Item BRINK OF APOCALYPSE 4/5 - Interview with Ben Fischer, CIA Historian, [2007]

Typescript transcript of interview with Ben Fischer, CIA Historian. Subjects include his roles as CIA analyst, operations officer ( his role in 1983) and historian; his interest in this period and studying at the Centre for the Study of Intelligence; the atmosphere during 1979-1983; the USSR-Afghanistan war; the deployment of Pershing II missiles and the USSR deployment of SS20 missiles; the Walker Spy ring, convicted in 1985; Operation RYAN; the lack of USSR investment in technology and being behind the west in technological advances; USSR belief in a ‘economic revolution without political revolution’; the elderly politburo; USSR paranoia of attack; USSR concerns about ‘decapitation’ of the state; Able Archer exercise in the context of shooting down of Korean Airlines flight KAL 007 and invasion of Grenada, 1983; the USSR’s response to Able Archer monitored by CIA; USSR nuclear capability as analysed by CIA; KGB stations and military forces on alert during Able Archer; Oleg Gordievsky as a CIA source and Margaret Thatcher convincing Ronald Reagan to trust Gordievsky. 53pp