Anatomy of Mistrust

Deborah Welch Larson is professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles.

A welcome addition to revisionist explorations of Cold War history.... Beyond their clear academic value, the findings of this book should serve as a lesson to policy makers: those who wish to build trust in a hostile climate must first build a reputation for conciliatory consistency in the eyes of their opponents.(Political Science Quarterly) An excellent book arguing that excessive mistrust, rather than irreconcilable conflicts of interest or differences in domestic systems, best explains the superpowers' failure to reach mutually beneficial agreements and their difficulty in negotiating even minor accords, as well as the severity and duration of the Cold War.... Larson has done an outstanding job of showing that the Cold War need not have developed, endured, or ended precisely as it did.(Choice) By carefully combining traditional primary sources, conventional histories of the period, and newly available Soviet-era documents, Larson has produced a scholarly and eminently readable work. Readers prepared to delve into the underlying psychology of the Cold War will benefit from reading this book.(Military Review) Deborah Larson gives the problem of trust a fresh treatment, combining psychology with original historical research to demonstrate that, contrary to many popular assumptions, there were missed opportunities for mitigating, if not ending, the Cold War.(Lingua Franca) Larson's introduction provides a sophisticated basis for understanding how the psychology, ideology, and political domestic situation of decision makers affects their perception of opponents' motives and offers.... Larson concisely but comprehensively presents the context of negotiation and establishes confidence in the counterfactual exercises to which her general topic necessarily leads.... Anatomy of Mistrust is an excellent, original, and substantially useful book for readers and instructors seeking an intelligent conceptual overview of crucial Cold War episodes.(Journal of American History)