazz tours armstrong's 1960 trip most clearly demonstrated how jazz was used to achieve both the edge of the State Department and a musician. Cole Powers: Despite the contradictions between these names, the news reporting of the event clearly reveal the paradox of jazz diplomacy. Cole Powers: New York Times articles reporting on africa's response to the tour revealed three notable sentiments African officials were proud that a black man had achieve world fame. Cole Powers: armstrong's tourists signal that black Americans were moving rapidly towards equality and many African saw Armstrong as speaking for the rights of black people worldwide. Cole Powers: On one hand, the tour served America as a Cold War weapon convincing other nations that black Americans were progressing quickly towards equality some even achieving world fame. Cole Powers: On the other hand, armstrong's fame and his music spoke for black freedom and serve as a weapon in the fight for black civil rights and African sovereignty. Cole Powers: Like gillespie's engagement in Greece and rubik's and Iraq armstrong's visit to Africa to place against a tumultuous political backdrop in 1960 the Congo declared independence from Belgium, under the leadership of socialist Patrice emery remember. Cole Powers: The shift threatened us access to minerals and uranium reserves in the Congo, while opening these reserves, up to the Soviet Union, the US responded by detaining and then assassinating remember. Cole Powers: Armstrong was then sent into this crisis as proof that America was stone the side of freedom nowhere in the story of jazz diplomacy was irony as heavily President as when armstrong's music. Cole Powers: and music which spoke for the sovereignty of African nations was used towards the US aims of engineering African states. Cole Powers: Throughout the 1950s jazz grew increasingly more popular among Soviet you and the State Department decided to capitalize on the Soviets newfound appreciation of the music. Cole Powers: By sending tours into the Soviet Union benny Goodman was chosen for the first of these trips in New York Times reporting on the growing appreciation of jazz in the Soviet Union and on governments tour. Cole Powers: told the story of a Soviet youth which yearned for freedom and found it in American jazz that made its way past the restrictive Soviet regime. Cole Powers: To the press and the public jazz infiltration into the Soviet Union was powerful moment of symbolism it represented a great victory of American freedom over communism. Cole Powers: And late 1960s, yet another musician was sent abroad to compensate for US actions Duke ellington's tour targeted Syria and Iraq. Cole Powers: Not long before his tour of the US at support at successful accused by the by at this party. Cole Powers: Against the pro Communist government both countries, only three days after ellington left Iraqi forces performed a successful coup against the bias government. Cole Powers: Like brubeck Armstrong ellington was thrown into the battlefield of the Cold War, in order to push the narrative that the US still supported freedom after it violated the sovereignty of the Syrian Government. Cole Powers: Throughout the tour ellington spoke strongly against racism and elitism. Cole Powers: When he and his band were shipped between cities and the cargo plane ellington was furious calling the planet cattle car for negros he demanded better accommodations and send that awake orchestra would not have received such barbaric treatment. Cole Powers: When asked about race abroad ellington strongly condemned racism in the United States, he also complained that many of his audience works audiences were composed entirely of neo colonial elites, he argued that this defeated his own purpose of reaching new masses with his music. Cole Powers: Around the Cold War, the American public and the USA clung tightly to the belief that America American victory meant freedom. Cole Powers: jazz as seen by the American public and described by williston over perfectly symbolized this American freedom, so the US and jazz bands abroad to clear up what it saw as misconceptions that America was on the wrong side of the fight. Cole Powers: To USA officials and too many other Americans, the jazz tours were no more than affirmations of the truth, but the reality was that america's actions at home and abroad we're not always steps towards a for your world. Cole Powers: Bus the actual function of the jazz tours was different than that which was perceived by most Americans. Cole Powers: They served to quiet anger over us actions to convince the world the US was fighting for freedom, despite frequent violations of the sovereignty of other nations and the civil rights of its own people. Cole Powers: Only the musicians themselves could truly claim that they fought for freedom. Cole Powers: gillespie brubeck Armstrong ellington and countless other musicians department tourists spoke for recognition of the masses, rather than the elite respect for black people and black music sovereignty for African nations mutual understanding and peace. Cole Powers: Even as the US Government exploited them for its own interest, these musicians and ways to fight for freedom, not just American freedom, but real freedom, which included all peoples. Cole Powers: At times, with subtlety and, at times, with no offense they fought for a better world than the US I imagine. Cole Powers: Thank you. David A. Horowitz: Thank you cool. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much. David A. Horowitz: Paper is going to be presented by him Rania van sickle of St mary's the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev. David A. Horowitz: And their effect on the USSR. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Thank you for the introduction, so the Soviet Union, the nation of communism of Stalinism enough the color red. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The Soviet Union had a brief brief stint during the 20th century, and today i'm going to be examining the root causes of failure to succeed as a country, specifically analyzing the history of what led to the Soviet coup of 1991 and the Union subsequent collapse. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The successive early 20th century leadership with the Union of Soviet socialist republics, the USSR. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): All use communism to enforce governance and safeguarding its national demise proverbs Soviet socialism, founded on Marxist Communism departed from his Marxist foundation and morphed into a party state that contradicted the very principles of communist ideology. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Throughout the Cold War, this modified Communism stood as the hallmark of the Soviet Union, when that separated us always from Russian allies over late 20th century USSR largely due to the influence of Mikhail Gorbachev was General Secretary of the Communist Party, the Soviet Union. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): fell away from socialism instead turns to capitalism and a more democratic form of leadership. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): influencing Communist Russia through is more liberal policies of glasnost and perestroika Mikhail Gorbachev upset the balance of Russian politics and threatened military power by weakening of the control and influence of the CPS you. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): As a result of this power struggle, a coup ensued on August 21 1991 and the Soviet Union collapsed shortly after. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So, today I will be arguing that due to the Soviets creation of a party state of a socialist party state that contradicted Marxist ideology. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): gorbachev's liberalizing attempts to democratize the Union there was policies with glasnost and perestroika proved incompatible with the continuation of Soviet governance and this led to the downfall of the Soviet regime. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): For a little background on a Soviet Union, it was founded in early early 20th century why Vladimir Lenin in a group of revolutionaries. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): who rose up against the ruling elite and formed a coalition of republic's in the eastern in Eastern Europe. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And it was founded on communism and Communism is a political ideology that are used for a classless stateless society. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): in which there is no perfect property all means of production are controlled by the proletariat the working class and each person gets paid according to their ability and needs. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Over this founding ideology of the Soviet Union shifted away from the founding idea throughout the years to an ideology notice Darwinism which shifted the union's governance to be stricter and to rely more on party authority. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Due to Stalinism and due to leadership from the beginning to later ends later end of the Union, there was a lot of corruption which Brett economic problems. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): By the time Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union CPS you in 1985. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The USSR was in the midst of an economic disaster and entire leader perform Gorbachev created two main policies. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): of glasnost and perestroika to achieve reform glasnost was a new willingness to tolerate dissident opinions and perestroika was the comprehensive reform of the Soviet political and economic system. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): glasnost openness and perestroika is restructuring became the tenants of gorbachev's reforms, because they're all attempts to democratize the Union were met with resistance, however, and ultimately at the end of the scene of the union's adherence to socialism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So the crux of the issue was that Soviet Socialism was a contradictory in perfect reflection of communism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Marxist ideology as laid forth by Karl Marx call it for the stage of communism to be an to be a successor to the necessary development stage of capitalism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): But the founder of the Union, Vladimir Lenin skipped the stage so traditional country might go from feudalism to capitalism to communism, but the Soviet Union went from feudalism over capitalism to communism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Political scientists Valerie bonds notes that absent from the Russian experience was the development of private property. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Rational bureaucracy, the rule of law and an independent ability What this means is that the Russians never went through the stages of social and economic development, necessary to build a Communist nation. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Russia was mostly funeral nation, at the beginning of the 20th century, but the founders of the Union ingrained into this feudal nation, the ideology of one of the most progressive advanced ways of social organization communism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And inability to fulfill certain Marxist principles, but the installment of the corrupt party state which set the nation up for future failure. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In theory, when Communism is enacted correctly, the state should wither away and leave into place a stateless society. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): But the Soviet Union Soviet state could not die out due to pressure from outside enemies, namely the West, countries such as Britain and the US. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The existence of the State defied the very tenants of the ideology that the State claims to uphold and led to the creation prevalence of a party state. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): party of the Union, the Communist Party, the Soviet Union it governed as a dictatorship of the proletariat it was comprised of 10% of a working class, which in turn comprised of only 10% of the total population. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The nation needed the party in order to function, the party manage everything from a planned economy and the economic sphere. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And one party intraparty democracy in the political sphere to eventually no democracy at all, not even within the party. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The CPS You ran the government to such a degree in fact that there are merged two separate governments, the actual Soviet government and then behind it, a shadow government. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): That was comprised of only party members and ran the actual government, so we have socialism, because of its deviation from Marcus Communism into an all powerful two tiered or toxicity of shadow government actual government set the nation up for failure in future decades. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In action, the survey regimes party state necessitated perform due to its corruption and ineffective this. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The years, corruption and bread and competence which bread economic disarray Mikhail Gorbachev due to this was a new position to refuse reform when he took office, as General Secretary in 1985. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Two minutes, the economic most and crises that Gorbachev encountered when he took office, he said about creating an agenda of reforms centered on making both government and economy more efficient he introduced his policies of glasnost and perestroika to do this in 1985. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): gorbachev's policy of glasnost we assumes the CPS us hold on mainstream thought and political on mainstream political thought by allowing new parties dissenting views and criticisms to be brought forward. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): perestroika, on the other hand, focus on regulate on deregulating and restructuring economics and politics. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): This included trying to fix the economic disarray handed to him by shifting from the command economy to marketers demand economy. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): or a striker which allowing for structural changes in the economy, enabled the beginning of capitalist markets and political reforms, like the creation of a new national legislature. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And action glasnost appear to be quite liberating it lifted many government restrictions on the press and allowed for open criticism of the government and government sanctioned history. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Initially glasnost and perestroika would work well together, because there's still these became more vocal cost for democracy, increased which led to restructuring so glasnost is. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Affected perestroika which affected state. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): 1987, for example, the Communist Party central planning committee approved gorbachev's plan to allow voters to choose candidates and local elections and by 1989 the first free elections in over 70 years were held for the Congress of people step beauties the new national legislature. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In addition to increase democracy perestroika relaxed trade restrictions and curtis Western investment and the 1988 allowed for the creation of limited cooperative business which shifted many businesses towards privatized towards privatization. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): However, despite gorbachev's best interests, the reforms fail to do, he intended. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): glasnost and perestroika though seemingly a symbiotic relationship were incompatible with each other. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The CPS you and, by extension, state socialism rely on unquestioning obedience that disappeared under glasnost. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And contrast perestroika was a restructuring of state socialism and of the CP seo and that's needed the power and authority of the CPS you to work. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): glasnost threatened party control and Chris ducker could not exist or function without party control Gorbachev reformed away his own influence, essentially because by restructuring the USSR you broke a systems, giving him power. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): However, apart from the ability of glasnost and perestroika to work together, the reforms are generally ineffective in part because of pushback from all sides due to consequences like inflation and because of party lines. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In the early months of 1991 strikes occurred frequently which force the government to create some concessions, even outside of the CPS you. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): For example, Boris Yeltsin President of Russia at the time granted striking writers, the freedom of selling 20% of the profits on the free market. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Other workers began wanting to sell their outfit for dollars, this increase in preference for a free market economy threatens party control over foreign foreign currency earnings which was a main source of the parties power. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The proletariat the working class in whose name the CPS who governed became dissatisfied and wanted the party removed from the workplace entirely a full 1.8 million members left a party in 1990 which still a hard blows with party influence. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The underlining impact of gorbachev's contradictory ineffective reforms on the CPS you said was subsequently meant a loss of party control over the military. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): By 1991 the party had ceased to be a party in any ideological sense, instead of clinging to this last vestiges of influence, by remaining a source of power and privilege for its Members. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): stuff yet military provided to see psu its final authority, the party depends more on the military industrial complex in fact that for its power, then, on its own members. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In a survey conducted 1991 more than 60% of mid level officers wanted to remove the military from the parties influence the party last support and splintered and it's hold on a military dwindled. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The final days of the Soviet Union points to arbitrage reforms being the catalyst of a coup invest, ultimately, the end of the Soviet Union. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): was in charge of a party split between support for an opposition against a decentralized government and he couldn't wait everybody support. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In March of 1991 our nationwide referendum voted to support gorbachev's plan for looser Union but six republic's boycotted the vote and anti Kremlin initiatives took hold and many other republic's. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The democracy, encouraged by corporate talks glasnost directly translated to a lessening of unity, but nonetheless in July of that year, a new Union trudy was drafted. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): This Treaty and gave unprecedented amount of federal power to the republic's and came close to creating a federation Gorbachev support of the Treaty, pointed towards more decentralization of power and the military did not want power to be decentralized any fruit that already was. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): To prevent for this Sunday to prevent further centralization of power, but still, for your army, the KGB Ministry of Interior and the rest of the military and industry. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): undertook a coup from August 18 to August 21 peaceful resistant efforts one out in the end, but party authority finally broke. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): A few months later, measured against his own ambitions, the USSR died a monumental failure. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): built on the grandest of ideologies, but on the shakiest foundations, the Soviet Union dissolved on December 25 1991. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The Soviet Union could not be reformed reforming the Union to align with gorbachev's goals lead in the end to a transformation of the Union into a different entity one no longer in accordance with this Communist beginnings. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The USSR state socialism required so many are forms to function efficiently without corruption that it changed entirely through his reforms Gorbachev found himself trying to reform away the very essence of the USSR and in the end, he succeeded. