Stephen F. Cohen

For other persons with a similar name, see Stephen Cohen.
Stephen F. Cohen
Born Stephen Frand Cohen
(1938-11-25) November 25, 1938
Owensboro, Kentucky
Occupation Author, historian
Language English
Nationality American
Education MA, BA, P.H.D
Alma mater Indiana University, Columbia University
Spouse Lynne Blair (divorced)
Katrina vanden Heuvel (m. 1988)
Children 1 son, 2 daughters

Stephen Frand Cohen (born November 25, 1938) is an American scholar of Russian studies at Princeton University and New York University. His academic work concentrates on modern Russian history since the Bolshevik Revolution and the country's relationship with the United States.

Education and career

Cohen's family is Jewish.[1] His grandfather emigrated to the United States from Lithuania (then part of the Russian Empire).[2]

Stephen Cohen was born in 1938 in Owensboro, Kentucky where his father owned a golf course,[3] and attended Indiana University Bloomington, where he earned a B.S. degree and an M.A. degree in Russian Studies. While studying in England, he went on a four-week trip to the Soviet Union, where he became interested in its history and politics. Cohen, who received his Ph.D. in government and Russian studies at Columbia University, became a professor of politics and Russian studies at Princeton University in 1968, where he taught until 1998, and has been teaching at New York University since.

Cohen is well known in both Russian and American circles. He is a close personal friend of former Soviet Pres. Mikhail Gorbachev,[4] advised former U.S. Pres. George H.W. Bush in the late 1980s, helped Nikolai Bukharin's widow, Anna Larina, rehabilitate her name during the Soviet era,[5] and met Joseph Stalin's daughter, Svetlana.

Since 1998, Cohen has been professor of Russian Studies and History at New York University, where he teaches a course titled "Russia Since 1917." He previously taught at Princeton University. He has written several books including those listed below. He is also a CBS News consultant as well as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Cohen has a son and a daughter from his first marriage to opera singer Lynne Blair, from whom he is divorced. Cohen is now married to Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of the progressive magazine The Nation, where he is also a contributing editor. They have one daughter.

Views on the Russian Federation

Ukraine

During the 2014 unrest in Ukraine, Cohen drew criticism for his "pro-Russian" views[6] with sources describing him as an apologist for Putin[7][8] and the Russian government.[6] Cohen personally describes himself as an American "dissenter"[9] and argues that the media stifles anyone who even tries to understand the situation from the Kremlin's perspective while stigmatizing them as Putin apologists for doing so.[9]

In an article in The Nation, Cohen accused the US political-media establishment of silence about "Kiev's atrocities" in the Donbas region;[10] the article was in turn criticized by Cathy Young.[11]

US-Russia relations

Cohen maintains that the USA has resumed the Cold War that in 1991 was officially declared as ended, without admitting this to themselves. The stinted interpretation of an "American victory" and a "Russian defeat" since the time of Bill Clinton had led to treating post-communist Russia like a defeated nation, even though her military potential inherited from the USSR was still fully intact. This "triumphalism" had led to the expectation that Russia would copy the common practice of completely submitting to the American foreign policy. Public shows of friendship like those between Clinton and Boris Yeltsin were without real value taking into account the real background. Clinton, contrary to the promise of his predecessor, extended NATO eastward and implemented a strategy of containment. Russia inevitably reacted with suspicion. Moreover, Cohen cites the cancellation of the ABM-treaty in 2002 and the refusal of admission to the WTO at he G8-summit in Sankt Petersburg 2006. Cohen also criticises the "pointless demonization"" of Vladimir Putin as an „autocrat“.[12][13]

Cohen asserts that US foreign policy is responsible for the continuation of Cold War hostilities between the two countries despite its terminus in 1991, citing NATO 's eastward expansion as evidence for his hypothesis.[14][15]

Munk Debate

Cohen participated in a Munk Debate in Toronto, Canada over the proposal "Be it resolved the West should engage not isolate Russia…" He, together with Vladimir Posner, argued in favor. They were opposed by Anne Applebaum and Garry Kasparov. After the debate, 52 percent of the audience agreed with Applebaum and Kasparov, 48 percent with Cohen and Posner.[16]

Publications

Books

Essays - Articles

References

  1. ↑ Joseph Berger (January 4, 2011). "Calling Steven Cohen. No, Not That One.". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Amerikietis istorikas bando Vakarams įrodyti, kad gulagų era buvo "kitas holokaustas"" [Interview with Cohen - American historian is trying prove to the West that the gulag era was "another Holocaust"] (in Lithuanian). lrytas.lt. March 12, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Ms. vanden Heuvel Is Wed". The New York Times. December 5, 1988. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  4. ↑ Dan Kovalik (July 8, 2015). "Rethinking Russia: A Conversation With Russia Scholar Stephen F. Cohen". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  5. ↑ Nick Hayes (November 15, 2010). "Understanding U.S.-Russian relations: A conversation with Stephen F. Cohen". MinnPost. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  6. 1 2 James Kirchick (June 17, 2014). "Meet the Anti-Semites, Truthers, and Alaska Pol at D.C.'s Pro-Putin Soiree". The Daily Beast. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  7. ↑ Jonathan Chait (March 14, 2014). "The Pathetic Lives of Putin's American Dupes". New York. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  8. ↑ Isaac Chotiner (March 2, 2014). "Meet Vladimir Putin's American Apologist". New Republic. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  9. 1 2 Video on YouTube
  10. ↑ Stephen F. Cohen: The Silence of American Hawks About Kiev’s Atrocities in The National June 30 2014. (Updated July 11, 2014) Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  11. ↑ Cathy Young (July 24, 2014). "Putin's Pal". Slate. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  12. ↑ Stephen F. Cohen: The New American Cold War in The National vom 10. Juli 2006.
  13. ↑ Stephen F. Cohen: Stop the Pointless Demonization of Putin in The National vom 6. Mai 2012.
  14. ↑ Stephen F. Cohen: The New American Cold War in The National vom 10. Juli 2006.
  15. ↑ Stephen F. Cohen: Stop the Pointless Demonization of Putin in The National vom 6. Mai 2012.
  16. ↑ "The West vs. Russia". Munk Debates. April 10, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2015.

External links

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