Conor Tobin

Following on from the #Afghanistan1979 series and the 40th anniversary of the Soviet invasion, I’m happy to report that my first article, “The Myth of the ‘Afghan Trap’: Zbigniew Brzezinski and Afghanistan, 1978-1979,” is now available online @SHAFRDH academic.oup.com/dh/advance-art…

Milton Bearden was one of the Cold War’s most legendary spies. Interviewing him for @TheAfgPod to tell the story of his leadership of CIA anti-Soviet operations was absolutely fascinating. youtu.be/jOL4eYIvZ2M?si…

🚨 NEW EPISODE 🚨 Sir Rodric Braithwaite: Inside the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (Part 2) 📺Watch: YouTu.be/sWQleof0LOk 🎧 Listen: Linktr.ee/theafgpod

Join me at the @IntlSpyMuseum on Wednesday, May 14 for a conversation with my friend, former CIA officer, and bestselling author Nicholas Reynolds. Registration is FREE! The event is also hybrid, so you can tune in virtually for free, too! spymuseum.org/calendar/the-s…

🚩 How the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was reported by @CBSNews. 🎙️ Sir Rodric Braithwaite tells us the inside story: 📺 Watch: YouTu.be/uZeIzyoFD-A 🎧 Listen: Linktr.ee/theafgpod

My weekend FT essay ahead of publication of "Zbig", my full life biography of Brzezinski. ft.com/content/84d6ba…

That tingling sense of excitement when years of research and writing arrives in boxes as finished product. Biography for the age of the revenge of geopolitics.

RJISSF Roundtable Review 16-23: Robert B. Rakove’s Days of Opportunity: The United States and Afghanistan Before the Soviet Invasion “Rakove centers the people who shaped relations, weaving in telling anecdotes and interpersonal dynamics that bring these ties to life” –Susan Colbourn wp.me/p2Insd-7hm

The Cold War Research Network is proud to announce the creation of the "Cold War Sources List” featuring links to primary and secondary sources for studying Cold War-related topics. Want to know more about the Cold War Sources List? Click on the link: coldwarresearchnetwork.nl/cold-war-sourc…

Historians Remember President Jimmy Carter’s Efforts to Aid Afghan Rebels learningenglish.voanews.com/a/historians-r…

Ireland joins in mourning the loss of former US President and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Jimmy Carter. Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann—we will never see the likes of him again.

On this National Day of Mourning, we honor former President Jimmy Carter (1924-2024)—statesman, humanitarian, and dedicated public servant.

How Carter’s covert aid to Afghan rebels redefined his foreign policy record voanews.com/a/how-carter-s…

@joachimme1 @VOANews @masoodfarivar Yes, while mistakes were undoubtedly made, anyone would have struggled with the situation Carter faced and he had a remarkable number of foreign policy successes. I feel his reputation will continue to improve as more work is done on some of those areas outlined by Vaisse.

@DrConorTobin @VOANews @masoodfarivar Also Justin Vaïsse on this. books.google.de/books?id=fyRgD…

Nice to be quoted in this @VOANews article by @masoodfarivar on Jimmy Carter's complex legacy in Afghanistan and his under appreciated contribution to the Cold War. How Carter’s covert aid to Afghan rebels redefined his foreign policy record voanews.com/a/how-carter-s…

@joachimme1 @VOANews @masoodfarivar I do, however, agree with the general sentiment of Carter being much tougher than usually portrayed. His visible diplomacy (human rights, arms control, Panama Canal, normalization, Camp David, etc.) and his post-presidency have clouded some of the significant military decisions.

@joachimme1 @VOANews @masoodfarivar I don’t know but I’m guessing it’s a reference to Presidential Directive 59 (July 1980) that set out plans for the US to be able to fight an extended nuclear war. But planning for contingencies and being “willing” to use nuclear weapons are somewhat different things…

Jimmy Carter would probably have said that establishing diplomatic relations with China was his greatest foreign policy achievement. We might now think Carter was easy on China, but in fact he saw our moment coming much better than Kissinger and Nixon. A short 🧵

.@AnnTelnaes resigned after the Washington Post editorial page killed her cartoon. It’s worth a share. Big Tech executives are bending the knee to Donald Trump and it’s no surprise why: Billionaires like Jeff Bezos like paying a lower tax rate than a public school teacher.

On the 60th anniversary of the PDPA, @thruttig takes a look at the party irrevocably altered the #Afghanistan’s trajectory with its coup d’état in 1978, setting off a chain of events that would have lasting repercussions. bit.ly/3VYYn8H

While researching at @CarterLibrary, I loved President Carter's handwritten notes in the margins. My favorite: NSA Brzezinski complains getting CIA and State to cooperate is 'like pulling teeth from a sleeping dinosaur.' Carter quips, 'better than from one that's awake!' 🦖😂