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Once perestroika got close to restructuring the state glasnost swept in dissolve the blind party obedience perestroika needed to build structure around. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): If the Soviets had not instituted state socialism, that would have been no state in need of restructuring, there would have been no state, and neither liberalisation or democratic efforts go gorbachev's reforms we're doomed from the start, because of this. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And the end it was gorbachev's restructuring of the party and if governments in tandem with this openness to criticism that enabled the military to rise up in a coup and boss, and the Union, thank you. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much for every year. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much, I guess the moral is be careful what you wish for. David A. Horowitz: i'm now going to deliver some comments. David A. Horowitz: i'm very excited about all three of these papers, I think this is the highest quality of work and i'm not just saying that to make people feel good it's based on a certain amount of experience of dealing with a student papers. David A. Horowitz: roseland days paper on Reagan and the end of the Cold War is a wonderful summation of the scholarship that is out there on this intriguing period in in US history in the 1980s and Ronald Reagan and. David A. Horowitz: It seems as if she really gets to the heart of the matter. David A. Horowitz: When she quotes the CIA report. David A. Horowitz: That said. David A. Horowitz: reagan's military buildup. David A. Horowitz: had no effect. David A. Horowitz: On Soviet military spending in the 1980s that meant that it was a myth that the American military buildup simply force the Russians to go bankrupt and trying to equal the armaments structure that Reagan had negotiated with his own economy. David A. Horowitz: One of the interesting aspects. David A. Horowitz: Of the perception among American conservatives in the 1980s was that the Soviets had greater mega time. David A. Horowitz: Big nuclear weapons that there was a myth that was basically a nuclear weapons get. David A. Horowitz: That the Soviets mega Tom bombs were totally going to dominate the United States but later research shows that, while the Soviets did have an advantage of those heavy megaton bomb. David A. Horowitz: missiles that were aimed at Western Europe, the United States had more effective precision weapons so there wasn't such a tremendous gap as some conservatives said there was. David A. Horowitz: The other interesting thing. David A. Horowitz: That. David A. Horowitz: That Rosalind paper points out is that Reagan had actually begun to soften his stance. David A. Horowitz: toward the Soviet Union in 1983 which was 18 months before go Robert chef took power, so it wasn't just the opportunity that Gorbachev present that enabled Reagan becomes something like a peacemaker. David A. Horowitz: The Star Wars. David A. Horowitz: Star Wars factor is very interesting Gorbachev would have gone for a more complete arms deal if Reagan had given up Star Wars, but I wonder. David A. Horowitz: If Reagan was clinging to Star Wars as a way of assuring the American people. David A. Horowitz: That he could go about. David A. Horowitz: A certain level of nuclear disarmament, with the Soviets without jeopardizing the security of the American people. David A. Horowitz: The space satellite laser weapons were supposed to stop incoming missiles, maybe Star Wars was just part of reagan's strategy to move toward nuclear disarmament. David A. Horowitz: And it's so fascinating that Reagan lost faith in nuclear deterrence and mutual assured destruction that if you built up your nuclear weapons. David A. Horowitz: The other side wouldn't they are mess with you, he thought that was immoral that could be accidents and that it really wouldn't work. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: there's a great irony in the story, I think. David A. Horowitz: And essentially roseland paper touched on it, and that is. David A. Horowitz: Reagan won the Cold War by making peace. David A. Horowitz: Reagan who often represented this militant kind of American nationalism. David A. Horowitz: Actually deprived Gorbachev. David A. Horowitz: Have any reason to fear the United States if the US was going to participate in this nuclear disarmament which eventually became the I n F treaty. David A. Horowitz: there's an anecdote that when Reagan and Gorbachev were at that first summit in in Cuba. David A. Horowitz: They were sitting in this room, with all of the technicians going back and forth on all of the intricacies of nuclear weapons and Reagan nudges Gorbachev, this is gonna be let's go out and get some fresh air, you know and they go take a walk. David A. Horowitz: And they come to some informal agreement that they want to work towards real disarmament an incredible moment. David A. Horowitz: reagan's advisors went crazy with that. David A. Horowitz: If what he was giving away the store but. David A. Horowitz: That as soon as Reagan earned the trust of Gorbachev. David A. Horowitz: The whole rationale for the Cold War collapsed and the whole rationale for the Soviet states collapse. David A. Horowitz: Because the Soviet leaders kept telling the people we've got to have this repression we've got to have unity we've got to put all of our resources into weapons because we're being surrounded by capitalists who want to take us over. David A. Horowitz: And once that rationale was gone for their own rule there was no rationale for their own maybe one of the reasons Soviet Union fell. David A. Horowitz: It is interesting. David A. Horowitz: The irony that you win the Cold War by making peace by emotionally disarming your adversaries panic. David A. Horowitz: Paul powers. David A. Horowitz: delivers a very interesting paper. David A. Horowitz: On jazz and the Cold War. David A. Horowitz: And I was taken by the fact that he introduces it by saying. David A. Horowitz: This story has elements of hypocrisy irony and contradiction. David A. Horowitz: And you know it occurred to me. David A. Horowitz: The policy irony and contradiction is about 90% of what history teachers profess it's what we do history, he made me is about. David A. Horowitz: Hypocrisy irony and. David A. Horowitz: He talks about these two these twin crusades one against communism in one against races sometimes they overlapped and sometimes they collide it. David A. Horowitz: But somewhere in the paper toward the end. David A. Horowitz: He invokes the sentiment of some of these African American musicians, who really believe that music spoke its own language, which is a beautiful thought. David A. Horowitz: And although kohl's paper. David A. Horowitz: very realistically dissects us intentions in the Cold War world and the end the use of these musicians to suggest that the United States stands for freedom, when, in many cases, it did not nevertheless. David A. Horowitz: The idea of these musicians. David A. Horowitz: going over and engaging people, even if they happen to be the elites of those countries. David A. Horowitz: As something in it that seems very rewarding. David A. Horowitz: and music does speak its own language, and I was reminded of the way swing music during World War Two help to energize and unify the American people in what was, to a certain extent. David A. Horowitz: i'd oh that's horrendous problems, a multi racial and multicultural democracy, fighting Nazis and Fascists and around the rhythms of swing music. David A. Horowitz: One of the questions that occurred to me was was there a difference in the Eisenhower State Department from the candidate State or in the use of these musicians and that that'd be something interesting to pursue. David A. Horowitz: In terms of government support for the arts, this was not the first example of US government support of the arts. David A. Horowitz: Government supported the arts included. David A. Horowitz: folk music recordings live orchestra and concert band performances. David A. Horowitz: Part of the new deals massive infrastructure program under the works progress administration in the 1930s, a theater project music project folklore. David A. Horowitz: a wonderful renaissance of American culture that occurred with a painting project with the Federal support in the 1930s. David A. Horowitz: In the longer version of the paper cold discusses the kind of controversial appointment of benny Goodman to be one of the emissaries who goes. David A. Horowitz: across to I guess the Soviet Union, as an emissary of American freedom and there were some resentment apparently on the part of some of the African American musicians why this safe white musician who's come in the 1930s was the one that was being. David A. Horowitz: presented to represent the United States and the idea that this this white band musician didn't really represent American jazz, but there is an irony there. David A. Horowitz: Because benny Goodman had been the first white band leader to retain African American musicians in the late 1930s, and I will name them. David A. Horowitz: Excuse me. David A. Horowitz: ganas Teddy Wilson. David A. Horowitz: Electric guitarist Charlie Christian and viper phone performer Lionel Hampton these were not just disorder musicians, these were the geniuses in their field, he broke the color barrier. David A. Horowitz: And swing band music in the late 1930s and the 1940s, and although his music may have gotten very mild and safe by the 1950s. David A. Horowitz: Is a giant figure in the history of jazz. David A. Horowitz: That Rania van sickles. David A. Horowitz: paper on gorbachev's reforms truly is a fascinating exploration of the inside of Soviet and Russian. David A. Horowitz: And there's so many on our knees in this. David A. Horowitz: little bit jeff's openness and his restructuring did encourage the transition from a command economy to a demand economy. David A. Horowitz: that's the essence of capitalism. David A. Horowitz: Is that supposedly consumers are supposed to demand the kind of products they want instead of commerce ours deciding what gets made this the old story that Russian factories in order to produce more shoes. David A. Horowitz: Just produce loads of shoes of the same size that way it looked good in the production quotas. David A. Horowitz: There was the other apocryphal story that rushing working people, used to say. David A. Horowitz: They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work. David A. Horowitz: But there's something here that I think is interesting. David A. Horowitz: today. David A. Horowitz: A lot of young Americans asked what's wrong with socialist. David A. Horowitz: Why can't I have free health insurance why can't I have free tuition for college. David A. Horowitz: And older Americans, many of them are aghast at the notion of a socialist economy, because it is older Americans who tend to to have experienced the Cold War. David A. Horowitz: And who saw. David A. Horowitz: The abuse of the economy and in a command economy like Soviet communism, but also. David A. Horowitz: There are many Americans who are immigrants from socialist countries who fled those countries because of the lack of opportunity because of a stagnant economy because of political operatives making the decisions about the economy, so it is interesting, it gives you some insight. David A. Horowitz: on them. David A. Horowitz: there's a section of for fed erroneous paper which describes the difficulties of restructuring, a system. David A. Horowitz: When powerful vested interests have a stake in keeping that system going. David A. Horowitz: and interesting. David A. Horowitz: The three sectors that she mentioned. David A. Horowitz: With the Soviet military industrial complex. David A. Horowitz: The agro industrial complex. David A. Horowitz: And the fuel and the complex curiously Those are three pockets. David A. Horowitz: of resistance to change in the United States, there are some similarities and then she mentions, of course, him to make it even more complicated in the Soviet Union ethnic rivalries, which we know something about as well in the United States. David A. Horowitz: Another interesting parallel that I found to the American experience. David A. Horowitz: those on the Right. David A. Horowitz: criticize gorbachev's reforms is too radical. David A. Horowitz: those on the Left criticize gorbachev's reforms as to incremental. David A. Horowitz: That gridlock that stalemate that comes when ideologies collide. David A. Horowitz: At any rate I thoroughly enjoyed all three of these papers, they are all infused with intelligence that makes me feel really good. David A. Horowitz: about young historians and they both deal with conventional wisdom and turning it on its side and all are beautifully expressed and well written. David A. Horowitz: This is really excellent so now. David A. Horowitz: What i'd like you to consider doing is using your Q amp a function. David A. Horowitz: and addressing questions, perhaps to particular presenters so we can open up our discussion. David A. Horowitz: To the audience and I will click and see what we've got going here. David A. Horowitz: Okay, this is a question for Mr powers. David A. Horowitz: From Zen green What would you say was the most important thing that the musicians got out of their experience. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: i'll answer that. Cole Powers: yeah I don't. Cole Powers: I don't know I feel like it's hard to pinpoint a single important thing. Cole Powers: But definitely. Cole Powers: Like being able to speak for Racial freedom and having like a pulpit to do that from and being backed by the US while doing that was a hugely important part. Cole Powers: And then also just probably you know, like her what's you're talking about the government spending in the arts and. Cole Powers: That became before these programs, but I think they're also was kind of an increase in government spending in the arts and specifically with jazz jazz hasn't really received much attention from the US before so. Cole Powers: that's another important part they're getting out of it and, like go SP is advocating in his article that he wrote afterwards, for more government support for the arts so they're kind of. Cole Powers: They are for the first time, being funded and supported by the government. David A. Horowitz: You know. David A. Horowitz: One of the interesting sidelights was many of the bebop musicians had turned to. David A. Horowitz: Islam as a religion rejected Christianity and so, in terms of some of these tours that the Middle East, you know that probably had some residents as well. David A. Horowitz: Alright let's see what we have here. David A. Horowitz: This is from Nina sigh Dale, and this is Nicole lucky guy I was wondering if you could talk about how the effect of these tours as a tool of American cold war propaganda or different abroad versus in America. Cole Powers: i'm i'm not sure how much I can talk about that. The. Cole Powers: It was. Cole Powers: brubeck talks a little bit about it in his article where he talks about when he's in Europe. Cole Powers: People like meeting him backstage and saying why don't artists rule the world like this is your your being here, means that we have freedoms, there were definitely areas where it was powerfully symbolic. Cole Powers: In the Soviet Union. Cole Powers: There were. Cole Powers: It was the youth was turning especially to jazz us kind of this symbol of American freedom. Cole Powers: And of like. Cole Powers: that's what I guess one look at it i've also read articles that say youth, just like jazz and it wasn't really symbolizing freedom, so I think that's Another question is like how much. Cole Powers: Was this music just popular and how much did it actually. Cole Powers: Like professed what the State Department was trying to save it and convey the symbolism of freedom to other countries, I don't know I think that's a question that i've read both sides of. David A. Horowitz: I have a question from an anonymous attendee. David A. Horowitz: To roseland was the American public aware of the collapse within the USSR that into the Cold War, and if they were what were the responses. David A. Horowitz: sure. ROSELYN DAI: i'm. ROSELYN DAI: To be honest, this wasn't an aspect I looked too much into but from what I can tell. ROSELYN DAI: It was knowledge for a long time that the Soviet economy was not doing well, I think the extent of it, I stayed in the CIO reports was probably not known to the public, but they were aware of that and they were aware of the reforms to. ROSELYN DAI: Within the Soviet Union, and I think. ROSELYN DAI: The response to that, and the other quarter, I think, also. ROSELYN DAI: Had a factor of surprise for many people, including the American public in specific towards like what like the collapsing, of the USSR and what Reagan did to it, many of republican supporters were really displeased by his reactions to what was going on. ROSELYN DAI: And then I think addressing Dr Horowitz your idea about St, I think, maybe one of the reasons why Reagan was still so willing to cling on to that was for his republican base as well. David A. Horowitz: let's see i've got another anonymous attendee or maybe it's the same anonymous attendee. David A. Horowitz: To five Rania. David A. Horowitz: there's a long question. David A. Horowitz: Do you think there was a way to reform the Soviet Union, without complete collapse. David A. Horowitz: Or do you think it was inevitable and a new government was required for change, for instance slower reforms to put less stress on the system. David A. Horowitz: Or, more monumental changes to quickly change, this is the without the problematic transition. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So that's a really good question. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): There are multiple answers so Gorbachev could have taken different reformatted routes, you could have gone slower he could have gone he couldn't really have gone quicker because of pushback but he could have gone slower and if he hadn't gone. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): as fast as he did the state still would have collapsed in a few decades that's what my research showed due to the in effect. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The ineffectiveness of the to government thing it was going to class anyway, whether or not he did anything, eventually, but what he made it collapse sooner, is what his reforms did he caused the coup, because of the conflict between perestroika and glasnost yeah. David A. Horowitz: anonymous attendees back for a Rania why didn't go a bit chefs policy reforms focus on pushing the USSR two or more Marxist form of comedy. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): That is because they had already done, the Marxist route in their eyes. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): They had looked at it, they had lived through it, they decided that it wasn't working. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): They had also done, I think, under crucial was a leader in the 16th of the Union, they had done experiments. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Like simulated experiments on capitalist economies and they found that those worked better than what their current Communist economy is doing. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So they looked at those experiments and they looked at what was happening with Communism currently and they concluded that a capitalist emotion would be better. David A. Horowitz: I think we've gotten to the end of our questions. David A. Horowitz: This is such a fascinating period, in my view, I just finished teaching Reagan in the 1980s. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: it's so interesting. David A. Horowitz: How someone like Reagan who certainly was limited in many ways. David A. Horowitz: could nevertheless have this instinct. David A. Horowitz: That it was time to negotiate disarmament and that I an F Treaty, which was about intermediate missiles in Europe, and so forth. David A. Horowitz: It kind of broke the ice and it took away the rationale for the Soviet empire. David A. Horowitz: At least for a while. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: i'm very much affected by a book by jack diggins john diggins on Reagan. David A. Horowitz: Who talks about Reagan is a great hero with peace. David A. Horowitz: As the President, who really did win the Cold War by abandoning it. David A. Horowitz: And there again we get to irony. David A. Horowitz: hypocrisy and contradiction of those elements of historical analysis. David A. Horowitz: which makes the enterprise so interesting. David A. Horowitz: let's see, I have oh there's some another question. David A. Horowitz: Thank you, sorry, excuse me. David A. Horowitz: Did Reagan tried to force the Star Wars issue because he thought the Soviets were more vulnerable at the time of their economic stress. David A. Horowitz: That would be for rosalie. ROSELYN DAI: yeah that's a good question I think Reagan was really intent on the Star Wars issue, not necessarily because. ROSELYN DAI: You wanted to push the Soviets further in like a time of crisis, for them, but more that he really wanted just assurance for nuclear like deterrence, because he didn't believe in mad, and he found it necessary to have some Defense against. ROSELYN DAI: Like weaponry and nuclear nuclear weaponry, in particular. David A. Horowitz: Well, I think we've come to the end of our run here I think it's been a very fruitful conversation. David A. Horowitz: It really helps me have thoughtful papers. David A. Horowitz: To be able to have an interesting conversation now, if you look at your your chat there's some instructions from our host Claire. David A. Horowitz: That some links to. David A. Horowitz: The next sessions that are available to you in this conference, otherwise I think we're going to wrap up Is there anyone. David A. Horowitz: Who has anything else to say. