As America watched the fall of the Berlin Wall with great
enthusiasm, President George H. W. Bush called the incident
simply "a good development." He knew that the Cold War was far
from over and that bringing it to an end would require not only
symbolic gestures but also practical diplomacy.
During Bush's presidency (1989–93), the Berlin Wall fell, the
Warsaw Pact dissolved, Germany was reunified, and the Soviet
Union ceased to exist. Yet, many people believe the Cold War
ended under Reagan and that Bush's foreign policy achievements
were merely an extension of Reagan's policies.
In this in-depth look at the Bush administration's handling of the
end of the Cold War, author Christopher Maynard argues that Bush
actually made a fundamental shift in foreign policy regarding the
Soviet Union. In part, he believes, historians have downplayed
Bush's contribution because they have focused on the strong
ideological rhetoric of Reagan and Gorbachev without looking at
the day-to-day process of policymaking during the Cold War.
Out of the Shadow incorporates a variety of important,
previously unused sources. Its focused treatment of the topic will
appeal to scholars interested in both the first Bush presidency and
the Cold War.
_________________________________________________________
CHRISTOPHER MAYNARD is associate professor and chair of the
Department of History and Political Science at the University of North
Alabama. He received his Ph.D. in history from Louisiana State
University and lives in Florence, Alabama.
Number Nine: Foreign Relations and the Presidency
What people are saying about this book
"Out of the Shadow is an important addition to the scholarship on
the presidency of George H. W. Bush. Most of the work that has
been done on the end of the Cold War tends to focus on Ronald
Reagan or on other events. Additionally, most of the research on the
first Bush presidency tends to be general assessments or studies of
the Persian Gulf War. This is the only book-length study of the forty-
first president's role in the end of the Cold War."—Ryan Barilleaux,
professor and chair, Department of Political Science, Miami
University of Ohio
" . . . a superb chronicle of an underappreciated moment in
American diplomatic history—that moment when the first President
Bush successfully managed the end of the Cold War. . . . a moment
that Maynard narrates with grace and precision. An outstanding
book."—John Robert Greene, Cazenovia College
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