Cold War (1945-1989)

Journalist Fred Kaplan's new book explores the evolution of the United States' nuclear arms policies through the lens of rivalries between the Air Force and Navy and the increasingly theoretical analyses made by political figures and think tanks.

Paul Nitze began his political career in FDR's administration. His research on the nuclear arms race and the Soviet Union has helped shape the US's foreign and military policy over the past several decades.

Former diplomat and journalist William Attwood has a new book about the Cold War, called The Twilight Struggle. Reflecting on the history of McCarthyism, relations with communist countries, and undercover operations, he believes the Cold War's end is in sight.

David Aaron, former deputy director of the National Security Council. His experience as an arms negotiator in the Carter administration provides the background for State Scarlet, his novel about terrorism and nuclear weapons.

Veteran arms negotiator and diplomat Paul Nitze. Nitze has spent nearly 50 years at the highest levels of this country's foreign policy, and advised every President from F. D. R. to George Bush. He helped form the Marshall Plan after World War Two, dealt with the Berlin War and Cuban Missile crises, and engaged in the famous "walk in the woods," during the U-S/Soviet INF treaty negotiations. Nitze has just written a memoir of his public life, called "From Hiroshima to Glasnost."

Richard Barnet, co-founder of the Institute for Policy Studies. Barnet discusses the end of the Cold War and the implications for U.S. domestic and foreign policy. His new book is "The Rocket's Red Glare." (It's published by Simon and Schuster).

Soviet commentator Vladimir Pozner (poez-ner, not pahs-ner). Pozner is a fixture on American talk shows...an intelligent, affable, understandable interpreter of Soviet events and policies. Pozner was born in France, grew up in Brooklyn, and moved to the Soviet Union at age 19. In his new book, "Parting With Illusions," Pozner looks back on his life, talks about the Soviet Union under leaders from Stalin to Gorbechev, and discusses the recent "ending" of the cold war. (The book's published by the Atlantic Monthly Press).

Writer David Wise. He's written extensively on intelligence and espionage. His new book is "Molehunt: The Secret Search for Traitors that Shattered the CIA," (published by Random House) about the CIA's search for Soviet spies within in their own ranks.

Journalist Mark Perry is the Author of "Four Stars: The Joint Chiefs of Staff." His most recent book is "Eclipse: The Last Days of the C.I.A:" It examines the power struggle that took place after William Casey died, and after the fall of the Soviet Union. He also dispells the notion that the C.I.A. is still a highly effective and powerful organization.

Journalist and professor Fred Halliday teaches international relations at the London School of Economics, and has written extensively on the Cold War and the Third World for "The Nation," and "The Middle East Report." Today he talks to Terry about international hotbeds of chaos -- the former Yugoslavia and Somalia, as well as problems in the Middle East.

Alger Hiss & his son Tony Hiss. This is the infamous Alger Hiss who was convicted and jailed in 1950 for perjury after denying, under oath, that he had been a Soviet spy. This past October, with the opening of Soviet archives, there was found to be no evidence that Hiss had ever been an agent of the Kremlin. Hiss is 88 years old now, and has maintained his innocence all along. His son, Tony Hiss is a staff writer at "The New Yorker," and he wrote about his father's ordeal and exoneration in the November 16 issue of the magazine.

Crowe was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Reagan and Bush. He's now chair of Clinton's foreign intelligence advisory board. In the late 1980s, Crowe developed an unusual friendship with his Soviet counterpart, Marshal Sergei F. Akromeyev, who later committed suicide after being accused of taking part in the Soviet coup. Crowe urged Bush to delay the start up in the Gulf War. And later, he endorsed Clinton for president. His new book is called, "The Line of Fire"

Author and Historian Richard Rhodes discusses the Cold War battle for the Hydrogen Bomb. His latest book is Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb (Simon & Shuster August 1995) Using recently declassified files in the United States and the Soviet Union he details the escalation of the Superpower arms race. He won a Pulitzer Prize for chronicling the Manhattan Project in The Making of the Atomic Bomb. He is the author of several other books including Nuclear Renewal: Common Sense about Energy, A Hole in the World, Sons of Earth, and Looking for America.

Former Soviet Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Dobrynin. Dobrynin has written his autobiography In Confidence: Moscow's Ambassador to America's Six Cold War Presidents published by Times Books 1995. Dobrynin was Ambassador from 1962 (Kennedy) through 1986 (Reagan). He was a key diplomat in many U.S./Soviet conflicts including The Cuban Missile Crisis. Dobrynin, now 76 years old, is still active in Russian diplomacy as senior advisor to the Foreign Ministry. He lives in Moscow.

Journalist Evan Thomas. He is Assistant Managing Editor and Washington Bureau Chief at Newsweek. His new book is The Very Best Men: Four Who Dared: The Early Years of the CIA (Simon & Schuster). In the book he tells about the men who ran the CIA's covert operations during the worst of the cold war years. Thomas had access to the CIA's own records about their operations, and he interviewed many of the men involved. Thomas was the only person to have such access to the CIA's archives. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW).

His new book is At the Abyss: An Insider's History of the Cold War. Reed recounts America's fight against communism at the height of the cold war. Reed was director of national reconnaissance, a special assistant to President Reagan for national security policy, and a consultant to the director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a well-known center for nuclear weapons research.

Slate columnist Fred Kaplan offers a scathing critique of the Bush administration's foreign policy initiatives in his new book, Daydream Believers: How a Few Grand Ideas Wrecked American Power.

United States security has long been a primary issue for the conservative movement. But is an aggressive foreign policy actually counterproductive? Author J. Peter Scoblic says yes.

Journalist David E. Hoffman revisits the high stakes maneuverings of the Cold War arms race and details the inner-workings of the Soviet nuclear program in his new book.

Set in the Cold War era, the espionage thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy spotlights a retired security agent's mission to uncover a Russian spy within Britain's MI6. David Edelstein says the movie is thrilling, creepy and full of "faces you'll love to study."