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much for such wonderful papers. David A. Horowitz: And this is, as I say about the best session i've ever chair. David A. Horowitz: So I am going, you can check your chat for the rest of the afternoon. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: Well, good afternoon can everyone hear me. David A. Horowitz: Well, good afternoon can can everyone hear me if you could not okay very good, my name is David Horowitz I teach us, cultural and political history here at portland state. David A. Horowitz: And this is the US yo political policy in the modern era session, the young historians conference. David A. Horowitz: Let me explain a little bit how we're going to proceed. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: I will be introducing the three of you, the three presenters. David A. Horowitz: One at a time. David A. Horowitz: And by the way, for those of you who are not presenting. David A. Horowitz: I think you're really fortunate these, this is the best batch of papers to this conference that I have moderated in the 30 years i've been doing this, these are excellent excellent papers and you're really fortunate to be present to be. David A. Horowitz: attending the session so. David A. Horowitz: Each of the presenters, as you well know, will have a 15 minutes to to deliver their papers and after that I will give a general commentary. David A. Horowitz: The commentary is not supposed to be a criticism of the papers it's just whereas some of the things that people discussed in their papers, where can we take that, where does it go what is some of the questions that might occur to another His story. David A. Horowitz: What we try to do in the sessions is to make this as close as possible to a professional history conference. David A. Horowitz: In a professional history conference, they would be three or four papers, they would be a commentator. David A. Horowitz: And then they would be questions and answers from the audience and that's what we tried to do that is what the academic protocol requires so that i'm after I give my comments and we will open up floor, so to speak, to questions which you can. David A. Horowitz: Present using your Q amp a. David A. Horowitz: So with that. David A. Horowitz: Let me present rosalyn day. David A. Horowitz: The cold war. David A. Horowitz: In October, in a case study of the ending of the Cold War, one is from lake Ridge high school. ROSELYN DAI: hello, thank you for that. ROSELYN DAI: So, to begin as Dr Horowitz said, my paper is on the ending of the Cold War, with specific focused on the Ronald Reagan Presidency in the Reagan doctrine. ROSELYN DAI: So August 11 1984 was nearly a marking of the end of mankind, it was on this day that the 45th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. ROSELYN DAI: issue a statement that almost started World War three quote we began bombing in five minutes and quote. ROSELYN DAI: A miss the high tension of US obvious relations reagan's joke, of having signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever just about lead to the devastation of nuclear confrontation. ROSELYN DAI: were alive so luckily no missiles were fired but this instance symbolizes the US Soviet battle during the Cold War. ROSELYN DAI: The cold war, which began in 1947 was a strenuous conflict that dominated American politics until the beginning towards the beginning of. ROSELYN DAI: the turn of the 21st century, when it was finally ended the cause of its ending presents quite a challenging and dividing debate. ROSELYN DAI: Democrats often credit, the collapse of the Soviet economy and gorbachev's own willingness for peace for the ending of the war. ROSELYN DAI: If not, avoiding the topic entirely Republicans, on the other hand, insist that reagan's aggressive foreign policies, particularly the arms race, was what propelled the Gorbachev era and the fall of the Soviet Union. ROSELYN DAI: In my paper I analyze the US Defense conditions prior to and after the Reagan administration. ROSELYN DAI: reagan's original addresses and the Soviet economy, and from that it can be reasonably reasonably concluded that, although reagan's policies undoubtedly assertive pressure the internal factors within the Soviet Union played a much larger role in the ending of the Cold War. ROSELYN DAI: So throughout the Cold War, the US Soviet tensions waiver quite drastically peaked in the first time in 1960s, with the Cuban missile crisis. ROSELYN DAI: Calm somewhat during the 70s, with a strategic arm limitation treaties and the anti ballistic missile Treaties before which was referred to an era of detox and before taking another downturn with the Ronald Reagan administration. ROSELYN DAI: By then, the Soviets had just invaded Afghanistan and assault treaties were facing deterioration. ROSELYN DAI: reagan's presidency only served to expedite ending of detergent and ursa nation into a rapidly escalating arms race. ROSELYN DAI: reagan's foreign Defense a foreign policy approach, especially towards the Soviets was one that was quite aggressive. ROSELYN DAI: The Reagan doctrine stem from a belief that merely containing Communism was not enough and that the US must actively involve itself in dismantling Communism completely. ROSELYN DAI: In his famous evil empire speech he denounced the Soviet Union, as an evil empire and portrayed life under the Communist regime as one of totalitarian darkness. ROSELYN DAI: claiming it would eventually dominate all people Reagan rejected the idea of a nuclear freeze in America, because he believed it to be only an illusion of peace and that the reality is that peace is found through strength. ROSELYN DAI: Reagan strategy was an arms race to gain nuclear and conventional arms superiority over the Soviets to have to be able to negotiate from a position of strength. ROSELYN DAI: And to deter any possibility of attack So this was in parallel, of the ideas of previously sign ncs 68 a military buildup because Reagan. ROSELYN DAI: considered the present conditions of the military arsenal to be increasingly obsolete, for example, in the 1980s, the Soviet Union had an 11 year lead in investments so Reagan push through Congress massive Defense spending increases increasing one that total. ROSELYN DAI: Over $1.5 trillion. ROSELYN DAI: That included. ROSELYN DAI: That included a host of new button systems, one of these was reagan's most prominent and problematic proposals, the strategic Defense initiative or SDI or as the press dubbed it Star Wars. ROSELYN DAI: It was to fund research into a space based Missile Defense system as Reagan didn't believe in mutually assured destruction claiming it to be truly mad and claiming it to be mutual suicide. ROSELYN DAI: And reagan's insistence over SDI was what later cost the US it's relations with the Soviets and even potentially delaying the resolution to the decades long conflict of the Cold War. ROSELYN DAI: So by the mid 1980s, it was clear that both sides had grown tired of the conflict. ROSELYN DAI: The Soviet economy was at its lowest since the start of the decades long economic decline beginning shortly after World War Two. ROSELYN DAI: It was mutually established that there needed to be an arms reduction from both sides, there was a series of strategic arm reduction talks start. ROSELYN DAI: With one being the Geneva Conference of 1985 so in the beginning of the Conference, it was it was made clear that the Soviet sod 50% decrease in nuclear bombs and missiles, but the US was more intent on a more sustainable way to defer nuclear war and take reliance off of that. ROSELYN DAI: aiming to continue development of defensive weapon tree and specifically reagan's SDI proposal and this proved to be quite detrimental as the reagan's insistence over SDI was a cause for a stalemate in these. ROSELYN DAI: These talks, for example in the in the meeting score Bashar Gorbachev remarked that the USSR are realistic pragmatists who categorically opposed to dominate other countries and that the US overestimates the power of the Soviet Union. ROSELYN DAI: It was clear that Gorbachev was willing to negotiate, but was unwilling to compromise on SDI because of the belief that it was an attempt to weaponize space, and it would give the US a first strike advantage, however. ROSELYN DAI: STI aside the conversations were quite amiable as Reagan by that and had abandoned his quite hardline anti Communist stance, but. ROSELYN DAI: As Gorbachev put it, if the soap us and Soviets could agree to be and research and space, he would sign in two minutes. ROSELYN DAI: From this weekend see that had Reagan been more lenient on his SDI proposals and agreement for arms reduction and peace between the new two nations could have taken shape earlier. ROSELYN DAI: Despite these facts, there are still some who argue that reagan's are to build up policies force the Soviets to back down. ROSELYN DAI: However, data data doesn't support this, for example, a CIA report claim that there was virtually no effect caused by the US military buildup. ROSELYN DAI: In the 1980s on Soviet military spending. ROSELYN DAI: In fact gorbachev's and the Soviets willingness to negotiate and back down was not due to reagan's arms policy, but rather to the stagnating Soviet economy and the political and economic reforms within the Soviet Union. ROSELYN DAI: Gorbachev had was attempting to restructure the Soviet economy, using a Western capitalist model. ROSELYN DAI: He also loosened political restraints, for example, he amended to the Soviet Constitution so that the Communist Party was not the only acceptable political party. ROSELYN DAI: And these internal reforms was also a big factor in contributing to the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union and the overthrowing communists. ROSELYN DAI: So, and furthermore on it, the CIA data shows that the Soviet economy had been slowing down long before reagan's inauguration, in fact, it could be traced back to the 1950s due to. ROSELYN DAI: Due to long term issues within the Soviet economical structure itself and including mark slow Downs in the growth of Soviet industrial output, as well as. ROSELYN DAI: As well as a limited capacity to earn hard currency to pay for needed technology imports as as well as issues with couple productivity climate patterns Labor shortages oil shortages and depressed birth rates and this economic downfall has been seen and predicted. ROSELYN DAI: Throughout the Cold War and so these economic constraints lead to increased pressures within the Soviet to for reduce military expenditure. ROSELYN DAI: It was understood that high military expenditure was only harming Soviet by ability and economy and society, because the funds for the military were taken from critical, social services and. ROSELYN DAI: Educational programs, and it was evident that the economy of the Soviet could not be sustained, for a long term so it's not surprising that. ROSELYN DAI: Gorbachev was open for reform and arms reduction so to claim that reagan's policies with the arms race, was the sole factor, or what ultimately led to the fall of the Soviet Union is. ROSELYN DAI: Quite a false assumption, because although his policies would have put pressure on Soviet leadership to reciprocate militarily putting additional burdens on an already failing economy. ROSELYN DAI: The long term impacts of an insufficient economic structure itself within the Soviets and gorbachev's governmental and political changes were what finally prompted the ending of the Cold War, thank you. David A. Horowitz: Thank you roseland Thank you very much, our next paper is another at it deals with another aspect of the Cold War. David A. Horowitz: Was it Ronald Reagan landed the Cold War, or was it American jazz musicians. David A. Horowitz: Here is from coal powers from lake Ridge high school. David A. Horowitz: fighting for freedom jazz and the Cold War call you have the name of a jazz musician you could very well be one that wonderful may like. Cole Powers: Okay, plan to be. Cole Powers: well. Cole Powers: alright. Cole Powers: During the Cold War era, the US was involved in two fights for freedom on one front, the country saw itself is fighting a cold war for the victory of American democracy over the tyranny of communism. Cole Powers: On the other American citizens engaged in the civil rights movement seeking freedom for black Americans and for black people and nations across the globe. Cole Powers: When the US decided to send American jazz musicians abroad as part of a cold war propaganda effort, these two battles collided. Cole Powers: resulting intersection is a story of hypocrisy irony and contradiction jazz was perceived as a powerful symbol for freedom in both the Cold War and the civil rights contexts. Cole Powers: The State Department use this symbolism, to convince the world that the US supported freedom, even when evidence clearly pointed to the contrary jazz musicians use the same tours to push for more genuine vision of racial freedom. Cole Powers: This paper starts by describing the administrative tours leading up or administrative history leading up to the chest tours demonstrates the purpose of. Cole Powers: The United States information to agency, the USA and of the cultural programs that were carried out beneath it was to convince the world that the US supported freedom in the Cold War fight. Cole Powers: The remainder of the paper highlights six of the countless State Department tours in order to show how the USA and jazz musicians each use the tours to push their own agenda of freedom. Cole Powers: The story began with President Eisenhower Eisenhower is public statements demonstrate that, like so many other Americans during the 1950s, he saw the Cold War is a fight for freedom against tyranny. Cole Powers: He also understood that effective propaganda was crucial weapon in this fight. Cole Powers: In order to in his words when the minds and souls of men, he created the United States information agency, the USA. Cole Powers: A propaganda agency, which used a variety of media to spread information about us aims and values around the world, then in 1954 Congress authorized the creation of the cultural presentations program which administered tourism musical and performing artists. Cole Powers: It was clear from the beginning that USA officials agreed with eisenhower's claim that the Cold War was a fight against tyranny the view that America was fighting for freedom and peace was expressed again and again and documents, written by the agency's director good or straight bar. Cole Powers: Despite Eisenhower in St bart's conviction about the role of the US and the Cold War Eisenhower feared that other nations did not equate American victory with freedom. Cole Powers: Instead, he word, the growing civil rights movement in the United States would harm the country's image as it claimed it was fighting for freedom abroad. Cole Powers: Bus officials came to see the primary purpose of the USA as providing evidence to the world that America was on the right side of the fight. Cole Powers: USA documents describing early tours of performing artists reveal that this goal was a defining feature of cultural presentations program even before jazz was added to their repertoire. Cole Powers: Given the school, however jazz seem to be the perfect weapon of choice and African American music, which not only featured black band leaders and stars, but it was also powerfully symbolic of freedom. Cole Powers: jazz can be used to convince the world that the US had moved past its era of racism and segregation. Cole Powers: jazz first entered the picture with willis converse radio show which was aired on Voice of America radio. Cole Powers: The US funded international radio program conover himself saw his show as powerful propaganda in his eyes jazz was strongly symbolic of a uniquely American freedom and democracy, and then musicians agree on a broader structure within which they're free to improvise and express themselves. Cole Powers: It was ultimately Harlem democratic Congressman and civil rights activist Adam clayton Powell jr who brought jazz to the attention of the State Department. Cole Powers: Seeing symbolics power of jazz and the Cold War Pal suggested that the State Department incorporate the music into its cultural programs and then 1955 the State Department agreed a New York Times article and abstinence headline remote lands to hear old democracy boogie. Cole Powers: The first jazz musician to tour under the State Department was trumpeter and bandleader john dizzy gillespie gillespie his tour of Middle East immediately reveal the contradiction and hypocrisy which played the Program. Cole Powers: most notable is this time in Greece gillespie entered Greece during intense anti American protests over the US support greece's suppressive right wing dictatorship. Cole Powers: After his performance, the same protesters carried him out on their shoulders in appreciation event revealed a reality of the Cold War and of jazz diplomacy which different dramatically from officials idealistic statements about freedom in America. Cole Powers: US actions were not always in the interest of freedom abroad. Cole Powers: During the Cold War, the US repeatedly violated the freedom of other people's as it did when it supported greece's dictatorship and then sent jazz the ultimate symbol of American freedom and democracy to make the case that it was still on the right side of the fight. Cole Powers: gillespie returned home and found that his race prevented him from enjoying the freedom that he was sent abroad to advertise. Cole Powers: Many conservative Americans were quick to them that says music as primitive and black claiming that it was in comparable to what they considered high art form of European classical music. Cole Powers: Led by representative john Rooney Congressman focus their attacks on the high cost of the jazz tourists and succeeded and cutting funding substantially. Cole Powers: gillespie responded via email to Congressional attacks and esquire article titled jazz was too good for Americans he lamented the fact that while he was met with respect and admiration abroad his music was still not treated as illegitimate art form by his own country. Cole Powers: He pleaded that the US Government moved to memphis problem specifically if you're incorporating jazz into education. Cole Powers: gillespie saw the State Department tourism opportunity to reach for more the more genuine freedom than that which meant no more than American victory of communism instead. Cole Powers: gillespie sought freedom from the racial oppression which prevented his music from being recognized by American audiences government and institutions. Cole Powers: The State Department responded to upper over gillespie's trip by sending white musician benny Goodman and the next tour. Cole Powers: i'm good MINS trip to Thailand, the same hypocrisy that surrounded gillespie's to arose in state department's choice to target audiences of tie elite not citizens. Cole Powers: newspaper articles referring to mass audiences as unsophisticated reveal the public agreed with the vision that the elite, are the most important target of diplomacy by us rhetoric celebrated freedom for the masses policy focused on improving relations with the lead our. Cole Powers: Racial tension surrounding the tourists were inflamed in 1957 when Eisenhower refused to enforce court ordered desegregation of schools and little rock Arkansas the jazz world responded vehemently eisenhower's decision. Cole Powers: With louie Armstrong refusing to attend previously planted tours for the State Department. Cole Powers: was only after Eisenhower agreed to send troops to little rock to enforce desegregation that Armstrong indicated that he might reconsider playing the role of musical diplomat. Cole Powers: In 1958 Dave brubeck toward Poland in the Middle East, as with gillespie in Greece and Goodman in Thailand rubik's performances were designed to advance us interest not freedom. Cole Powers: You know the end of the year, the State Department extended webex trips suddenly and without warning to include engagements in Iran and Iraq. Cole Powers: He performed in Iran under partial sponsorship from the Iranian oil refinery company only weeks after brubeck left Iraq general abdel-karim cussing overthrew the Iraqi Government threatening us oil interests, given the situation, the reason behind remix tour was quite. Cole Powers: Despite this brubeck viewed his tour as a diplomatic and personal success upon returning home he published a statement in the New York Times, in which he commented on the power of jazz to transcend boundaries between different cultures and races. Cole Powers: and in doing so, to foster genuine understanding freedom and peace. Cole Powers: In 1960 louie Armstrong to with Africa, of all the jazz tours armstrong's 1960 trip most clearly demonstrated how jazz was used to achieve both the edge of the State Department and a musician. Cole Powers: Despite the contradictions between these names, the news reporting of the event clearly reveal the paradox of jazz diplomacy. Cole Powers: New York Times articles reporting on africa's response to the tour revealed three notable sentiments African officials were proud that a