Able Archer - The military exercise that almost started World War 3 - a look in the archives (269) - a podcast by Ian Sanders

In 1986 Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev said “Never perhaps, in the post-war decades has the situation in the world been explosive and hence more difficult and unfavourable as in the first half of the 1980s. “
He was referring to a period of immense tension between the Soviet Union and NATO when in 1983 a NATO exercise called Able Archer was believed to have almost accidentally started World War 3. We delve into the Able Archer archives to talk about the most recent documents with Francesca Akhtar, a researcher whose main research interests are US Cold War foreign policy, intelligence history and defence. 

Francesca has written a dissertation entitled “The most dangerous Soviet-American confrontation since the Cuban Missile Crisis?” An analysis of the origins, nature, and impact of the Able Archer 83 incident.0:00 Introduction and context about Able Archer
1:07 Overview of Able Archer and its potential to start World War 32:15 Sponsor message and call for donations
3:19 The changes in Able Archer in 1983 and misconceptions6:51 Context of shooting down of Korean airliner in 1983 and comparison with the Cuba missile crisis
10:31 Status of UK archives on Able Archer and challenges in obtaining information14:11 Discussion on the cancellation of Able Archer in 1990 and continuation despite potential misunderstandings
21:11 Introduction to the revealing documents in the February state department release and discussion on Perroots' letter32:11 The letter that sparked an investigation and possible preemptive strike
35:03 Post-exercise NSA message, Soviet readiness, and criticism of US intelligence41:17 Soviet side and access to information and concluding remarks on the Cold War scare
47:16 Acknowledgement of the episode extras and appreciation of financial supporters48:30 Closing remarks and promotion of the Cold War Conversations store
Table of contents powered by PodcastAI✨Regular listeners will remember that Francesca talked about Able Archer 83 previously in Episode 19.

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