Cold War Radio: The Russian Broadcasts of the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Summary

Cold War Radio is a fascinating look at how the United States waged the Cold War through the international broadcasting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Mark G. Pomar served in senior positions at VOA and RFE/RL from 1982 to 1993, during which time the Reagan and Bush administrations made VOA and RFE/RL an important part of their foreign policy.

VOA is America's "national voice" and is charged with explaining United States government policies and telling America's story with the aim of gaining the respect and goodwill of its target audience. During the Cold War, the VOA Russian Service broadcast twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

RFE/RL is a private corporation, funded until 1971 by the CIA and afterward through open congressional appropriations. Its Russian Service broadcast news, feature programming, and op-eds that would have been part of daily political discourse if Russia had free media.

Pomar takes listeners inside the two radio stations to show how the broadcasts were conceived and the impact they had on international broadcasting, United States-Soviet relations, Russian history, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.