black man had achieve world fame. Cole Powers: armstrong's tourists signal that black Americans were moving rapidly towards equality and many African saw Armstrong as speaking for the rights of black people worldwide. Cole Powers: On one hand, the tour served America as a Cold War weapon convincing other nations that black Americans were progressing quickly towards equality some even achieving world fame. Cole Powers: On the other hand, armstrong's fame and his music spoke for black freedom and serve as a weapon in the fight for black civil rights and African sovereignty. Cole Powers: Like gillespie's engagement in Greece and rubik's and Iraq armstrong's visit to Africa to place against a tumultuous political backdrop in 1960 the Congo declared independence from Belgium, under the leadership of socialist Patrice emery remember. Cole Powers: The shift threatened us access to minerals and uranium reserves in the Congo, while opening these reserves, up to the Soviet Union, the US responded by detaining and then assassinating remember. Cole Powers: Armstrong was then sent into this crisis as proof that America was stone the side of freedom nowhere in the story of jazz diplomacy was irony as heavily President as when armstrong's music. Cole Powers: and music which spoke for the sovereignty of African nations was used towards the US aims of engineering African states. Cole Powers: Throughout the 1950s jazz grew increasingly more popular among Soviet you and the State Department decided to capitalize on the Soviets newfound appreciation of the music. Cole Powers: By sending tours into the Soviet Union benny Goodman was chosen for the first of these trips in New York Times reporting on the growing appreciation of jazz in the Soviet Union and on governments tour. Cole Powers: told the story of a Soviet youth which yearned for freedom and found it in American jazz that made its way past the restrictive Soviet regime. Cole Powers: To the press and the public jazz infiltration into the Soviet Union was powerful moment of symbolism it represented a great victory of American freedom over communism. Cole Powers: And late 1960s, yet another musician was sent abroad to compensate for US actions Duke ellington's tour targeted Syria and Iraq. Cole Powers: Not long before his tour of the US at support at successful accused by the by at this party. Cole Powers: Against the pro Communist government both countries, only three days after ellington left Iraqi forces performed a successful coup against the bias government. Cole Powers: Like brubeck Armstrong ellington was thrown into the battlefield of the Cold War, in order to push the narrative that the US still supported freedom after it violated the sovereignty of the Syrian Government. Cole Powers: Throughout the tour ellington spoke strongly against racism and elitism. Cole Powers: When he and his band were shipped between cities and the cargo plane ellington was furious calling the planet cattle car for negros he demanded better accommodations and send that awake orchestra would not have received such barbaric treatment. Cole Powers: When asked about race abroad ellington strongly condemned racism in the United States, he also complained that many of his audience works audiences were composed entirely of neo colonial elites, he argued that this defeated his own purpose of reaching new masses with his music. Cole Powers: Around the Cold War, the American public and the USA clung tightly to the belief that America American victory meant freedom. Cole Powers: jazz as seen by the American public and described by williston over perfectly symbolized this American freedom, so the US and jazz bands abroad to clear up what it saw as misconceptions that America was on the wrong side of the fight. Cole Powers: To USA officials and too many other Americans, the jazz tours were no more than affirmations of the truth, but the reality was that america's actions at home and abroad we're not always steps towards a for your world. Cole Powers: Bus the actual function of the jazz tours was different than that which was perceived by most Americans. Cole Powers: They served to quiet anger over us actions to convince the world the US was fighting for freedom, despite frequent violations of the sovereignty of other nations and the civil rights of its own people. Cole Powers: Only the musicians themselves could truly claim that they fought for freedom. Cole Powers: gillespie brubeck Armstrong ellington and countless other musicians department tourists spoke for recognition of the masses, rather than the elite respect for black people and black music sovereignty for African nations mutual understanding and peace. Cole Powers: Even as the US Government exploited them for its own interest, these musicians and ways to fight for freedom, not just American freedom, but real freedom, which included all peoples. Cole Powers: At times, with subtlety and, at times, with no offense they fought for a better world than the US I imagine. Cole Powers: Thank you. David A. Horowitz: Thank you cool. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much. David A. Horowitz: Paper is going to be presented by him Rania van sickle of St mary's the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev. David A. Horowitz: And their effect on the USSR. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Thank you for the introduction, so the Soviet Union, the nation of communism of Stalinism enough the color red. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The Soviet Union had a brief brief stint during the 20th century, and today i'm going to be examining the root causes of failure to succeed as a country, specifically analyzing the history of what led to the Soviet coup of 1991 and the Union subsequent collapse. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The successive early 20th century leadership with the Union of Soviet socialist republics, the USSR. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): All use communism to enforce governance and safeguarding its national demise proverbs Soviet socialism, founded on Marxist Communism departed from his Marxist foundation and morphed into a party state that contradicted the very principles of communist ideology. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Throughout the Cold War, this modified Communism stood as the hallmark of the Soviet Union, when that separated us always from Russian allies over late 20th century USSR largely due to the influence of Mikhail Gorbachev was General Secretary of the Communist Party, the Soviet Union. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): fell away from socialism instead turns to capitalism and a more democratic form of leadership. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): influencing Communist Russia through is more liberal policies of glasnost and perestroika Mikhail Gorbachev upset the balance of Russian politics and threatened military power by weakening of the control and influence of the CPS you. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): As a result of this power struggle, a coup ensued on August 21 1991 and the Soviet Union collapsed shortly after. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So, today I will be arguing that due to the Soviets creation of a party state of a socialist party state that contradicted Marxist ideology. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): gorbachev's liberalizing attempts to democratize the Union there was policies with glasnost and perestroika proved incompatible with the continuation of Soviet governance and this led to the downfall of the Soviet regime. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): For a little background on a Soviet Union, it was founded in early early 20th century why Vladimir Lenin in a group of revolutionaries. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): who rose up against the ruling elite and formed a coalition of republic's in the eastern in Eastern Europe. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And it was founded on communism and Communism is a political ideology that are used for a classless stateless society. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): in which there is no perfect property all means of production are controlled by the proletariat the working class and each person gets paid according to their ability and needs. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Over this founding ideology of the Soviet Union shifted away from the founding idea throughout the years to an ideology notice Darwinism which shifted the union's governance to be stricter and to rely more on party authority. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Due to Stalinism and due to leadership from the beginning to later ends later end of the Union, there was a lot of corruption which Brett economic problems. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): By the time Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union CPS you in 1985. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The USSR was in the midst of an economic disaster and entire leader perform Gorbachev created two main policies. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): of glasnost and perestroika to achieve reform glasnost was a new willingness to tolerate dissident opinions and perestroika was the comprehensive reform of the Soviet political and economic system. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): glasnost openness and perestroika is restructuring became the tenants of gorbachev's reforms, because they're all attempts to democratize the Union were met with resistance, however, and ultimately at the end of the scene of the union's adherence to socialism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So the crux of the issue was that Soviet Socialism was a contradictory in perfect reflection of communism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Marxist ideology as laid forth by Karl Marx call it for the stage of communism to be an to be a successor to the necessary development stage of capitalism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): But the founder of the Union, Vladimir Lenin skipped the stage so traditional country might go from feudalism to capitalism to communism, but the Soviet Union went from feudalism over capitalism to communism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Political scientists Valerie bonds notes that absent from the Russian experience was the development of private property. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Rational bureaucracy, the rule of law and an independent ability What this means is that the Russians never went through the stages of social and economic development, necessary to build a Communist nation. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Russia was mostly funeral nation, at the beginning of the 20th century, but the founders of the Union ingrained into this feudal nation, the ideology of one of the most progressive advanced ways of social organization communism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And inability to fulfill certain Marxist principles, but the installment of the corrupt party state which set the nation up for future failure. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In theory, when Communism is enacted correctly, the state should wither away and leave into place a stateless society. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): But the Soviet Union Soviet state could not die out due to pressure from outside enemies, namely the West, countries such as Britain and the US. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The existence of the State defied the very tenants of the ideology that the State claims to uphold and led to the creation prevalence of a party state. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): party of the Union, the Communist Party, the Soviet Union it governed as a dictatorship of the proletariat it was comprised of 10% of a working class, which in turn comprised of only 10% of the total population. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The nation needed the party in order to function, the party manage everything from a planned economy and the economic sphere. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And one party intraparty democracy in the political sphere to eventually no democracy at all, not even within the party. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The CPS You ran the government to such a degree in fact that there are merged two separate governments, the actual Soviet government and then behind it, a shadow government. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): That was comprised of only party members and ran the actual government, so we have socialism, because of its deviation from Marcus Communism into an all powerful two tiered or toxicity of shadow government actual government set the nation up for failure in future decades. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In action, the survey regimes party state necessitated perform due to its corruption and ineffective this. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The years, corruption and bread and competence which bread economic disarray Mikhail Gorbachev due to this was a new position to refuse reform when he took office, as General Secretary in 1985. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Two minutes, the economic most and crises that Gorbachev encountered when he took office, he said about creating an agenda of reforms centered on making both government and economy more efficient he introduced his policies of glasnost and perestroika to do this in 1985. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): gorbachev's policy of glasnost we assumes the CPS us hold on mainstream thought and political on mainstream political thought by allowing new parties dissenting views and criticisms to be brought forward. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): perestroika, on the other hand, focus on regulate on deregulating and restructuring economics and politics. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): This included trying to fix the economic disarray handed to him by shifting from the command economy to marketers demand economy. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): or a striker which allowing for structural changes in the economy, enabled the beginning of capitalist markets and political reforms, like the creation of a new national legislature. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And action glasnost appear to be quite liberating it lifted many government restrictions on the press and allowed for open criticism of the government and government sanctioned history. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Initially glasnost and perestroika would work well together, because there's still these became more vocal cost for democracy, increased which led to restructuring so glasnost is. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Affected perestroika which affected state. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): 1987, for example, the Communist Party central planning committee approved gorbachev's plan to allow voters to choose candidates and local elections and by 1989 the first free elections in over 70 years were held for the Congress of people step beauties the new national legislature. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In addition to increase democracy perestroika relaxed trade restrictions and curtis Western investment and the 1988 allowed for the creation of limited cooperative business which shifted many businesses towards privatized towards privatization. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): However, despite gorbachev's best interests, the reforms fail to do, he intended. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): glasnost and perestroika though seemingly a symbiotic relationship were incompatible with each other. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The CPS you and, by extension, state socialism rely on unquestioning obedience that disappeared under glasnost. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And contrast perestroika was a restructuring of state socialism and of the CP seo and that's needed the power and authority of the CPS you to work. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): glasnost threatened party control and Chris ducker could not exist or function without party control Gorbachev reformed away his own influence, essentially because by restructuring the USSR you broke a systems, giving him power. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): However, apart from the ability of glasnost and perestroika to work together, the reforms are generally ineffective in part because of pushback from all sides due to consequences like inflation and because of party lines. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In the early months of 1991 strikes occurred frequently which force the government to create some concessions, even outside of the CPS you. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): For example, Boris Yeltsin President of Russia at the time granted striking writers, the freedom of selling 20% of the profits on the free market. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Other workers began wanting to sell their outfit for dollars, this increase in preference for a free market economy threatens party control over foreign foreign currency earnings which was a main source of the parties power. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The proletariat the working class in whose name the CPS who governed became dissatisfied and wanted the party removed from the workplace entirely a full 1.8 million members left a party in 1990 which still a hard blows with party influence. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The underlining impact of gorbachev's contradictory ineffective reforms on the CPS you said was subsequently meant a loss of party control over the military. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): By 1991 the party had ceased to be a party in any ideological sense, instead of clinging to this last vestiges of influence, by remaining a source of power and privilege for its Members. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): stuff yet military provided to see psu its final authority, the party depends more on the military industrial complex in fact that for its power, then, on its own members. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In a survey conducted 1991 more than 60% of mid level officers wanted to remove the military from the parties influence the party last support and splintered and it's hold on a military dwindled. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The final days of the Soviet Union points to arbitrage reforms being the catalyst of a coup invest, ultimately, the end of the Soviet Union. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): was in charge of a party split between support for an opposition against a decentralized government and he couldn't wait everybody support. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In March of 1991 our nationwide referendum voted to support gorbachev's plan for looser Union but six republic's boycotted the vote and anti Kremlin initiatives took hold and many other republic's. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The democracy, encouraged by corporate talks glasnost directly translated to a lessening of unity, but nonetheless in July of that year, a new Union trudy was drafted. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): This Treaty and gave unprecedented amount of federal power to the republic's and came close to creating a federation Gorbachev support of the Treaty, pointed towards more decentralization of power and the military did not want power to be decentralized any fruit that already was. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): To prevent for this Sunday to prevent further centralization of power, but still, for your army, the KGB Ministry of Interior and the rest of the military and industry. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): undertook a coup from August 18 to August 21 peaceful resistant efforts one out in the end, but party authority finally broke. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): A few months later, measured against his own ambitions, the USSR died a monumental failure. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): built on the grandest of ideologies, but on the shakiest foundations, the Soviet Union dissolved on December 25 1991. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The Soviet Union could not be reformed reforming the Union to align with gorbachev's goals lead in the end to a transformation of the Union into a different entity one no longer in accordance with this Communist beginnings. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The USSR state socialism required so many are forms to function efficiently without corruption that it changed entirely through his reforms Gorbachev found himself trying to reform away the very essence of the USSR and in the end, he succeeded. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Once perestroika got close to restructuring the state glasnost swept in dissolve the blind party obedience perestroika needed to build structure around. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): If the Soviets had not instituted state socialism, that would have been no state in need of restructuring, there would have been no state, and neither liberalisation or democratic efforts go gorbachev's reforms we're doomed from the start, because of this. