Nicholas Thompson, a Senior Research Fellow of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation and the author of “The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War,” will present a public talk titled, “The Hawk and the Dove: how Nitze and Kennan shaped the Cold War and the relevancy of their ideas today,” at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 17, in Bow 016, Robertson Hall, on the Princeton University campus. A book signing and public reception will immediately follow the talk in the Bernstein gallery.
Thompson is a senior editor at Wired Magazine and an official panelist on CNN International’s “Connect the World” with Becky Anderson. He is the author of the new book, “The Hawk and the Dove” which examines the strategies of political rivals and friends Paul Nitze and George Kennan for winning the Cold War.
Thompson, the grandson of Paul Nitze, conducted much of his research in the George F. Kennan Papers held at Princeton’s Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library.
Kennan, a diplomat and historian, is best known for writing the “Long Telegram” and the subsequent “X” article in Foreign Affairs in which he advocated for a new course in U.S.-Soviet relations that became known as “containment.” Kennan, a 1925 Princeton graduate, was involved in diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union throughout most of his distinguished career in the U.S. Foreign Service. As a historian at the Institute for Advanced Study, he studied modern Russian and European history and became an important critic of American foreign policy. His papers document his entire career. For more information on the Kennan Papers, see: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/n009w2294.
Prior to Wired, Thompson was a senior editor at Legal Affairs and an editor at the Washington Monthly. He has written about politics, technology, and the law for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, Foreign Policy, The New Republic, The New York Observer, and many other publications. He is a frequent guest on CNN’s American Morning and NBC’s Today Show. He has also appeared as a commentator on Bloomberg Television, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, ABC’s Live with Regis and Kelly and World News Tonight, CBS’s Early Show, and National Public Radio.
This event is co-sponsored with the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Mudd Manuscript Library. It is free and open to the public.
Contact: Patricia Yelavich (609) 258‑2943
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