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====US-Russia relations====
====US-Russia relations====
Cohen maintains that US foreign policy is responsible for the continuation of [[Cold War]] hostilities between the two countries despite its terminus in 1991, citing [[NATO]] 's eastward expansion as evidence for his hypothesis.<ref>[http://www.thenation.com/article/new-american-cold-war Stephen F. Cohen: The New American Cold War] in The National vom 10. Juli 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.thenation.com/article/167746/stop-pointless-demonization-putin Stephen F. Cohen: Stop the Pointless Demonization of Putin] in The National vom 6. Mai 2012.</ref>
Cohen maintains that the USA has resumed the [[Cold War]] that in 1991 was officially declared as ended, without admitting this to themselves. The stinted interpretation of an "American victory" and a "Russian defeat" since the time of [[Bill Clinton]] had led to treating post-communist Russia like a defeated nation, even though her military potential inherited from the USSR was still fully intact. This "triumphalism" had led to the expectation that Russia would copy the common practice of completely submitting to the American foreign policy. Public shows of friendship like those between Clinton and [[Boris Yeltsin]] were without real value taking into account the real background. Clinton, contrary to the promise of his predecessor, extended [[NATO]] eastward and implemented a strategy of [[containment]]. Russia inevitably reacted with suspicion. Moreover, Cohen cites the cancellation of the [[ABM-treaty]] in 2002 and the refusal of admission to the [[WTO]] at he [[G8-summit in Sankt Petersburg 2006]]. Cohen also criticises the "pointless demonization"" of [[Vladimir Putin]] as an „autocrat“.<ref>[http://www.thenation.com/article/new-american-cold-war Stephen F. Cohen: The New American Cold War] in The National vom 10. Juli 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.thenation.com/article/167746/stop-pointless-demonization-putin Stephen F. Cohen: Stop the Pointless Demonization of Putin] in The National vom 6. Mai 2012.</ref>

Cohen asserts that US foreign policy is responsible for the continuation of [[Cold War]] hostilities between the two countries despite its terminus in 1991, citing [[NATO]] 's eastward expansion as evidence for his hypothesis.<ref>[http://www.thenation.com/article/new-american-cold-war Stephen F. Cohen: The New American Cold War] in The National vom 10. Juli 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.thenation.com/article/167746/stop-pointless-demonization-putin Stephen F. Cohen: Stop the Pointless Demonization of Putin] in The National vom 6. Mai 2012.</ref>


=====Munk Debate=====
=====Munk Debate=====

Revision as of 11:04, 10 May 2016

For other persons with a similar name, see Stephen Cohen.
Stephen F. Cohen
BornStephen Frand Cohen
(1938-11-25) November 25, 1938 (age 85)
Owensboro, Kentucky
OccupationAuthor, historian
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
EducationMA, BA, P.H.D
Alma materIndiana University, Columbia University
SpouseLynne Blair (divorced)
Katrina vanden Heuvel (m. 1988)
Children1 son, 2 daughters

Stephen Frand Cohen (born November 25, 1938) is an American scholar of Russian studies at Princeton University and New York University. His academic work concentrates on modern Russian history since the Bolshevik Revolution and the country's relationship with the United States.

Education and career

Cohen's family is Jewish.[1] His grandfather emigrated to the United States from Lithuania (then part of the Russian Empire).[2]

Stephen Cohen was born in 1938 in Owensboro, Kentucky where his father owned a golf course,[3] and attended Indiana University Bloomington, where he earned a B.S. degree and an M.A. degree in Russian Studies. While studying in England, he went on a four-week trip to the Soviet Union, where he became interested in its history and politics. Cohen, who received his Ph.D. in government and Russian studies at Columbia University, became a professor of politics and Russian studies at Princeton University in 1968, where he taught until 1998, and has been teaching at New York University since.

Cohen is well known in both Russian and American circles. He is a close personal friend of former Soviet Pres. Mikhail Gorbachev,[4] advised former U.S. Pres. George H.W. Bush in the late 1980s, helped Nikolai Bukharin's widow, Anna Larina, rehabilitate her name during the Soviet era,[5] and met Joseph Stalin's daughter, Svetlana.[citation needed]

Since 1998, Cohen has been professor of Russian Studies and History at New York University, where he teaches a course titled "Russia Since 1917." He previously taught at Princeton University. He has written several books including those listed below. He is also a CBS News consultant as well as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Cohen has a son and a daughter from his first marriage to opera singer Lynne Blair, from whom he is divorced. Cohen is now married to Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of the progressive magazine The Nation, where he is also a contributing editor. They have one daughter.

Views on the Russian Federation

Ukraine

During the 2014 unrest in Ukraine, Cohen drew criticism for his "pro-Russian" views[6] with sources describing him as an apologist for Putin[7][8] and the Russian government.[6] Cohen personally describes himself as an American "dissenter"[9] and argues that the media stifles anyone who even tries to understand the situation from the Kremlin's perspective while stigmatizing them as Putin apologists for doing so.[9]

In an article in The Nation, Cohen stated that the US political-media establishment was silent about "Kiev's atrocities" in the Donbass region.[10] His article was, in turn, criticized by Cathy Young as "error-riddled" narrative and "embarrassing" repetition of Kremlin propaganda.[11]