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And the end it was gorbachev's restructuring of the party and if governments in tandem with this openness to criticism that enabled the military to rise up in a coup and boss, and the Union, thank you. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much for every year. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much, I guess the moral is be careful what you wish for. David A. Horowitz: i'm now going to deliver some comments. David A. Horowitz: i'm very excited about all three of these papers, I think this is the highest quality of work and i'm not just saying that to make people feel good it's based on a certain amount of experience of dealing with a student papers. David A. Horowitz: roseland days paper on Reagan and the end of the Cold War is a wonderful summation of the scholarship that is out there on this intriguing period in in US history in the 1980s and Ronald Reagan and. David A. Horowitz: It seems as if she really gets to the heart of the matter. David A. Horowitz: When she quotes the CIA report. David A. Horowitz: That said. David A. Horowitz: reagan's military buildup. David A. Horowitz: had no effect. David A. Horowitz: On Soviet military spending in the 1980s that meant that it was a myth that the American military buildup simply force the Russians to go bankrupt and trying to equal the armaments structure that Reagan had negotiated with his own economy. David A. Horowitz: One of the interesting aspects. David A. Horowitz: Of the perception among American conservatives in the 1980s was that the Soviets had greater mega time. David A. Horowitz: Big nuclear weapons that there was a myth that was basically a nuclear weapons get. David A. Horowitz: That the Soviets mega Tom bombs were totally going to dominate the United States but later research shows that, while the Soviets did have an advantage of those heavy megaton bomb. David A. Horowitz: missiles that were aimed at Western Europe, the United States had more effective precision weapons so there wasn't such a tremendous gap as some conservatives said there was. David A. Horowitz: The other interesting thing. David A. Horowitz: That. David A. Horowitz: That Rosalind paper points out is that Reagan had actually begun to soften his stance. David A. Horowitz: toward the Soviet Union in 1983 which was 18 months before go Robert chef took power, so it wasn't just the opportunity that Gorbachev present that enabled Reagan becomes something like a peacemaker. David A. Horowitz: The Star Wars. David A. Horowitz: Star Wars factor is very interesting Gorbachev would have gone for a more complete arms deal if Reagan had given up Star Wars, but I wonder. David A. Horowitz: If Reagan was clinging to Star Wars as a way of assuring the American people. David A. Horowitz: That he could go about. David A. Horowitz: A certain level of nuclear disarmament, with the Soviets without jeopardizing the security of the American people. David A. Horowitz: The space satellite laser weapons were supposed to stop incoming missiles, maybe Star Wars was just part of reagan's strategy to move toward nuclear disarmament. David A. Horowitz: And it's so fascinating that Reagan lost faith in nuclear deterrence and mutual assured destruction that if you built up your nuclear weapons. David A. Horowitz: The other side wouldn't they are mess with you, he thought that was immoral that could be accidents and that it really wouldn't work. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: there's a great irony in the story, I think. David A. Horowitz: And essentially roseland paper touched on it, and that is. David A. Horowitz: Reagan won the Cold War by making peace. David A. Horowitz: Reagan who often represented this militant kind of American nationalism. David A. Horowitz: Actually deprived Gorbachev. David A. Horowitz: Have any reason to fear the United States if the US was going to participate in this nuclear disarmament which eventually became the I n F treaty. David A. Horowitz: there's an anecdote that when Reagan and Gorbachev were at that first summit in in Cuba. David A. Horowitz: They were sitting in this room, with all of the technicians going back and forth on all of the intricacies of nuclear weapons and Reagan nudges Gorbachev, this is gonna be let's go out and get some fresh air, you know and they go take a walk. David A. Horowitz: And they come to some informal agreement that they want to work towards real disarmament an incredible moment. David A. Horowitz: reagan's advisors went crazy with that. David A. Horowitz: If what he was giving away the store but. David A. Horowitz: That as soon as Reagan earned the trust of Gorbachev. David A. Horowitz: The whole rationale for the Cold War collapsed and the whole rationale for the Soviet states collapse. David A. Horowitz: Because the Soviet leaders kept telling the people we've got to have this repression we've got to have unity we've got to put all of our resources into weapons because we're being surrounded by capitalists who want to take us over. David A. Horowitz: And once that rationale was gone for their own rule there was no rationale for their own maybe one of the reasons Soviet Union fell. David A. Horowitz: It is interesting. David A. Horowitz: The irony that you win the Cold War by making peace by emotionally disarming your adversaries panic. David A. Horowitz: Paul powers. David A. Horowitz: delivers a very interesting paper. David A. Horowitz: On jazz and the Cold War. David A. Horowitz: And I was taken by the fact that he introduces it by saying. David A. Horowitz: This story has elements of hypocrisy irony and contradiction. David A. Horowitz: And you know it occurred to me. David A. Horowitz: The policy irony and contradiction is about 90% of what history teachers profess it's what we do history, he made me is about. David A. Horowitz: Hypocrisy irony and. David A. Horowitz: He talks about these two these twin crusades one against communism in one against races sometimes they overlapped and sometimes they collide it. David A. Horowitz: But somewhere in the paper toward the end. David A. Horowitz: He invokes the sentiment of some of these African American musicians, who really believe that music spoke its own language, which is a beautiful thought. David A. Horowitz: And although kohl's paper. David A. Horowitz: very realistically dissects us intentions in the Cold War world and the end the use of these musicians to suggest that the United States stands for freedom, when, in many cases, it did not nevertheless. David A. Horowitz: The idea of these musicians. David A. Horowitz: going over and engaging people, even if they happen to be the elites of those countries. David A. Horowitz: As something in it that seems very rewarding. David A. Horowitz: and music does speak its own language, and I was reminded of the way swing music during World War Two help to energize and unify the American people in what was, to a certain extent. David A. Horowitz: i'd oh that's horrendous problems, a multi racial and multicultural democracy, fighting Nazis and Fascists and around the rhythms of swing music. David A. Horowitz: One of the questions that occurred to me was was there a difference in the Eisenhower State Department from the candidate State or in the use of these musicians and that that'd be something interesting to pursue. David A. Horowitz: In terms of government support for the arts, this was not the first example of US government support of the arts. David A. Horowitz: Government supported the arts included. David A. Horowitz: folk music recordings live orchestra and concert band performances. David A. Horowitz: Part of the new deals massive infrastructure program under the works progress administration in the 1930s, a theater project music project folklore. David A. Horowitz: a wonderful renaissance of American culture that occurred with a painting project with the Federal support in the 1930s. David A. Horowitz: In the longer version of the paper cold discusses the kind of controversial appointment of benny Goodman to be one of the emissaries who goes. David A. Horowitz: across to I guess the Soviet Union, as an emissary of American freedom and there were some resentment apparently on the part of some of the African American musicians why this safe white musician who's come in the 1930s was the one that was being. David A. Horowitz: presented to represent the United States and the idea that this this white band musician didn't really represent American jazz, but there is an irony there. David A. Horowitz: Because benny Goodman had been the first white band leader to retain African American musicians in the late 1930s, and I will name them. David A. Horowitz: Excuse me. David A. Horowitz: ganas Teddy Wilson. David A. Horowitz: Electric guitarist Charlie Christian and viper phone performer Lionel Hampton these were not just disorder musicians, these were the geniuses in their field, he broke the color barrier. David A. Horowitz: And swing band music in the late 1930s and the 1940s, and although his music may have gotten very mild and safe by the 1950s. David A. Horowitz: Is a giant figure in the history of jazz. David A. Horowitz: That Rania van sickles. David A. Horowitz: paper on gorbachev's reforms truly is a fascinating exploration of the inside of Soviet and Russian. David A. Horowitz: And there's so many on our knees in this. David A. Horowitz: little bit jeff's openness and his restructuring did encourage the transition from a command economy to a demand economy. David A. Horowitz: that's the essence of capitalism. David A. Horowitz: Is that supposedly consumers are supposed to demand the kind of products they want instead of commerce ours deciding what gets made this the old story that Russian factories in order to produce more shoes. David A. Horowitz: Just produce loads of shoes of the same size that way it looked good in the production quotas. David A. Horowitz: There was the other apocryphal story that rushing working people, used to say. David A. Horowitz: They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work. David A. Horowitz: But there's something here that I think is interesting. David A. Horowitz: today. David A. Horowitz: A lot of young Americans asked what's wrong with socialist. David A. Horowitz: Why can't I have free health insurance why can't I have free tuition for college. David A. Horowitz: And older Americans, many of them are aghast at the notion of a socialist economy, because it is older Americans who tend to to have experienced the Cold War. David A. Horowitz: And who saw. David A. Horowitz: The abuse of the economy and in a command economy like Soviet communism, but also. David A. Horowitz: There are many Americans who are immigrants from socialist countries who fled those countries because of the lack of opportunity because of a stagnant economy because of political operatives making the decisions about the economy, so it is interesting, it gives you some insight. David A. Horowitz: on them. David A. Horowitz: there's a section of for fed erroneous paper which describes the difficulties of restructuring, a system. David A. Horowitz: When powerful vested interests have a stake in keeping that system going. David A. Horowitz: and interesting. David A. Horowitz: The three sectors that she mentioned. David A. Horowitz: With the Soviet military industrial complex. David A. Horowitz: The agro industrial complex. David A. Horowitz: And the fuel and the complex curiously Those are three pockets. David A. Horowitz: of resistance to change in the United States, there are some similarities and then she mentions, of course, him to make it even more complicated in the Soviet Union ethnic rivalries, which we know something about as well in the United States. David A. Horowitz: Another interesting parallel that I found to the American experience. David A. Horowitz: those on the Right. David A. Horowitz: criticize gorbachev's reforms is too radical. David A. Horowitz: those on the Left criticize gorbachev's reforms as to incremental. David A. Horowitz: That gridlock that stalemate that comes when ideologies collide. David A. Horowitz: At any rate I thoroughly enjoyed all three of these papers, they are all infused with intelligence that makes me feel really good. David A. Horowitz: about young historians and they both deal with conventional wisdom and turning it on its side and all are beautifully expressed and well written. David A. Horowitz: This is really excellent so now. David A. Horowitz: What i'd like you to consider doing is using your Q amp a function. David A. Horowitz: and addressing questions, perhaps to particular presenters so we can open up our discussion. David A. Horowitz: To the audience and I will click and see what we've got going here. David A. Horowitz: Okay, this is a question for Mr powers. David A. Horowitz: From Zen green What would you say was the most important thing that the musicians got out of their experience. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: i'll answer that. Cole Powers: yeah I don't. Cole Powers: I don't know I feel like it's hard to pinpoint a single important thing. Cole Powers: But definitely. Cole Powers: Like being able to speak for Racial freedom and having like a pulpit to do that from and being backed by the US while doing that was a hugely important part. Cole Powers: And then also just probably you know, like her what's you're talking about the government spending in the arts and. Cole Powers: That became before these programs, but I think they're also was kind of an increase in government spending in the arts and specifically with jazz jazz hasn't really received much attention from the US before so. Cole Powers: that's another important part they're getting out of it and, like go SP is advocating in his article that he wrote afterwards, for more government support for the arts so they're kind of. Cole Powers: They are for the first time, being funded and supported by the government. David A. Horowitz: You know. David A. Horowitz: One of the interesting sidelights was many of the bebop musicians had turned to. David A. Horowitz: Islam as a religion rejected Christianity and so, in terms of some of these tours that the Middle East, you know that probably had some residents as well. David A. Horowitz: Alright let's see what we have here. David A. Horowitz: This is from Nina sigh Dale, and this is Nicole lucky guy I was wondering if you could talk about how the effect of these tours as a tool of American cold war propaganda or different abroad versus in America. Cole Powers: i'm i'm not sure how much I can talk about that. The. Cole Powers: It was. Cole Powers: brubeck talks a little bit about it in his article where he talks about when he's in Europe. Cole Powers: People like meeting him backstage and saying why don't artists rule the world like this is your your being here, means that we have freedoms, there were definitely areas where it was powerfully symbolic. Cole Powers: In the Soviet Union. Cole Powers: There were. Cole Powers: It was the youth was turning especially to jazz us kind of this symbol of American freedom. Cole Powers: And of like. Cole Powers: that's what I guess one look at it i've also read articles that say youth, just like jazz and it wasn't really symbolizing freedom, so I think that's Another question is like how much. Cole Powers: Was this music just popular and how much did it actually. Cole Powers: Like professed what the State Department was trying to save it and convey the symbolism of freedom to other countries, I don't know I think that's a question that i've read both sides of. David A. Horowitz: I have a question from an anonymous attendee. David A. Horowitz: To roseland was the American public aware of the collapse within the USSR that into the Cold War, and if they were what were the responses. David A. Horowitz: sure. ROSELYN DAI: i'm. ROSELYN DAI: To be honest, this wasn't an aspect I looked too much into but from what I can tell. ROSELYN DAI: It was knowledge for a long time that the Soviet economy was not doing well, I think the extent of it, I stayed in the CIO reports was probably not known to the public, but they were aware of that and they were aware of the reforms to. ROSELYN DAI: Within the Soviet Union, and I think. ROSELYN DAI: The response to that, and the other quarter, I think, also. ROSELYN DAI: Had a factor of surprise for many people, including the American public in specific towards like what like the collapsing, of the USSR and what Reagan did to it, many of republican supporters were really displeased by his reactions to what was going on. ROSELYN DAI: And then I think addressing Dr Horowitz your idea about St, I think, maybe one of the reasons why Reagan was still so willing to cling on to that was for his republican base as well. David A. Horowitz: let's see i've got another anonymous attendee or maybe it's the same anonymous attendee. David A. Horowitz: To five Rania. David A. Horowitz: there's a long question. David A. Horowitz: Do you think there was a way to reform the Soviet Union, without complete collapse. David A. Horowitz: Or do you think it was inevitable and a new government was required for change, for instance slower reforms to put less stress on the system. David A. Horowitz: Or, more monumental changes to quickly change, this is the without the problematic transition. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So that's a really good question. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): There are multiple answers so Gorbachev could have taken different reformatted routes, you could have gone slower he could have gone he couldn't really have gone quicker because of pushback but he could have gone slower and if he hadn't gone. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): as fast as he did the state still would have collapsed in a few decades that's what my research showed due to the in effect. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The ineffectiveness of the to government thing it was going to class anyway, whether or not he did anything, eventually, but what he made it collapse sooner, is what his reforms did he caused the coup, because of the conflict between perestroika and glasnost yeah. David A. Horowitz: anonymous attendees back for a Rania why didn't go a bit chefs policy reforms focus on pushing the USSR two or more Marxist form of comedy. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): That is because they had already done, the Marxist route in their eyes. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): They had looked at it, they had lived through it, they decided that it wasn't working. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): They had also done, I think, under crucial was a leader in the 16th of the Union, they had done experiments. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Like simulated experiments on capitalist economies and they found that those worked better than what their current Communist economy is doing. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So they looked at those experiments and they looked at what was happening with Communism currently and they concluded that a capitalist emotion would be better. David A. Horowitz: I think we've gotten to the end of our questions. David A. Horowitz: This is such a fascinating period, in my view, I just finished teaching Reagan in the 1980s. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: it's so interesting. David A. Horowitz: How someone like Reagan who certainly was limited in many ways. David A. Horowitz: could nevertheless have this instinct. David A. Horowitz: That it was time to negotiate disarmament and that I an F Treaty, which was about intermediate missiles in Europe, and so forth. David A. Horowitz: It kind of broke the ice and it took away the rationale for the Soviet empire. David A. Horowitz: At least for a while. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: i'm very much affected by a book by jack diggins john diggins on Reagan. David A. Horowitz: Who talks about Reagan is a great hero with peace. David A. Horowitz: As the President, who really did win the Cold War by abandoning it. David A. Horowitz: And there again we get to irony. David A. Horowitz: hypocrisy and contradiction of those elements of historical analysis. David A. Horowitz: which makes the enterprise so interesting. David A. Horowitz: let's see, I have oh there's some another question. David A. Horowitz: Thank you, sorry, excuse me. David A. Horowitz: Did Reagan tried to force the Star Wars issue because he thought the Soviets were more vulnerable at the time of their economic stress. David A. Horowitz: That would be for rosalie. ROSELYN DAI: yeah that's a good question I think Reagan was really intent on the Star Wars issue, not necessarily because. ROSELYN DAI: You wanted to push the Soviets further in like a time of crisis, for them, but more that he really wanted just assurance for nuclear like deterrence, because he didn't believe in mad, and he found it necessary to have some Defense against. ROSELYN DAI: Like weaponry and nuclear nuclear weaponry, in particular. David A. Horowitz: Well, I think we've come to the end of our run here I think it's been a very fruitful conversation. David A. Horowitz: It really helps me have thoughtful papers. David A. Horowitz: To be able to have an interesting conversation now, if you look at your your chat there's some instructions from our host Claire. David A. Horowitz: That some links to. David A. Horowitz: The next sessions that are available to you in this conference, otherwise I think we're going to wrap up Is there anyone. David A. Horowitz: Who has anything else to say. