Cold War

Boris Spassky, Soviet chess champion who lost to Bobby Fischer, dies at 88

12:51am February 28, 2025

A televised 1972 match between Spassky and Fischer, at the height of the Cold War, became an international sensation and was known as the "Match of the Century."

History has never ended, but are we at a crossroads again?

6:00am December 20, 2024

Oxford professor Ben Ansell says we are witnessing a battle between nationalism and liberalism that will write our own time indelibly into the history books of tomorrow.

The Russian Embassy in Rome on Wednesda. Italy has ordered two Russian Embassy officials expelled and arrested an Italian Navy captain on spying charges after police caught the Italian allegedly giving classified documents to one of the Russians in exchan

World News

Italy Expels 2 Russian Embassy Officials, Arrests Navy Captain On Spying Charges

2:43pm March 31, 2021

by Sylvia Poggioli

The captain, identified by Italian media as Walter Biot, was reportedly caught Tuesday evening as he handed over allegedly top-secret documents to one of the Russian diplomats in exchange for money.

George Blake, a former British spy and double agent in service of the Soviet Union, in Moscow in 2006.

World News

British Double Agent George Blake Honored At His Moscow Funeral As A Russian Hero

7:07pm December 30, 2020

by Reese Oxner

The Cold War-era turncoat became a believer in communism after he was captured in North Korea and went on to spy for the Soviet Union. He died Saturday in Moscow at the age of 98.

Jonathan Pollard, the American convicted of spying for Israel, leaves a New York courthouse following his release from prison in 2015. As of Friday, Pollard has completed the terms of his parole and is a free man.

Jonathan Pollard, Who Sold Cold War Secrets To Israel, Completes Parole

6:18pm November 21, 2020

by Matthew S. Schwartz

After 30 years in prison, and five years on stringent parole, former U.S. Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard plans to move to Israel, his lawyers said.

A demonstration of a ventilator for future patients with coronavirus at Samson Assuta Ashdod University Hospital in Ashdod, Israel.

Trump Invokes A Cold War Relic, The Defense Production Act, For Coronavirus Shortages

9:48pm March 18, 2020

by David Welna

A law that allows the executive branch to direct industrial production is being used to spur firms to step up their output of scarce items, such as face masks and ventilators.

The Doomsday Clock reads 100 seconds to midnight, a decision made by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists that was announced Thursday. The clock is intended to represent the danger of global catastrophe.

The End May Be Nearer: Doomsday Clock Moves Within 100 Seconds Of Midnight

8:50pm January 23, 2020

by David Welna

The two-minute warning that had held over the past two years has now shrunk to 100 seconds before midnight on the Doomsday Clock set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

The Mysterious Affair at Olivetti: IBM, the CIA, and the Cold War Conspiracy to Shut Down Production of the World's First Desktop Computer, by Meryle Secrest

Books
Arts

'The Mysterious Affair At Olivetti' Attempts To Find A Cold War Conspiracy

10:52am November 07, 2019

by Bradley Babendir

Biographer Meryle Secrest chases a theory that two key Olivetti computer visonaries' deaths did not happen as officially recorded. While a gripping read at times, there's not a lot of solid ground.

Chinese military delegates arrive for the National People's Congress in Beijing last March. The growing friction between the U.S. and China, combined with the rapid rise of China's economy and its military, has stirred a debate about whether the U.S. and

Are The U.S. And China Headed For A Cold War?

1:46pm September 09, 2019

by Greg Myre

U.S.-China tensions are rising on almost every front, and there are plenty of parallels to the U.S.-Soviet rivalry. Analysts say competition is inevitable, but doesn't have to lead to confrontation.

Queue Listen Now

President George H.W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin toast to each other after signing an arms control treaty in January 1993 in Moscow. Bush skillfully cultivated relationships with both Yeltsin and his Soviet predecessor, Mikhail Gorbachev.

Politics & Government

George H.W. Bush's Life Has Plenty Of Lessons For Today's Politics

10:04am December 03, 2018

by Domenico Montanaro

People who worked with Bush valued his character, manners and experience. That, they said, led him to be successful in managing the end of the Cold War — and current leaders could learn from that.