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Oxford University Press, USA
Unwanted Visionaries: The Soviet Failure in Asia at the End of the Cold War
Unwanted Visionaries: The Soviet Failure in Asia at the End of the Cold War
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Mikhail Gorbachev's relations with the West have captured the imagination of contemporaries and historians alike, but his vision of Soviet leadership in Asia has received far less attention. The failure of Gorbachev's Asian initiatives has had dramatic consequences, by the late 1980s, the
Soviet Union was in full retreat from Asia, and since the Soviet collapse, Russia has been left on the sidelines of the Pacific century. In this exceptionally wide-ranging and deeply researched book, Sergey Radchenko offers an illuminating account of the end of the Cold War in the East, tracing the death of Soviet ambitions in Asia. Radchenko shows that Gorbachev began with big gestures, of which the most important was his
initiative in Vladivostok in July 1986, the opening salvo of the Soviet charm offensive in Asia Pacific. The problem, Radchenko points out, was that no one in Asia bought into Gorbachev's vision. If the Soviets had realized earlier that they needed Asia more than Asia needed them, they might have
played a much more important role there. Instead, China was largely misunderstood, early gains in India were squandered, Japan was ignored or condescended to, and the Korean scenario played out in ways most unfavorable to Russia. Radchenko captures all of this in his compelling narrative, shedding
important new light on many key players, including Gorbachev, Deng Xiaoping, Margaret Thatcher, Boris Yeltsin, and George H. W. Bush, among others. Based on archival research in Russia, China, Mongolia, India, the United States, Britain, and numerous European countries and on interviews with former policy makers in a dozen countries, Unwanted Visionaries presents a deftly narrated and penetrating portrait of the Soviet failure in the East, with
a wealth of valuable insight into Asia today.
Author: Sergey Radchenko
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 02/06/2014
Pages: 400
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.45lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.40w x 1.50d
ISBN: 9780199938773
Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 03/03/2014
Choice 10/01/2014 pg. 343
Soviet Union was in full retreat from Asia, and since the Soviet collapse, Russia has been left on the sidelines of the Pacific century. In this exceptionally wide-ranging and deeply researched book, Sergey Radchenko offers an illuminating account of the end of the Cold War in the East, tracing the death of Soviet ambitions in Asia. Radchenko shows that Gorbachev began with big gestures, of which the most important was his
initiative in Vladivostok in July 1986, the opening salvo of the Soviet charm offensive in Asia Pacific. The problem, Radchenko points out, was that no one in Asia bought into Gorbachev's vision. If the Soviets had realized earlier that they needed Asia more than Asia needed them, they might have
played a much more important role there. Instead, China was largely misunderstood, early gains in India were squandered, Japan was ignored or condescended to, and the Korean scenario played out in ways most unfavorable to Russia. Radchenko captures all of this in his compelling narrative, shedding
important new light on many key players, including Gorbachev, Deng Xiaoping, Margaret Thatcher, Boris Yeltsin, and George H. W. Bush, among others. Based on archival research in Russia, China, Mongolia, India, the United States, Britain, and numerous European countries and on interviews with former policy makers in a dozen countries, Unwanted Visionaries presents a deftly narrated and penetrating portrait of the Soviet failure in the East, with
a wealth of valuable insight into Asia today.
Author: Sergey Radchenko
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 02/06/2014
Pages: 400
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.45lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.40w x 1.50d
ISBN: 9780199938773
Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 03/03/2014
Choice 10/01/2014 pg. 343
About the Author
Sergey Radchenko is Assistant Professor, University of Nottingham, Ningbo Campus, People's Republic of China. He is the author of Two Suns in the Heavens: The Sino-Soviet Struggle for Supremacy, 1962-1967 and co-author of The Atomic Bomb and the Origins of the Cold War.
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