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much for such wonderful papers. David A. Horowitz: And this is, as I say about the best session i've ever chair. David A. Horowitz: So I am going, you can check your chat for the rest of the afternoon. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: Well, good afternoon can can everyone hear me if you could not okay very good, my name is David Horowitz I teach us, cultural and political history here at portland state. David A. Horowitz: And this is the US yo political policy in the modern era session, the young historians conference. David A. Horowitz: Let me explain a little bit how we're going to proceed. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: I will be introducing the three of you, the three presenters. David A. Horowitz: One at a time. David A. Horowitz: And by the way, for those of you who are not presenting. David A. Horowitz: I think you're really fortunate these, this is the best batch of papers to this conference that I have moderated in the 30 years i've been doing this, these are excellent excellent papers and you're really fortunate to be present to be. David A. Horowitz: attending the session so. David A. Horowitz: Each of the presenters, as you well know, will have a 15 minutes to to deliver their papers and after that I will give a general commentary. David A. Horowitz: The commentary is not supposed to be a criticism of the papers it's just whereas some of the things that people discussed in their papers, where can we take that, where does it go what is some of the questions that might occur to another His story. David A. Horowitz: What we try to do in the sessions is to make this as close as possible to a professional history conference. David A. Horowitz: In a professional history conference, they would be three or four papers, they would be a commentator. David A. Horowitz: And then they would be questions and answers from the audience and that's what we tried to do that is what the academic protocol requires so that i'm after I give my comments and we will open up floor, so to speak, to questions which you can. David A. Horowitz: Present using your Q amp a. David A. Horowitz: So with that. David A. Horowitz: Let me present rosalyn day. David A. Horowitz: The cold war. David A. Horowitz: In October, in a case study of the ending of the Cold War, one is from lake Ridge high school. ROSELYN DAI: hello, thank you for that. ROSELYN DAI: So, to begin as Dr Horowitz said, my paper is on the ending of the Cold War, with specific focused on the Ronald Reagan Presidency in the Reagan doctrine. ROSELYN DAI: So August 11 1984 was nearly a marking of the end of mankind, it was on this day that the 45th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. ROSELYN DAI: issue a statement that almost started World War three quote we began bombing in five minutes and quote. ROSELYN DAI: A miss the high tension of US obvious relations reagan's joke, of having signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever just about lead to the devastation of nuclear confrontation. ROSELYN DAI: were alive so luckily no missiles were fired but this instance symbolizes the US Soviet battle during the Cold War. ROSELYN DAI: The cold war, which began in 1947 was a strenuous conflict that dominated American politics until the beginning towards the beginning of. ROSELYN DAI: the turn of the 21st century, when it was finally ended the cause of its ending presents quite a challenging and dividing debate. ROSELYN DAI: Democrats often credit, the collapse of the Soviet economy and gorbachev's own willingness for peace for the ending of the war. ROSELYN DAI: If not, avoiding the topic entirely Republicans, on the other hand, insist that reagan's aggressive foreign policies, particularly the arms race, was what propelled the Gorbachev era and the fall of the Soviet Union. ROSELYN DAI: In my paper I analyze the US Defense conditions prior to and after the Reagan administration. ROSELYN DAI: reagan's original addresses and the Soviet economy, and from that it can be reasonably reasonably concluded that, although reagan's policies undoubtedly assertive pressure the internal factors within the Soviet Union played a much larger role in the ending of the Cold War. ROSELYN DAI: So throughout the Cold War, the US Soviet tensions waiver quite drastically peaked in the first time in 1960s, with the Cuban missile crisis. ROSELYN DAI: Calm somewhat during the 70s, with a strategic arm limitation treaties and the anti ballistic missile Treaties before which was referred to an era of detox and before taking another downturn with the Ronald Reagan administration. ROSELYN DAI: By then, the Soviets had just invaded Afghanistan and assault treaties were facing deterioration. ROSELYN DAI: reagan's presidency only served to expedite ending of detergent and ursa nation into a rapidly escalating arms race. ROSELYN DAI: reagan's foreign Defense a foreign policy approach, especially towards the Soviets was one that was quite aggressive. ROSELYN DAI: The Reagan doctrine stem from a belief that merely containing Communism was not enough and that the US must actively involve itself in dismantling Communism completely. ROSELYN DAI: In his famous evil empire speech he denounced the Soviet Union, as an evil empire and portrayed life under the Communist regime as one of totalitarian darkness. ROSELYN DAI: claiming it would eventually dominate all people Reagan rejected the idea of a nuclear freeze in America, because he believed it to be only an illusion of peace and that the reality is that peace is found through strength. ROSELYN DAI: Reagan strategy was an arms race to gain nuclear and conventional arms superiority over the Soviets to have to be able to negotiate from a position of strength. ROSELYN DAI: And to deter any possibility of attack So this was in parallel, of the ideas of previously sign ncs 68 a military buildup because Reagan. ROSELYN DAI: considered the present conditions of the military arsenal to be increasingly obsolete, for example, in the 1980s, the Soviet Union had an 11 year lead in investments so Reagan push through Congress massive Defense spending increases increasing one that total. ROSELYN DAI: Over $1.5 trillion. ROSELYN DAI: That included. ROSELYN DAI: That included a host of new button systems, one of these was reagan's most prominent and problematic proposals, the strategic Defense initiative or SDI or as the press dubbed it Star Wars. ROSELYN DAI: It was to fund research into a space based Missile Defense system as Reagan didn't believe in mutually assured destruction claiming it to be truly mad and claiming it to be mutual suicide. ROSELYN DAI: And reagan's insistence over SDI was what later cost the US it's relations with the Soviets and even potentially delaying the resolution to the decades long conflict of the Cold War. ROSELYN DAI: So by the mid 1980s, it was clear that both sides had grown tired of the conflict. ROSELYN DAI: The Soviet economy was at its lowest since the start of the decades long economic decline beginning shortly after World War Two. ROSELYN DAI: It was mutually established that there needed to be an arms reduction from both sides, there was a series of strategic arm reduction talks start. ROSELYN DAI: With one being the Geneva Conference of 1985 so in the beginning of the Conference, it was it was made clear that the Soviet sod 50% decrease in nuclear bombs and missiles, but the US was more intent on a more sustainable way to defer nuclear war and take reliance off of that. ROSELYN DAI: aiming to continue development of defensive weapon tree and specifically reagan's SDI proposal and this proved to be quite detrimental as the reagan's insistence over SDI was a cause for a stalemate in these. ROSELYN DAI: These talks, for example in the in the meeting score Bashar Gorbachev remarked that the USSR are realistic pragmatists who categorically opposed to dominate other countries and that the US overestimates the power of the Soviet Union. ROSELYN DAI: It was clear that Gorbachev was willing to negotiate, but was unwilling to compromise on SDI because of the belief that it was an attempt to weaponize space, and it would give the US a first strike advantage, however. ROSELYN DAI: STI aside the conversations were quite amiable as Reagan by that and had abandoned his quite hardline anti Communist stance, but. ROSELYN DAI: As Gorbachev put it, if the soap us and Soviets could agree to be and research and space, he would sign in two minutes. ROSELYN DAI: From this weekend see that had Reagan been more lenient on his SDI proposals and agreement for arms reduction and peace between the new two nations could have taken shape earlier. ROSELYN DAI: Despite these facts, there are still some who argue that reagan's are to build up policies force the Soviets to back down. ROSELYN DAI: However, data data doesn't support this, for example, a CIA report claim that there was virtually no effect caused by the US military buildup. ROSELYN DAI: In the 1980s on Soviet military spending. ROSELYN DAI: In fact gorbachev's and the Soviets willingness to negotiate and back down was not due to reagan's arms policy, but rather to the stagnating Soviet economy and the political and economic reforms within the Soviet Union. ROSELYN DAI: Gorbachev had was attempting to restructure the Soviet economy, using a Western capitalist model. ROSELYN DAI: He also loosened political restraints, for example, he amended to the Soviet Constitution so that the Communist Party was not the only acceptable political party. ROSELYN DAI: And these internal reforms was also a big factor in contributing to the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union and the overthrowing communists. ROSELYN DAI: So, and furthermore on it, the CIA data shows that the Soviet economy had been slowing down long before reagan's inauguration, in fact, it could be traced back to the 1950s due to. ROSELYN DAI: Due to long term issues within the Soviet economical structure itself and including mark slow Downs in the growth of Soviet industrial output, as well as. ROSELYN DAI: As well as a limited capacity to earn hard currency to pay for needed technology imports as as well as issues with couple productivity climate patterns Labor shortages oil shortages and depressed birth rates and this economic downfall has been seen and predicted. ROSELYN DAI: Throughout the Cold War and so these economic constraints lead to increased pressures within the Soviet to for reduce military expenditure. ROSELYN DAI: It was understood that high military expenditure was only harming Soviet by ability and economy and society, because the funds for the military were taken from critical, social services and. ROSELYN DAI: Educational programs, and it was evident that the economy of the Soviet could not be sustained, for a long term so it's not surprising that. ROSELYN DAI: Gorbachev was open for reform and arms reduction so to claim that reagan's policies with the arms race, was the sole factor, or what ultimately led to the fall of the Soviet Union is. ROSELYN DAI: Quite a false assumption, because although his policies would have put pressure on Soviet leadership to reciprocate militarily putting additional burdens on an already failing economy. ROSELYN DAI: The long term impacts of an insufficient economic structure itself within the Soviets and gorbachev's governmental and political changes were what finally prompted the ending of the Cold War, thank you. David A. Horowitz: Thank you roseland Thank you very much, our next paper is another at it deals with another aspect of the Cold War. David A. Horowitz: Was it Ronald Reagan landed the Cold War, or was it American jazz musicians. David A. Horowitz: Here is from coal powers from lake Ridge high school. David A. Horowitz: fighting for freedom jazz and the Cold War call you have the name of a jazz musician you could very well be one that wonderful may like. Cole Powers: Okay, plan to be. Cole Powers: well. Cole Powers: alright. Cole Powers: During the Cold War era, the US was involved in two fights for freedom on one front, the country saw itself is fighting a cold war for the victory of American democracy over the tyranny of communism. Cole Powers: On the other American citizens engaged in the civil rights movement seeking freedom for black Americans and for black people and nations across the globe. Cole Powers: When the US decided to send American jazz musicians abroad as part of a cold war propaganda effort, these two battles collided. Cole Powers: resulting intersection is a story of hypocrisy irony and contradiction jazz was perceived as a powerful symbol for freedom in both the Cold War and the civil rights contexts. Cole Powers: The State Department use this symbolism, to convince the world that the US supported freedom, even when evidence clearly pointed to the contrary jazz musicians use the same tours to push for more genuine vision of racial freedom. Cole Powers: This paper starts by describing the administrative tours leading up or administrative history leading up to the chest tours demonstrates the purpose of. Cole Powers: The United States information to agency, the USA and of the cultural programs that were carried out beneath it was to convince the world that the US supported freedom in the Cold War fight. Cole Powers: The remainder of the paper highlights six of the countless State Department tours in order to show how the USA and jazz musicians each use the tours to push their own agenda of freedom. Cole Powers: The story began with President Eisenhower Eisenhower is public statements demonstrate that, like so many other Americans during the 1950s, he saw the Cold War is a fight for freedom against tyranny. Cole Powers: He also understood that effective propaganda was crucial weapon in this fight. Cole Powers: In order to in his words when the minds and souls of men, he created the United States information agency, the USA. Cole Powers: A propaganda agency, which used a variety of media to spread information about us aims and values around the world, then in 1954 Congress authorized the creation of the cultural presentations program which administered tourism musical and performing artists. Cole Powers: It was clear from the beginning that USA officials agreed with eisenhower's claim that the Cold War was a fight against tyranny the view that America was fighting for freedom and peace was expressed again and again and documents, written by the agency's director good or straight bar. Cole Powers: Despite Eisenhower in St bart's conviction about the role of the US and the Cold War Eisenhower feared that other nations did not equate American victory with freedom. Cole Powers: Instead, he word, the growing civil rights movement in the United States would harm the country's image as it claimed it was fighting for freedom abroad. Cole Powers: Bus officials came to see the primary purpose of the USA as providing evidence to the world that America was on the right side of the fight. Cole Powers: USA documents describing early tours of performing artists reveal that this goal was a defining feature of cultural presentations program even before jazz was added to their repertoire. Cole Powers: Given the school, however jazz seem to be the perfect weapon of choice and African American music, which not only featured black band leaders and stars, but it was also powerfully symbolic of freedom. Cole Powers: jazz can be used to convince the world that the US had moved past its era of racism and segregation. Cole Powers: jazz first entered the picture with willis converse radio show which was aired on Voice of America radio. Cole Powers: The US funded international radio program conover himself saw his show as powerful propaganda in his eyes jazz was strongly symbolic of a uniquely American freedom and democracy, and then musicians agree on a broader structure within which they're free to improvise and express themselves. Cole Powers: It was ultimately Harlem democratic Congressman and civil rights activist Adam clayton Powell jr who brought jazz to the attention of the State Department. Cole Powers: Seeing symbolics power of jazz and the Cold War Pal suggested that the State Department incorporate the music into its cultural programs and then 1955 the State Department agreed a New York Times article and abstinence headline remote lands to hear old democracy boogie. Cole Powers: The first jazz musician to tour under the State Department was trumpeter and bandleader john dizzy gillespie gillespie his tour of Middle East immediately reveal the contradiction and hypocrisy which played the Program. Cole Powers: most notable is this time in Greece gillespie entered Greece during intense anti American protests over the US support greece's suppressive right wing dictatorship. Cole Powers: After his performance, the same protesters carried him out on their shoulders in appreciation event revealed a reality of the Cold War and of jazz diplomacy which different dramatically from officials idealistic statements about freedom in America. Cole Powers: US actions were not always in the interest of freedom abroad. Cole Powers: During the Cold War, the US repeatedly violated the freedom of other people's as it did when it supported greece's dictatorship and then sent jazz the ultimate symbol of American freedom and democracy to make the case that it was still on the right side of the fight. Cole Powers: gillespie returned home and found that his race prevented him from enjoying the freedom that he was sent abroad to advertise. Cole Powers: Many conservative Americans were quick to them that says music as primitive and black claiming that it was in comparable to what they considered high art form of European classical music. Cole Powers: Led by representative john Rooney Congressman focus their attacks on the high cost of the jazz tourists and succeeded and cutting funding substantially. Cole Powers: gillespie responded via email to Congressional attacks and esquire article titled jazz was too good for Americans he lamented the fact that while he was met with respect and admiration abroad his music was still not treated as illegitimate art form by his own country. Cole Powers: He pleaded that the US Government moved to memphis problem specifically if you're incorporating jazz into education. Cole Powers: gillespie saw the State Department tourism opportunity to reach for more the more genuine freedom than that which meant no more than American victory of communism instead. Cole Powers: gillespie sought freedom from the racial oppression which prevented his music from being recognized by American audiences government and institutions. Cole Powers: The State Department responded to upper over gillespie's trip by sending white musician benny Goodman and the next tour. Cole Powers: i'm good MINS trip to Thailand, the same hypocrisy that surrounded gillespie's to arose in state department's choice to target audiences of tie elite not citizens. Cole Powers: newspaper articles referring to mass audiences as unsophisticated reveal the public agreed with the vision that the elite, are the most important target of diplomacy by us rhetoric celebrated freedom for the masses policy focused on improving relations with the lead our. Cole Powers: Racial tension surrounding the tourists were inflamed in 1957 when Eisenhower refused to enforce court ordered desegregation of schools and little rock Arkansas the jazz world responded vehemently eisenhower's decision. Cole Powers: With louie Armstrong refusing to attend previously planted tours for the State Department. Cole Powers: was only after Eisenhower agreed to send troops to little rock to enforce desegregation that Armstrong indicated that he might reconsider playing the role of musical diplomat. Cole Powers: In 1958 Dave brubeck toward Poland in the Middle East, as with gillespie in Greece and Goodman in Thailand rubik's performances were designed to advance us interest not freedom. Cole Powers: You know the end of the year, the State Department extended webex trips suddenly and without warning to include engagements in Iran and Iraq. Cole Powers: He performed in Iran under partial sponsorship from the Iranian oil refinery company only weeks after brubeck left Iraq general abdel-karim cussing overthrew the Iraqi Government threatening us oil interests, given the situation, the reason behind remix tour was quite. Cole Powers: Despite this brubeck viewed his tour as a diplomatic and personal success upon returning home he published a statement in the New York Times, in which he commented on the power of jazz to transcend boundaries between different cultures and races. Cole Powers: and in doing so, to foster genuine understanding freedom and peace. Cole Powers: In 1960 louie Armstrong to with Africa, of all the jazz tours armstrong's 1960 trip most clearly demonstrated how jazz was used to achieve both the edge of the State Department and a musician. Cole Powers: Despite the contradictions between these names, the news reporting of the event clearly reveal the paradox of jazz diplomacy. Cole Powers: New York Times articles reporting on africa's response to the tour revealed three notable sentiments African officials were proud that a black man had achieve world fame. Cole Powers: armstrong's tourists signal that black Americans were moving rapidly towards equality and many African saw Armstrong as speaking for the rights of black people worldwide. Cole Powers: On one hand, the tour served America as a Cold War weapon convincing other nations that black Americans were progressing quickly towards equality some even achieving world fame. Cole Powers: On the other hand, armstrong's fame and his music spoke for black freedom