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Title: Leon Gouré papers
Date (inclusive): 1919-2007
Collection Number: 2008C93
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
59 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box
(26.0 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Speeches and writings, reports, studies, conference materials, printed matter, and slides, relating to Soviet defenses and
military policy, especially civil defense measures, and to nuclear warfare strategy.
Creator:
Gouré, Leon
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The papers were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives from Daniel Gouré in 2008.
[Identification of item], