Dropping the Torch: Jimmy Carter, the Olympic Boycott, and the Cold War

Description

Dropping the Torch: Jimmy Carter, the Olympic Boycott, and the Cold War offers a diplomatic history of the 1980 Olympic boycott. Broad in its focus, it looks at events in Washington, D.C., as well as the opposition to the boycott and how this attempted embargo affected the athletic contests in Moscow. Jimmy Carter based his foreign policy on assumptions that had fundamental flaws and reflected a superficial familiarity with the Olympic movement. These basic mistakes led to a campaign that failed to meet its basic mission objectives but did manage to insult the Soviets just enough to destroy d�tente and restart the Cold War. The book also includes a military history of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which provoked the boycott, and an examination of the boycott's impact four years later at the Los Angeles Olympics, where the Soviet Union retaliated with its own boycott. Cover DROPPING THE TORCH Title Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction: Miracle on Ice CHAPTER 1: Lord Killanin and the Politics of the Olympics CHAPTER 2: Los Angeles versus Moscow CHAPTER 3: Jimmy Carter and U.S.-Soviet Relations CHAPTER 4: The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan CHAPTER 5: The American Response CHAPTER 6: Easy Victories CHAPTER 7: Painful Losses CHAPTER 8: The White House Games CHAPTER 9: Coca-Cola, NBC, and the Defeat of the Iron Lady CHAPTER 10: The Vote in Colorado CHAPTER 11: Civil Wars CHAPTER 12: Carter versus Killanin CHAPTER 13: Moscow: The Olympics Are the Olympics CHAPTER 14: Los Angeles: The Olympics Are the Olympics CHAPTER 15: Conclusion What of Jimmy Carter and his presidency? What of “soft power” and the Olympics in world affairs? What of the Cold War? What about the nature of U.S. foreign policy? Epilogue Jimmy Carter Lord Killanin Lloyd Cutler Joe Onek Walter Mondale Cyrus Vance Zbigniew Brzezinski Warren Christopher F. Don Miller Robert J. Kane 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team 1980 U.S. Summer Olympic Team Margaret Thatcher Helmut Schmidt Pierre Trudeau Joe Clark Muhammad Ali Anita DeFrantz Peter Ueberroth William E. Simon Juan Antonio Samaranch Richard Pound Malcolm Fraser Notes Introduction: Miracle on ice 1. Lord Killanin and the Politics of the Olympics 2. Los Angeles versus Moscow 3. Jimmy Carter and U.S.-Soviet Relations 4. The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan 5. The American Response 6. Easy Victories 7. Painful Losses 8. The White House Games 9. Coca-Cola, NBC, and the Defeat of the Iron Lady 10. The Vote in Colorado 11. Civil Wars 12. Carter versus Killanin 13. Moscow: The Olympics Are the Olympics 14. Los Angeles: The Olympics Are the Olympics Epilogue Bibliography Index