Overview

"Mikhail Gorbachev's relations with the West have captured the imagination of contemporaries and historians alike, but his vision of Soviet leadership in Asia has received far less attention. The failure of Gorbachev's Asian initiatives has had dramatic consequences, by the late 1980s, the Soviet Union was in full retreat from Asia, and since the Soviet collapse, Russia has been left on the sidelines of the ""Pacific century.""In this exceptionally wide-ranging and deeply researched book, Sergey Radchenko offers an illuminating account of the end of the Cold War in the East, tracing the death of Soviet ambitions in Asia. Radchenko shows that Gorbachev began with big gestures, of which the most important was his initiative in Vladivostok in July 1986, the opening salvo of the Soviet charm offensive in Asia Pacific. The problem, Radchenko points out, was that no one in Asia bought into Gorbachev's vision. If the Soviets had realized earlier that they needed Asia more than Asia needed them, they might have played a much more important role there. Instead, China was largely misunderstood, early gains in India were squandered, Japan was ignored or condescended to, and the Korean scenario played out in ways most unfavorable to Russia. Radchenko captures all of this in his compelling narrative, shedding important new light on many key players, including Gorbachev, Deng Xiaoping, Margaret Thatcher, Boris Yeltsin, and George H. W. Bush, among others.Based on archival research in Russia, China, Mongolia, India, the United States, Britain, and numerous European countries and on interviews with former policy makers in a dozen countries, Unwanted Visionaries presents a deftly narrated and penetrating portrait of the Soviet failure in the East, with a wealth of valuable insight into Asia today."

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9780199938773

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Reviews

Sergey Radchenko has written a hugely insightful and informative book, which provides a truly superb and comprehensive narrative of the Soviet Union's involvement in Asia in the last decade or so of its existence. Revealed in the book's narrative is the author's solid mastery of both the details and the larger picture, supported by extensive multiarchival and multilingual research. This undoubtedly is the best historical account on the subject to date. --Chen Jian, Cornell University Richly documented through previously unmined archival sources and eminently readable, Unwanted Visionaries offers a provocative and controversial new synthesis of Soviet Asia policy in the last phase of the Cold War. Sergey Radchenko provides essential historical context for understanding Asia's dynamics today. --Christian F. Ostermann, Woodrow Wilson Center This masterful book fills huge gaps in knowledge in international relations, Asian studies and diplomatic history. It showcases the study of bilateral relations at its best, sets an admirable example for prodigious research, and clarifies the fateful 1980s in Asia the way nothing else does. While nearly all eyes focused on Europe in this final stage of Soviet diplomacy, the story of the end of Asia's Cold War, as told by a relentless scholar, is richer in insights for today's mounting challenges. --Gilbert Rozman, Princeton University and editor of The Asan Forum

Author Information

Sergey Radchenko is Assistant Professor, University of Nottingham, Ningbo Campus, People's Republic of China. He is the author of Two Suns in the Heavens: The Sino-Soviet Struggle for Supremacy, 1962-1967 and co-author of The Atomic Bomb and the Origins of the Cold War.

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