US-Russia relations

Cohen maintains that the USA has resumed the Cold War that in 1991 was officially declared as ended, without admitting this to themselves. The stinted interpretation of an "American victory" and a "Russian defeat" since the time of Bill Clinton had led to treating post-communist Russia like a defeated nation, even though her military potential inherited from the USSR was still fully intact. This "triumphalism" had led to the expectation that Russia would copy the common practice of completely submitting to the American foreign policy. Public shows of friendship like those between Clinton and Boris Yeltsin were without real value taking into account the real background. Clinton, contrary to the promise of his predecessor, extended NATO eastward and implemented a strategy of containment. Russia inevitably reacted with suspicion. Moreover, Cohen cites the cancellation of the ABM-treaty in 2002 and the refusal of admission to the WTO at he G8-summit in Sankt Petersburg 2006. Cohen also criticises the "pointless demonization"" of Vladimir Putin as an „autocrat“.[12][13]

Cohen asserts that US foreign policy is responsible for the continuation of Cold War hostilities between the two countries despite its terminus in 1991, citing NATO 's eastward expansion as evidence for his hypothesis.[14][15]

Munk Debate

Cohen participated in a Munk Debate in Toronto, Canada over the proposal "Be it resolved the West should engage not isolate Russia…" He and Vladimir Posner argued in favor of engagement, while Anne Applebaum and Garry Kasparov argued against. Prior the debate, 58 percent of the audience were in favor of engaging with Russia and 42 percent against. After the debate, 52 percent of the audience agreed with Applebaum and Kasparov, and 48 percent with Cohen and Posner.[16]

Publications

Books

  • Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War ISBN 978-0-231-14897-9 Pub. 2011 by Columbia University Press [with a new epilogue]
  • Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War ISBN 978-0-231-14896-2 Pub. 2009 by Columbia University Press
  • The Victims Return: Survivors of the Gulag After Stalin ISBN 978-1-933002-40-8 Pub. 2010 by PublishingWorks
  • Failed Crusade: America and the Tragedy of Post-Communist Russia ISBN 978-1-933002-40-8 Updated edition Pub. 2000 by W. W. Norton & Company
  • Voices of Glasnost: Interviews With Gorbachev's Reformers ISBN 978-0-393-02625-2 Pub. 1989 by W W Norton & Co Inc
  • Sovieticus: American Perceptions and Soviet Realities ISBN 978-0-393-30338-4 Pub. 1986 by W W Norton & Co.
  • Rethinking the Soviet Experience: Politics and History since 1917 ISBN 978-0-19-504016-6 Pub.1985 by Oxford University Press
  • An End to Silence: Uncensored Opinion in the Soviet Union, from Roy Medvedev's Underground Magazine "Political Diary" ISBN 978-0-393-30127-4 Pub.1982 Norton
  • Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution: A Political Biography, 1888-1938 ISBN 978-0-19-502697-9 Pub.1980 by Oxford University Press

Essays - Articles

  • The Friends and Foes of Change. Reformism and Conservatism in the Soviet Union in: Alexander Dallin/Gail W. Lapidus (eds.): The Soviet System. From Crisis to Collapse, Westview Press, Boulder/San Francisco/Oxford 2005 ISBN 0-8133-1876-9
  • Stalinism and Bolshevism in: Robert C. Tucker (ed.): Stalinism: Essays in Historical Interpretation, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1977. ISBN 0-7658-0483-2

References

  1. ^ Joseph Berger (January 4, 2011). "Calling Steven Cohen. No, Not That One". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  2. ^ "Amerikietis istorikas bando Vakarams įrodyti, kad gulagų era buvo "kitas holokaustas"" [Interview with Cohen - American historian is trying prove to the West that the gulag era was "another Holocaust"] (in Lithuanian). lrytas.lt. March 12, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  3. ^ "Ms. vanden Heuvel Is Wed". The New York Times. December 5, 1988. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  4. ^ Dan Kovalik (July 8, 2015). "Rethinking Russia: A Conversation With Russia Scholar Stephen F. Cohen". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  5. ^ Nick Hayes (November 15, 2010). "Understanding U.S.-Russian relations: A conversation with Stephen F. Cohen". MinnPost. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  6. ^ a b James Kirchick (June 17, 2014). "Meet the Anti-Semites, Truthers, and Alaska Pol at D.C.'s Pro-Putin Soiree". The Daily Beast. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  7. ^ Jonathan Chait (March 14, 2014). "The Pathetic Lives of Putin's American Dupes". New York. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  8. ^ Isaac Chotiner (March 2, 2014). "Meet Vladimir Putin's American Apologist". New Republic. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  9. ^ a b Video on YouTube
  10. ^ Stephen F. Cohen: The Silence of American Hawks About Kiev’s Atrocities in The National June 30 2014. (Updated July 11, 2014) Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  11. ^ Cathy Young (July 24, 2014). "Putin's Pal". Slate. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  12. ^ Stephen F. Cohen: The New American Cold War in The National vom 10. Juli 2006.
  13. ^ Stephen F. Cohen: Stop the Pointless Demonization of Putin in The National vom 6. Mai 2012.
  14. ^ Stephen F. Cohen: The New American Cold War in The National vom 10. Juli 2006.
  15. ^ Stephen F. Cohen: Stop the Pointless Demonization of Putin in The National vom 6. Mai 2012.
  16. ^ "The West vs. Russia". Munk Debates. April 10, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  • Stephen Cohen's lectures, Russia Since 1917. Spring Semester, 2008. NYU.
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