Professor and author Noam Chomsky discusses the current "War on Terrorism" in the context of earlier perceptions of terrorism and national threat, including the Cold War and World War II.
The link provides direct access to the video, as no visual webpage exists as a gateway.
Don Oberdorfer of Jon Hopkins University outlines the history of U.S. foreign relations with Korea, from World War II and its division into North and South Korea, through the Korean War, up to the present day and the President George W. Bush's inclusion of North Korea in his "Axis of Evil." Oberdorfer looks particularly at North Korean nuclear production and U.S. and global reactions (and possible future reactions) to this development.
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Martin van Creveld of Hebrew University examines the intimate relationship between warfare and technological development—including the essential change in the nature of war that the development of nuclear weapons brought about (a new warfare in which victory did not ensure survival) and the U.S.'s emphasis on technological superiority in warfare (regardless of the effectiveness of this approach). This lecture was conducted for "Teaching Military History, Why and How: A History Institute for Teachers," held on September 2930, 2007. The event was sponsored by the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Marvin Wachman Fund for International Education and the Cantigny First Division Foundation, and held at the Cantigny First Division Museum in Wheaton, IL.
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Presidential historian Michael Beschloss discusses the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, when Soviet nuclear-tipped missiles in Cuba are pointed at the United States, and JFK is faced with the prospect of nuclear war.
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On the 60th anniversary of the atom bomb drop on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Brian Williams speaks to one of the navigators of the Enola Gay.
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"This 3-day summer institute will give participating teachers an opportunity to deepen their understanding of Iranian culture and politics, and explore critical issues in Iranian-U.S. relations. Major themes covered during this institute will include Islam and Iranian society, the role of Islam in politics, democratic forces in Iran, the history of Iranian-U.S. relations, and current pressing issues in Iranian-U.S relations, including nuclear proliferation and Iran’s involvement in the Iraq conflict."
Professor David Kennedy examines the experience of the American people in the Great Depression and World War II. Lecture topics include the origins and impact of the Great Depression; the nature and legacy of the New Deal; the military and diplomatic dimensions of American participation in World War II; and the war's impact on American society. Special attention will be given to the historical debate about the Depression's causes; America and the Holocaust; the wartime internment of Japanese-Americans; and the use of atomic bombs against Japan.
This website provides access to facsimiles of 100 declassified documents relating to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Documents include reports from Signal and Communications Intelligence and NSA memos, 20 written by the Director of National Security. For example, the first document from 1960 is entitled, "Indications of Soviet arms shipments to Cuba, weekly COMINT Economic Briefing."
Documents are indexed by date and include brief descriptions. The documents describe Soviet involvement in Cuba and Cuban military activities by year, focusing on 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, and 1969. This site also provides a synopsis of the crisis, emphasizing the Cuban arms buildup, the growing crisis, and the moments of crisis.