and serve as a weapon in the fight for black civil rights and African sovereignty. Cole Powers: Like gillespie's engagement in Greece and rubik's and Iraq armstrong's visit to Africa to place against a tumultuous political backdrop in 1960 the Congo declared independence from Belgium, under the leadership of socialist Patrice emery remember. Cole Powers: The shift threatened us access to minerals and uranium reserves in the Congo, while opening these reserves, up to the Soviet Union, the US responded by detaining and then assassinating remember. Cole Powers: Armstrong was then sent into this crisis as proof that America was stone the side of freedom nowhere in the story of jazz diplomacy was irony as heavily President as when armstrong's music. Cole Powers: and music which spoke for the sovereignty of African nations was used towards the US aims of engineering African states. Cole Powers: Throughout the 1950s jazz grew increasingly more popular among Soviet you and the State Department decided to capitalize on the Soviets newfound appreciation of the music. Cole Powers: By sending tours into the Soviet Union benny Goodman was chosen for the first of these trips in New York Times reporting on the growing appreciation of jazz in the Soviet Union and on governments tour. Cole Powers: told the story of a Soviet youth which yearned for freedom and found it in American jazz that made its way past the restrictive Soviet regime. Cole Powers: To the press and the public jazz infiltration into the Soviet Union was powerful moment of symbolism it represented a great victory of American freedom over communism. Cole Powers: And late 1960s, yet another musician was sent abroad to compensate for US actions Duke ellington's tour targeted Syria and Iraq. Cole Powers: Not long before his tour of the US at support at successful accused by the by at this party. Cole Powers: Against the pro Communist government both countries, only three days after ellington left Iraqi forces performed a successful coup against the bias government. Cole Powers: Like brubeck Armstrong ellington was thrown into the battlefield of the Cold War, in order to push the narrative that the US still supported freedom after it violated the sovereignty of the Syrian Government. Cole Powers: Throughout the tour ellington spoke strongly against racism and elitism. Cole Powers: When he and his band were shipped between cities and the cargo plane ellington was furious calling the planet cattle car for negros he demanded better accommodations and send that awake orchestra would not have received such barbaric treatment. Cole Powers: When asked about race abroad ellington strongly condemned racism in the United States, he also complained that many of his audience works audiences were composed entirely of neo colonial elites, he argued that this defeated his own purpose of reaching new masses with his music. Cole Powers: Around the Cold War, the American public and the USA clung tightly to the belief that America American victory meant freedom. Cole Powers: jazz as seen by the American public and described by williston over perfectly symbolized this American freedom, so the US and jazz bands abroad to clear up what it saw as misconceptions that America was on the wrong side of the fight. Cole Powers: To USA officials and too many other Americans, the jazz tours were no more than affirmations of the truth, but the reality was that america's actions at home and abroad we're not always steps towards a for your world. Cole Powers: Bus the actual function of the jazz tours was different than that which was perceived by most Americans. Cole Powers: They served to quiet anger over us actions to convince the world the US was fighting for freedom, despite frequent violations of the sovereignty of other nations and the civil rights of its own people. Cole Powers: Only the musicians themselves could truly claim that they fought for freedom. Cole Powers: gillespie brubeck Armstrong ellington and countless other musicians department tourists spoke for recognition of the masses, rather than the elite respect for black people and black music sovereignty for African nations mutual understanding and peace. Cole Powers: Even as the US Government exploited them for its own interest, these musicians and ways to fight for freedom, not just American freedom, but real freedom, which included all peoples. Cole Powers: At times, with subtlety and, at times, with no offense they fought for a better world than the US I imagine. Cole Powers: Thank you. David A. Horowitz: Thank you cool. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much. David A. Horowitz: Paper is going to be presented by him Rania van sickle of St mary's the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev. David A. Horowitz: And their effect on the USSR. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Thank you for the introduction, so the Soviet Union, the nation of communism of Stalinism enough the color red. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The Soviet Union had a brief brief stint during the 20th century, and today i'm going to be examining the root causes of failure to succeed as a country, specifically analyzing the history of what led to the Soviet coup of 1991 and the Union subsequent collapse. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The successive early 20th century leadership with the Union of Soviet socialist republics, the USSR. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): All use communism to enforce governance and safeguarding its national demise proverbs Soviet socialism, founded on Marxist Communism departed from his Marxist foundation and morphed into a party state that contradicted the very principles of communist ideology. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Throughout the Cold War, this modified Communism stood as the hallmark of the Soviet Union, when that separated us always from Russian allies over late 20th century USSR largely due to the influence of Mikhail Gorbachev was General Secretary of the Communist Party, the Soviet Union. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): fell away from socialism instead turns to capitalism and a more democratic form of leadership. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): influencing Communist Russia through is more liberal policies of glasnost and perestroika Mikhail Gorbachev upset the balance of Russian politics and threatened military power by weakening of the control and influence of the CPS you. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): As a result of this power struggle, a coup ensued on August 21 1991 and the Soviet Union collapsed shortly after. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So, today I will be arguing that due to the Soviets creation of a party state of a socialist party state that contradicted Marxist ideology. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): gorbachev's liberalizing attempts to democratize the Union there was policies with glasnost and perestroika proved incompatible with the continuation of Soviet governance and this led to the downfall of the Soviet regime. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): For a little background on a Soviet Union, it was founded in early early 20th century why Vladimir Lenin in a group of revolutionaries. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): who rose up against the ruling elite and formed a coalition of republic's in the eastern in Eastern Europe. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And it was founded on communism and Communism is a political ideology that are used for a classless stateless society. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): in which there is no perfect property all means of production are controlled by the proletariat the working class and each person gets paid according to their ability and needs. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Over this founding ideology of the Soviet Union shifted away from the founding idea throughout the years to an ideology notice Darwinism which shifted the union's governance to be stricter and to rely more on party authority. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Due to Stalinism and due to leadership from the beginning to later ends later end of the Union, there was a lot of corruption which Brett economic problems. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): By the time Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union CPS you in 1985. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The USSR was in the midst of an economic disaster and entire leader perform Gorbachev created two main policies. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): of glasnost and perestroika to achieve reform glasnost was a new willingness to tolerate dissident opinions and perestroika was the comprehensive reform of the Soviet political and economic system. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): glasnost openness and perestroika is restructuring became the tenants of gorbachev's reforms, because they're all attempts to democratize the Union were met with resistance, however, and ultimately at the end of the scene of the union's adherence to socialism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So the crux of the issue was that Soviet Socialism was a contradictory in perfect reflection of communism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Marxist ideology as laid forth by Karl Marx call it for the stage of communism to be an to be a successor to the necessary development stage of capitalism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): But the founder of the Union, Vladimir Lenin skipped the stage so traditional country might go from feudalism to capitalism to communism, but the Soviet Union went from feudalism over capitalism to communism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Political scientists Valerie bonds notes that absent from the Russian experience was the development of private property. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Rational bureaucracy, the rule of law and an independent ability What this means is that the Russians never went through the stages of social and economic development, necessary to build a Communist nation. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Russia was mostly funeral nation, at the beginning of the 20th century, but the founders of the Union ingrained into this feudal nation, the ideology of one of the most progressive advanced ways of social organization communism. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And inability to fulfill certain Marxist principles, but the installment of the corrupt party state which set the nation up for future failure. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In theory, when Communism is enacted correctly, the state should wither away and leave into place a stateless society. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): But the Soviet Union Soviet state could not die out due to pressure from outside enemies, namely the West, countries such as Britain and the US. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The existence of the State defied the very tenants of the ideology that the State claims to uphold and led to the creation prevalence of a party state. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): party of the Union, the Communist Party, the Soviet Union it governed as a dictatorship of the proletariat it was comprised of 10% of a working class, which in turn comprised of only 10% of the total population. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The nation needed the party in order to function, the party manage everything from a planned economy and the economic sphere. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And one party intraparty democracy in the political sphere to eventually no democracy at all, not even within the party. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The CPS You ran the government to such a degree in fact that there are merged two separate governments, the actual Soviet government and then behind it, a shadow government. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): That was comprised of only party members and ran the actual government, so we have socialism, because of its deviation from Marcus Communism into an all powerful two tiered or toxicity of shadow government actual government set the nation up for failure in future decades. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In action, the survey regimes party state necessitated perform due to its corruption and ineffective this. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The years, corruption and bread and competence which bread economic disarray Mikhail Gorbachev due to this was a new position to refuse reform when he took office, as General Secretary in 1985. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Two minutes, the economic most and crises that Gorbachev encountered when he took office, he said about creating an agenda of reforms centered on making both government and economy more efficient he introduced his policies of glasnost and perestroika to do this in 1985. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): gorbachev's policy of glasnost we assumes the CPS us hold on mainstream thought and political on mainstream political thought by allowing new parties dissenting views and criticisms to be brought forward. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): perestroika, on the other hand, focus on regulate on deregulating and restructuring economics and politics. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): This included trying to fix the economic disarray handed to him by shifting from the command economy to marketers demand economy. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): or a striker which allowing for structural changes in the economy, enabled the beginning of capitalist markets and political reforms, like the creation of a new national legislature. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And action glasnost appear to be quite liberating it lifted many government restrictions on the press and allowed for open criticism of the government and government sanctioned history. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Initially glasnost and perestroika would work well together, because there's still these became more vocal cost for democracy, increased which led to restructuring so glasnost is. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Affected perestroika which affected state. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): 1987, for example, the Communist Party central planning committee approved gorbachev's plan to allow voters to choose candidates and local elections and by 1989 the first free elections in over 70 years were held for the Congress of people step beauties the new national legislature. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In addition to increase democracy perestroika relaxed trade restrictions and curtis Western investment and the 1988 allowed for the creation of limited cooperative business which shifted many businesses towards privatized towards privatization. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): However, despite gorbachev's best interests, the reforms fail to do, he intended. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): glasnost and perestroika though seemingly a symbiotic relationship were incompatible with each other. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The CPS you and, by extension, state socialism rely on unquestioning obedience that disappeared under glasnost. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And contrast perestroika was a restructuring of state socialism and of the CP seo and that's needed the power and authority of the CPS you to work. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): glasnost threatened party control and Chris ducker could not exist or function without party control Gorbachev reformed away his own influence, essentially because by restructuring the USSR you broke a systems, giving him power. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): However, apart from the ability of glasnost and perestroika to work together, the reforms are generally ineffective in part because of pushback from all sides due to consequences like inflation and because of party lines. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In the early months of 1991 strikes occurred frequently which force the government to create some concessions, even outside of the CPS you. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): For example, Boris Yeltsin President of Russia at the time granted striking writers, the freedom of selling 20% of the profits on the free market. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Other workers began wanting to sell their outfit for dollars, this increase in preference for a free market economy threatens party control over foreign foreign currency earnings which was a main source of the parties power. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The proletariat the working class in whose name the CPS who governed became dissatisfied and wanted the party removed from the workplace entirely a full 1.8 million members left a party in 1990 which still a hard blows with party influence. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The underlining impact of gorbachev's contradictory ineffective reforms on the CPS you said was subsequently meant a loss of party control over the military. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): By 1991 the party had ceased to be a party in any ideological sense, instead of clinging to this last vestiges of influence, by remaining a source of power and privilege for its Members. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): stuff yet military provided to see psu its final authority, the party depends more on the military industrial complex in fact that for its power, then, on its own members. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In a survey conducted 1991 more than 60% of mid level officers wanted to remove the military from the parties influence the party last support and splintered and it's hold on a military dwindled. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The final days of the Soviet Union points to arbitrage reforms being the catalyst of a coup invest, ultimately, the end of the Soviet Union. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): was in charge of a party split between support for an opposition against a decentralized government and he couldn't wait everybody support. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): In March of 1991 our nationwide referendum voted to support gorbachev's plan for looser Union but six republic's boycotted the vote and anti Kremlin initiatives took hold and many other republic's. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The democracy, encouraged by corporate talks glasnost directly translated to a lessening of unity, but nonetheless in July of that year, a new Union trudy was drafted. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): This Treaty and gave unprecedented amount of federal power to the republic's and came close to creating a federation Gorbachev support of the Treaty, pointed towards more decentralization of power and the military did not want power to be decentralized any fruit that already was. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): To prevent for this Sunday to prevent further centralization of power, but still, for your army, the KGB Ministry of Interior and the rest of the military and industry. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): undertook a coup from August 18 to August 21 peaceful resistant efforts one out in the end, but party authority finally broke. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): A few months later, measured against his own ambitions, the USSR died a monumental failure. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): built on the grandest of ideologies, but on the shakiest foundations, the Soviet Union dissolved on December 25 1991. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The Soviet Union could not be reformed reforming the Union to align with gorbachev's goals lead in the end to a transformation of the Union into a different entity one no longer in accordance with this Communist beginnings. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The USSR state socialism required so many are forms to function efficiently without corruption that it changed entirely through his reforms Gorbachev found himself trying to reform away the very essence of the USSR and in the end, he succeeded. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Once perestroika got close to restructuring the state glasnost swept in dissolve the blind party obedience perestroika needed to build structure around. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): If the Soviets had not instituted state socialism, that would have been no state in need of restructuring, there would have been no state, and neither liberalisation or democratic efforts go gorbachev's reforms we're doomed from the start, because of this. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): And the end it was gorbachev's restructuring of the party and if governments in tandem with this openness to criticism that enabled the military to rise up in a coup and boss, and the Union, thank you. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much for every year. