Groong Links:
Guest(s):
Topics:
- Why the Soviet Union collapsed
- How the Cold War ended
- Reagan and Gorbachev’s diplomacy
- America’s post-Cold War triumphalism
- NATO expansion and Russian backlash
- Great-power rivalry in the Caucasus
- Armenia’s geopolitical choices today
Episode 580 | Recorded: Aug 27, 2026
#JackMatlock #ColdWar #SovietUnion #Reagan #Gorbachev #NATO #Russia #SouthCaucasus #Armenia
Show Notes
Summary
In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Ambassador Jack Matlock, the last US Ambassador to the Soviet Union, about whether the West missed a historic opportunity to integrate Russia into Western security architecture after the Cold War. We discuss the internal collapse of the Soviet Union, Reagan-Gorbachev diplomacy, NATO expansion and Russian backlash, and how Cold War-era decisions shape Armenia’s geopolitical choices today, including Matlock’s firsthand observations of Soviet Armenia during glasnost and the Nagorno Karabakh movement.Wrap-up
Links and Resources
That’s our show , we hope you found it helpful. We invite your feedback and your suggestions, you can find us on most social media and podcast platforms.
Thanks to Laura Osborn for the music on our podcasts.
Guests
Jack F. Matlock Jr.
Jack F. Matlock Jr. is a retired U.S. career diplomat and scholar specializing in Soviet and Russian affairs. Born in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1929, Matlock earned his B.A. summa cum laude from Duke University in 1950 and an M.A. from Columbia University in 1952, where he studied Russian language and area studies. His interest in Russia was sparked by reading Dostoyevsky as an undergraduate at Duke.
Before his diplomatic career, Matlock taught Russian language and literature at Dartmouth College from 1953 to 1956. He then served 35 years in the U.S. Foreign Service from 1956 to 1991, holding key positions including Vice Consul in Moscow, Director of Soviet Affairs in Washington, Ambassador to Czechoslovakia, and most notably, Ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1987 to 1991, where he witnessed the final years of the Cold War and attended nearly all major U.S.-Soviet summits between 1972 and 1991. Throughout his career, he held positions in Ghana, Zanzibar, and Tanzania, while also serving as a specialist on Soviet affairs at the National Security Council.
After his retirement from the Foreign Service, Matlock became a respected historian and author, writing influential works including Autopsy on an Empire (1995) and Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended (2004). He has taught diplomacy and international relations at Columbia University, Princeton University, Duke University, and Hamilton College, and held the George F. Kennan Professorship at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study from 1996 to 2001. In recognition of his scholarly contributions, Matlock was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1998 and earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2013 at age 83. He is fluent in Czech, French, German, Russian, and Swahili.
Hosts
Hovik Manucharyan
Hovik Manucharyan is an information security engineer who moved from Seattle to Armenia in 2022. He co-founded the ANN/Groong podcast in 2020 and has been a contributor to Groong News since the late 1990s.
Disclaimer: The views expressed by Hovik Manucharyan on the ANN/Groong podcast are his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of his employer or any other organization.
Asbed Bedrossian
Asbed Bedrossian is an IT professional, and for years oversaw the central IT enterprise infrastructure and services at USC. His decades of experience spanned across IT strategy, enterprise architecture, infrastructure, cybersecurity, enterprise applications, data center operations, high performance computing, ITSM, ITPM, and more.
Asbed founded the Armenian News Network Groong circa 1989/1990, and co-founded the ANN/Groong podcast in 2020.
