Kristie Macrakis on Jonathan Pollard and "The Year of the Spy"
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.
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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. Through an award winning Digital Archive, the Project allows scholars, journalists, students, and the interested public to reassess the Cold War and its many contemporary legacies. It is part of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program. Read more