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much, I guess the moral is be careful what you wish for. David A. Horowitz: i'm now going to deliver some comments. David A. Horowitz: i'm very excited about all three of these papers, I think this is the highest quality of work and i'm not just saying that to make people feel good it's based on a certain amount of experience of dealing with a student papers. David A. Horowitz: roseland days paper on Reagan and the end of the Cold War is a wonderful summation of the scholarship that is out there on this intriguing period in in US history in the 1980s and Ronald Reagan and. David A. Horowitz: It seems as if she really gets to the heart of the matter. David A. Horowitz: When she quotes the CIA report. David A. Horowitz: That said. David A. Horowitz: reagan's military buildup. David A. Horowitz: had no effect. David A. Horowitz: On Soviet military spending in the 1980s that meant that it was a myth that the American military buildup simply force the Russians to go bankrupt and trying to equal the armaments structure that Reagan had negotiated with his own economy. David A. Horowitz: One of the interesting aspects. David A. Horowitz: Of the perception among American conservatives in the 1980s was that the Soviets had greater mega time. David A. Horowitz: Big nuclear weapons that there was a myth that was basically a nuclear weapons get. David A. Horowitz: That the Soviets mega Tom bombs were totally going to dominate the United States but later research shows that, while the Soviets did have an advantage of those heavy megaton bomb. David A. Horowitz: missiles that were aimed at Western Europe, the United States had more effective precision weapons so there wasn't such a tremendous gap as some conservatives said there was. David A. Horowitz: The other interesting thing. David A. Horowitz: That. David A. Horowitz: That Rosalind paper points out is that Reagan had actually begun to soften his stance. David A. Horowitz: toward the Soviet Union in 1983 which was 18 months before go Robert chef took power, so it wasn't just the opportunity that Gorbachev present that enabled Reagan becomes something like a peacemaker. David A. Horowitz: The Star Wars. David A. Horowitz: Star Wars factor is very interesting Gorbachev would have gone for a more complete arms deal if Reagan had given up Star Wars, but I wonder. David A. Horowitz: If Reagan was clinging to Star Wars as a way of assuring the American people. David A. Horowitz: That he could go about. David A. Horowitz: A certain level of nuclear disarmament, with the Soviets without jeopardizing the security of the American people. David A. Horowitz: The space satellite laser weapons were supposed to stop incoming missiles, maybe Star Wars was just part of reagan's strategy to move toward nuclear disarmament. David A. Horowitz: And it's so fascinating that Reagan lost faith in nuclear deterrence and mutual assured destruction that if you built up your nuclear weapons. David A. Horowitz: The other side wouldn't they are mess with you, he thought that was immoral that could be accidents and that it really wouldn't work. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: there's a great irony in the story, I think. David A. Horowitz: And essentially roseland paper touched on it, and that is. David A. Horowitz: Reagan won the Cold War by making peace. David A. Horowitz: Reagan who often represented this militant kind of American nationalism. David A. Horowitz: Actually deprived Gorbachev. David A. Horowitz: Have any reason to fear the United States if the US was going to participate in this nuclear disarmament which eventually became the I n F treaty. David A. Horowitz: there's an anecdote that when Reagan and Gorbachev were at that first summit in in Cuba. David A. Horowitz: They were sitting in this room, with all of the technicians going back and forth on all of the intricacies of nuclear weapons and Reagan nudges Gorbachev, this is gonna be let's go out and get some fresh air, you know and they go take a walk. David A. Horowitz: And they come to some informal agreement that they want to work towards real disarmament an incredible moment. David A. Horowitz: reagan's advisors went crazy with that. David A. Horowitz: If what he was giving away the store but. David A. Horowitz: That as soon as Reagan earned the trust of Gorbachev. David A. Horowitz: The whole rationale for the Cold War collapsed and the whole rationale for the Soviet states collapse. David A. Horowitz: Because the Soviet leaders kept telling the people we've got to have this repression we've got to have unity we've got to put all of our resources into weapons because we're being surrounded by capitalists who want to take us over. David A. Horowitz: And once that rationale was gone for their own rule there was no rationale for their own maybe one of the reasons Soviet Union fell. David A. Horowitz: It is interesting. David A. Horowitz: The irony that you win the Cold War by making peace by emotionally disarming your adversaries panic. David A. Horowitz: Paul powers. David A. Horowitz: delivers a very interesting paper. David A. Horowitz: On jazz and the Cold War. David A. Horowitz: And I was taken by the fact that he introduces it by saying. David A. Horowitz: This story has elements of hypocrisy irony and contradiction. David A. Horowitz: And you know it occurred to me. David A. Horowitz: The policy irony and contradiction is about 90% of what history teachers profess it's what we do history, he made me is about. David A. Horowitz: Hypocrisy irony and. David A. Horowitz: He talks about these two these twin crusades one against communism in one against races sometimes they overlapped and sometimes they collide it. David A. Horowitz: But somewhere in the paper toward the end. David A. Horowitz: He invokes the sentiment of some of these African American musicians, who really believe that music spoke its own language, which is a beautiful thought. David A. Horowitz: And although kohl's paper. David A. Horowitz: very realistically dissects us intentions in the Cold War world and the end the use of these musicians to suggest that the United States stands for freedom, when, in many cases, it did not nevertheless. David A. Horowitz: The idea of these musicians. David A. Horowitz: going over and engaging people, even if they happen to be the elites of those countries. David A. Horowitz: As something in it that seems very rewarding. David A. Horowitz: and music does speak its own language, and I was reminded of the way swing music during World War Two help to energize and unify the American people in what was, to a certain extent. David A. Horowitz: i'd oh that's horrendous problems, a multi racial and multicultural democracy, fighting Nazis and Fascists and around the rhythms of swing music. David A. Horowitz: One of the questions that occurred to me was was there a difference in the Eisenhower State Department from the candidate State or in the use of these musicians and that that'd be something interesting to pursue. David A. Horowitz: In terms of government support for the arts, this was not the first example of US government support of the arts. David A. Horowitz: Government supported the arts included. David A. Horowitz: folk music recordings live orchestra and concert band performances. David A. Horowitz: Part of the new deals massive infrastructure program under the works progress administration in the 1930s, a theater project music project folklore. David A. Horowitz: a wonderful renaissance of American culture that occurred with a painting project with the Federal support in the 1930s. David A. Horowitz: In the longer version of the paper cold discusses the kind of controversial appointment of benny Goodman to be one of the emissaries who goes. David A. Horowitz: across to I guess the Soviet Union, as an emissary of American freedom and there were some resentment apparently on the part of some of the African American musicians why this safe white musician who's come in the 1930s was the one that was being. David A. Horowitz: presented to represent the United States and the idea that this this white band musician didn't really represent American jazz, but there is an irony there. David A. Horowitz: Because benny Goodman had been the first white band leader to retain African American musicians in the late 1930s, and I will name them. David A. Horowitz: Excuse me. David A. Horowitz: ganas Teddy Wilson. David A. Horowitz: Electric guitarist Charlie Christian and viper phone performer Lionel Hampton these were not just disorder musicians, these were the geniuses in their field, he broke the color barrier. David A. Horowitz: And swing band music in the late 1930s and the 1940s, and although his music may have gotten very mild and safe by the 1950s. David A. Horowitz: Is a giant figure in the history of jazz. David A. Horowitz: That Rania van sickles. David A. Horowitz: paper on gorbachev's reforms truly is a fascinating exploration of the inside of Soviet and Russian. David A. Horowitz: And there's so many on our knees in this. David A. Horowitz: little bit jeff's openness and his restructuring did encourage the transition from a command economy to a demand economy. David A. Horowitz: that's the essence of capitalism. David A. Horowitz: Is that supposedly consumers are supposed to demand the kind of products they want instead of commerce ours deciding what gets made this the old story that Russian factories in order to produce more shoes. David A. Horowitz: Just produce loads of shoes of the same size that way it looked good in the production quotas. David A. Horowitz: There was the other apocryphal story that rushing working people, used to say. David A. Horowitz: They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work. David A. Horowitz: But there's something here that I think is interesting. David A. Horowitz: today. David A. Horowitz: A lot of young Americans asked what's wrong with socialist. David A. Horowitz: Why can't I have free health insurance why can't I have free tuition for college. David A. Horowitz: And older Americans, many of them are aghast at the notion of a socialist economy, because it is older Americans who tend to to have experienced the Cold War. David A. Horowitz: And who saw. David A. Horowitz: The abuse of the economy and in a command economy like Soviet communism, but also. David A. Horowitz: There are many Americans who are immigrants from socialist countries who fled those countries because of the lack of opportunity because of a stagnant economy because of political operatives making the decisions about the economy, so it is interesting, it gives you some insight. David A. Horowitz: on them. David A. Horowitz: there's a section of for fed erroneous paper which describes the difficulties of restructuring, a system. David A. Horowitz: When powerful vested interests have a stake in keeping that system going. David A. Horowitz: and interesting. David A. Horowitz: The three sectors that she mentioned. David A. Horowitz: With the Soviet military industrial complex. David A. Horowitz: The agro industrial complex. David A. Horowitz: And the fuel and the complex curiously Those are three pockets. David A. Horowitz: of resistance to change in the United States, there are some similarities and then she mentions, of course, him to make it even more complicated in the Soviet Union ethnic rivalries, which we know something about as well in the United States. David A. Horowitz: Another interesting parallel that I found to the American experience. David A. Horowitz: those on the Right. David A. Horowitz: criticize gorbachev's reforms is too radical. David A. Horowitz: those on the Left criticize gorbachev's reforms as to incremental. David A. Horowitz: That gridlock that stalemate that comes when ideologies collide. David A. Horowitz: At any rate I thoroughly enjoyed all three of these papers, they are all infused with intelligence that makes me feel really good. David A. Horowitz: about young historians and they both deal with conventional wisdom and turning it on its side and all are beautifully expressed and well written. David A. Horowitz: This is really excellent so now. David A. Horowitz: What i'd like you to consider doing is using your Q amp a function. David A. Horowitz: and addressing questions, perhaps to particular presenters so we can open up our discussion. David A. Horowitz: To the audience and I will click and see what we've got going here. David A. Horowitz: Okay, this is a question for Mr powers. David A. Horowitz: From Zen green What would you say was the most important thing that the musicians got out of their experience. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: i'll answer that. Cole Powers: yeah I don't. Cole Powers: I don't know I feel like it's hard to pinpoint a single important thing. Cole Powers: But definitely. Cole Powers: Like being able to speak for Racial freedom and having like a pulpit to do that from and being backed by the US while doing that was a hugely important part. Cole Powers: And then also just probably you know, like her what's you're talking about the government spending in the arts and. Cole Powers: That became before these programs, but I think they're also was kind of an increase in government spending in the arts and specifically with jazz jazz hasn't really received much attention from the US before so. Cole Powers: that's another important part they're getting out of it and, like go SP is advocating in his article that he wrote afterwards, for more government support for the arts so they're kind of. Cole Powers: They are for the first time, being funded and supported by the government. David A. Horowitz: You know. David A. Horowitz: One of the interesting sidelights was many of the bebop musicians had turned to. David A. Horowitz: Islam as a religion rejected Christianity and so, in terms of some of these tours that the Middle East, you know that probably had some residents as well. David A. Horowitz: Alright let's see what we have here. David A. Horowitz: This is from Nina sigh Dale, and this is Nicole lucky guy I was wondering if you could talk about how the effect of these tours as a tool of American cold war propaganda or different abroad versus in America. Cole Powers: i'm i'm not sure how much I can talk about that. The. Cole Powers: It was. Cole Powers: brubeck talks a little bit about it in his article where he talks about when he's in Europe. Cole Powers: People like meeting him backstage and saying why don't artists rule the world like this is your your being here, means that we have freedoms, there were definitely areas where it was powerfully symbolic. Cole Powers: In the Soviet Union. Cole Powers: There were. Cole Powers: It was the youth was turning especially to jazz us kind of this symbol of American freedom. Cole Powers: And of like. Cole Powers: that's what I guess one look at it i've also read articles that say youth, just like jazz and it wasn't really symbolizing freedom, so I think that's Another question is like how much. Cole Powers: Was this music just popular and how much did it actually. Cole Powers: Like professed what the State Department was trying to save it and convey the symbolism of freedom to other countries, I don't know I think that's a question that i've read both sides of. David A. Horowitz: I have a question from an anonymous attendee. David A. Horowitz: To roseland was the American public aware of the collapse within the USSR that into the Cold War, and if they were what were the responses. David A. Horowitz: sure. ROSELYN DAI: i'm. ROSELYN DAI: To be honest, this wasn't an aspect I looked too much into but from what I can tell. ROSELYN DAI: It was knowledge for a long time that the Soviet economy was not doing well, I think the extent of it, I stayed in the CIO reports was probably not known to the public, but they were aware of that and they were aware of the reforms to. ROSELYN DAI: Within the Soviet Union, and I think. ROSELYN DAI: The response to that, and the other quarter, I think, also. ROSELYN DAI: Had a factor of surprise for many people, including the American public in specific towards like what like the collapsing, of the USSR and what Reagan did to it, many of republican supporters were really displeased by his reactions to what was going on. ROSELYN DAI: And then I think addressing Dr Horowitz your idea about St, I think, maybe one of the reasons why Reagan was still so willing to cling on to that was for his republican base as well. David A. Horowitz: let's see i've got another anonymous attendee or maybe it's the same anonymous attendee. David A. Horowitz: To five Rania. David A. Horowitz: there's a long question. David A. Horowitz: Do you think there was a way to reform the Soviet Union, without complete collapse. David A. Horowitz: Or do you think it was inevitable and a new government was required for change, for instance slower reforms to put less stress on the system. David A. Horowitz: Or, more monumental changes to quickly change, this is the without the problematic transition. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So that's a really good question. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): There are multiple answers so Gorbachev could have taken different reformatted routes, you could have gone slower he could have gone he couldn't really have gone quicker because of pushback but he could have gone slower and if he hadn't gone. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): as fast as he did the state still would have collapsed in a few decades that's what my research showed due to the in effect. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): The ineffectiveness of the to government thing it was going to class anyway, whether or not he did anything, eventually, but what he made it collapse sooner, is what his reforms did he caused the coup, because of the conflict between perestroika and glasnost yeah. David A. Horowitz: anonymous attendees back for a Rania why didn't go a bit chefs policy reforms focus on pushing the USSR two or more Marxist form of comedy. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): That is because they had already done, the Marxist route in their eyes. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): They had looked at it, they had lived through it, they decided that it wasn't working. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): They had also done, I think, under crucial was a leader in the 16th of the Union, they had done experiments. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): Like simulated experiments on capitalist economies and they found that those worked better than what their current Communist economy is doing. Fevronia Van Sickle (she/her): So they looked at those experiments and they looked at what was happening with Communism currently and they concluded that a capitalist emotion would be better. David A. Horowitz: I think we've gotten to the end of our questions. David A. Horowitz: This is such a fascinating period, in my view, I just finished teaching Reagan in the 1980s. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: it's so interesting. David A. Horowitz: How someone like Reagan who certainly was limited in many ways. David A. Horowitz: could nevertheless have this instinct. David A. Horowitz: That it was time to negotiate disarmament and that I an F Treaty, which was about intermediate missiles in Europe, and so forth. David A. Horowitz: It kind of broke the ice and it took away the rationale for the Soviet empire. David A. Horowitz: At least for a while. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: i'm very much affected by a book by jack diggins john diggins on Reagan. David A. Horowitz: Who talks about Reagan is a great hero with peace. David A. Horowitz: As the President, who really did win the Cold War by abandoning it. David A. Horowitz: And there again we get to irony. David A. Horowitz: hypocrisy and contradiction of those elements of historical analysis. David A. Horowitz: which makes the enterprise so interesting. David A. Horowitz: let's see, I have oh there's some another question. David A. Horowitz: Thank you, sorry, excuse me. David A. Horowitz: Did Reagan tried to force the Star Wars issue because he thought the Soviets were more vulnerable at the time of their economic stress. David A. Horowitz: That would be for rosalie. ROSELYN DAI: yeah that's a good question I think Reagan was really intent on the Star Wars issue, not necessarily because. ROSELYN DAI: You wanted to push the Soviets further in like a time of crisis, for them, but more that he really wanted just assurance for nuclear like deterrence, because he didn't believe in mad, and he found it necessary to have some Defense against. ROSELYN DAI: Like weaponry and nuclear nuclear weaponry, in particular. David A. Horowitz: Well, I think we've come to the end of our run here I think it's been a very fruitful conversation. David A. Horowitz: It really helps me have thoughtful papers. David A. Horowitz: To be able to have an interesting conversation now, if you look at your your chat there's some instructions from our host Claire. David A. Horowitz: That some links to. David A. Horowitz: The next sessions that are available to you in this conference, otherwise I think we're going to wrap up Is there anyone. David A. Horowitz: Who has anything else to say. David A. Horowitz: Thank you very much for such wonderful papers. David A. Horowitz: And this is, as I say about the best session i've ever chair. David A. Horowitz: So I am going, you can check your chat for the rest of the afternoon. David A. Horowitz: and David A. Horowitz: Thank your teachers. David A. Horowitz: for helping you through this and producing these wonderful products are i'm going to leave the room now. David A. Horowitz: thanks for your attention audience.