US Foreign Policy discussion

He was considered by many one of the greatest -- and argueably the greatest -- of the Cold Warriors. Paul Nitze lived a fascinating, vibrant and varied life and his memoirs detailed his life as a world traveler at a young age up to his service on the Bombing Study Group to ascertain the effectiveness of Allied bombing strikes in Germany and Japan - including the impact of the nuclear bombings of Nagaski and Hiroshima. Of course, his mark on US and world history was during his tenure in and out of government as a diplomat, scholar, businessman and interlocutor with the Soviets during the Cold War. And of all this, his critical role in the development of the Containment Policy changed everything for half a century -- giving the Western Allies a strategy to deal with the Communist threat and effectively if not slowly strangle it before it spread throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America.

I had the honor of meeting Ambassador Nitze several times (and even got him to sign a copy of his memoir for me - which now proudly sits in my library). There are few (if any) like him alive today. and his memoir is a superb addition to the genre of Cold War memoirs and histories.

Has anyone else read Nitze's memoirs? Any thoughts or comments on what I've just written?

Frank,

Thank you very much for the recommendation of Ambassador Nitze's memoirs. I will read this book as soon as I can.

I grew up during the Cold War, and my late father was also a Cold Warrior, although in a role hardly as visible as Mr. Nitze's. My dad, an Albanian immigrant who came to the United States as a ten year old and who earned a chemistry college degree thanks to the GI Bill of the 1940s, worked for forty years at a nuclear weapons plant in South Carolina. While he was not permitted to discuss or even divulge the nature of this job, I recall vividly that he was under terrific stress, and his unwavering patriotic commitment to the defense of our country. He will always be one of my heroes for this and other reasons.

By the way, you are doing an excellent as our Group Mediator. Thank you.

Douglas in South Carolina