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9781848859746

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'Panagiotis Dimitrakis has written a compelling and important new work of Cold War history. His analysis, which is transnational and comparative in scope, fully illuminates the travails of SEATO and CENTO over their troubled lifetimes. In doing so it underscores the complexities of intra-alliance dynamics and the unstable regional foundations of Britain's and the United States' global Cold War strategies.' - W. Taylor Fain, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of North Carolina; 'Drawing upon careful primary research, Failed Alliances of the Cold War is a cogent and stimulating exploration of the development and fate of two important if ultimately unsuccessful alliances in Asia and the Middle East. The book illuminates often-neglected aspects of British and American foreign policies in the developing world, while the question of intra-alliance dynamics is pertinent to many historical and contemporary situations. Panagiotis Dimitrakis has made a valuable contribution to the literature of the Cold War.' - Jonathan Colman, University of Salford; 'This is an important study of a neglected subject. CENTO and SEATO were like Potemkin villages, presenting the facade of stability to the world, but empty of purpose and power behind the scenes. It is clear that national interests and the bi-lateral links between the USA and the UK, and with their respective alliance partners in the Middle East and South-East Asia were the key determinant of policies, usually of a cautious nature, towards developments in these regions, thus rendering CENTO and SEATO largely meaningless and irrelevant as alliances. This gives us a new, and striking, perspective on the Cold War and the pressing need to re-evaluate the degree of hostility between the West and the Communist bloc.' - Dr Saul Kelly, Reader in International History, King's College, London

Author Information

Panagiotis Dimitrakis is an historian based in Athens, Greece. He completed his PhD in War Studies at King's College London and is the author of Military Intelligence in Cyprus: From the Great War to the Middle East Crises (2010).

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