Born in the midst of the Cold War, James Bond was often considered the consummate Cold Warrior. But within the 14 original novels, 9 short stories, 40 continuation novels, 10 Young Bond novels and 25 movies to date, the fictional reflection of the struggles between the West and the Soviet Union was far more complex than reality. Martin Brown and Ron Granieri are guests in the studio to discuss their new book, The Bondian Cold War: The Transnational Legacy of a Cultural Icon. Martin and Ron, along with their fellow editor, Muriel Blaive, who wasn’t able to attend this gathering, have written and gathered a volume of essays that examine the Bondiverse. They join host Gen Lester to discuss the impact 007 has had on the entertainment world, the culture war, and the very real worlds of espionage and diplomacy.
The idea that at the 2012 Olympics the producers decided to…bring together the two most important representatives of the UK in 2012, and they were Elizabeth II and Daniel Craig as James Bond…They didn’t have the queen meet Mr. Bean; they had the queen meet James Bond.
Podcast: Download
Martin D. Brown is Professor of International History at Richmond American University London. From September 2018 to August 2019 he was the Lead Researcher, Centre of Excellence in Intercultural Studies, School of Humanities, University of Tallinn in Estonia. His research explores the networks created between the diplomats involved in the negotiations leading up to the Helsinki Final Act of 1975. In addition, he has an interest in the cultural Cold War, especially fictional representations of espionage on page and screen, in particular Bondology.
Ronald J. Granieri is Professor of History at the U.S. Army War College, the podcast editor of A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast and Director of the Center for the Study of America and the West at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is the author of The Ambivalent Alliance: Konrad Adenauer, the CDU/CSU, and the West, 1949–1966 (2003).
Genevieve Lester is the DeSerio Chair of Strategic Intelligence at the U.S. Army War College. She is also an Associate Fellow for Strategic Intelligence at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. She holds a PhD and an MA in Political Science from the University Of California, Berkeley and an MA in International Relations and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a BA in History from Carlton College.
The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense.