US Trained Alaskans As Secret ‘Stay-Behind Agents’ As They Feared Russian Invasion During Early Cold War Years
Fearing a Russian invasion and occupation of Alaska, the U.S. government in the early Cold War years recruited and trained fishermen, bush pilots, trappers and other private citizens across Alaska for a covert network to feed wartime intelligence to the military, newly declassified Air Force and FBI documents show.
The U-2 spy plane outlasted the Cold War, outlived its successor and proved crucial a half-century ago when two superpowers were on the brink of nuclear war.
In a cautionary op-ed to “speak directly to the American people,” Russian President Vladimir Putin warns that U.S. “exceptionalism” is dangerous for the international community.
The Washington-Moscow Hotline is not just a Cold War relic, but a system for top-level crisis communications that remains a useful tool for U.S. and Russian leaders at odds over their relations with Syria and Iran, a former director of the Soviet space exploration program says.
As the hub of the Soviet Union, Russia was reviled for rights abuses by many U.S. conservatives during the Cold War. Now some are voicing support and admiration as Russian authorities crack down on gay-rights activism.
Beyond the Air Force’s embarrassing suspension of 17 nuclear missile launch officers lie two broader questions.
A new independent report calls on the United States and Russia to gradually take their nuclear weapons off ready-to-launch status to reduce the threat of mutual assured destruction.
Communist Party newspaper Granma published a lengthy interview with a U.S. diplomat Monday, making for highly unusual reading in a country where the official media routinely depict Washington envoys as hostile agents in cahoots with enemies of the Cuban government.
US lawmakers have confirmed they visited Alan Gross, an American man whose detention in Cuba has hampered efforts to improve relations between the countries.
The door for travel to Cuba cracked open during President Barack Obama’s first term. Cuban-Americans can now visit family on the island as often as they like. Americans can travel legally as part of an academic or religious trip.