Jonathan Pollard’s release from prison a couple of weeks ago attracted a lot of attention. But another more important spy—Ronald Pelton—was paroled last week. They are both the last of the 1985 “Year of the Spy” inmates to be let out into society 30 years after they were caught.
In fact, Pelton, a former National Security Agency analyst was one of the NSA’s most damaging spies before the Edward Snowden revelations. Pollard’s story shouldn’t be viewed in isolation. The Pollard and Pelton cases mark the end of a Cold War spy era, a tidier era of ideological polarities when the enemy was in focus, not diffuse and spread out.
Author
Kristie Macrakis
Former Fellow;
Professor of History of Science, Georgia Institute of Technology
Professor of History of Science, Georgia Institute of Technology
Contributor
Kristie Macrakis
Former Fellow;
Professor of History of Science, Georgia Institute of Technology
Professor of History of Science, Georgia Institute of Technology
Cold War International History Project
The Cold War International History Project supports the full and prompt release of historical materials by governments on all sides of the Cold War. Read more
