Monday, January 28, 2008

Maynard Wayne Glitman, The last battle of the Cold War


Providing a first-hand account of the bureaucratic and public struggles leading to the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, the author focuses on debates among American negotiators, Europeans and Soviets. This is an important look at policy making and negotiations all the more relevant in an age of nuclear proliferation.
Ambassador Glitman played a central role in US INF policy and negotiations during the last decade of the Cold War. His record provides an invaluable account of the dramatic and pivotal developments in Washington, NATO, and Geneva, culminating in the unprecedented achievement of the INF Treaty in 1987, the first agreement in history to eliminate nuclear weapons. His book is an essential reading for anyone who seeks to learn the behind-the-scenes story of the hard work by dedicated diplomats. Part revealing memoir, part insightful diplomatic history, this is a remarkably thorough book highlighting the role and importance of disarmament and arms control negotiations.

Born in 1933, Mr. Glitman entered the Foreign Service in 1956. From 1956 to 1959, he was an economic officer in the Department of State and then was a fiscal and financial officer. An international relations officer in the Department of State until 1967, he was detailed to the United Nations General Assembly and to the National Security Council. From 1968 to 1973, he was a political officer in Paris. He returned to the Department of State to be Director of the Office of International Trade Policy and subsequently was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Trade Policy. He was then detailed to the Department of Defense, where he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, 1976 - 1977. From 1977 to 1981, he was deputy chief of mission at the United States Mission to NATO in Brussels. He was then appointed Department of State representative and deputy negotiator to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Negotiations, with the rank of Ambassador, in Geneva from 1981 to 1984. In 1984 Mr. Glitman was chief U.S. representative at the Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction (MBFR) Talks in Vienna. Since 1985 he has been the chief U.S. negotiator for Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces in Geneva. He was nominated U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Belgium, 1988-1991.

Maynard Wayne Glitman, The last battle of the Cold War: an inside account of negotiating the intermediate range nuclear force treaty, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2006.

(Marco Davi')

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