Audio Resources

1. Kennedy Diary Recording of Cuban Missile Crisis
Description: This is a short entry in the audio diary of President John F. Kennedy, recorded two days after the United States discovered Soviet missiles in Cuba. Kennedy discusses a meeting with his advisers, during which they discussed how to handle the discovery of the missiles. (Please note that the quality of the audio is poor.)

Video Resources

1. Henry Kissinger on Nuclear Deterrence
Description: In this 1958 interview, journalist Mike Wallace interviews Henry Kissinger, a prominent realist scholar who would later become National Security Adviser and Secretary of State under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald R. Ford. Kissinger discusses the impact of nuclear weapons on American foreign policy.

2. President Reagan at the Berlin Wall
Description: In this 1987 speech at the Berlin Wall, President Ronald Reagan famously asked Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall”—one of the final chapters of the US-Soviet Cold War.

3. Nuclear Weapons: A Time-Lapse History
Description: Although only two nuclear weapons have ever been used in war, hundreds of nuclear weapons have been tested and nine states currently have nuclear capabilities. This brief video walks through almost 70 years of nuclear testing and proliferation.

Web Resources

1. National Security Archive
Description: The George Washington University hosts the National Security Archive, a massive collection of declassified government documents related to national security and international relations. There is ample material on the Cold War, although the range of documents available is greater than those focusing only on U.S.-Soviet confrontation.

2. Cold War International History Project
Description: The Cold War International History Project is hosted by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and contains a digital archive and other resources.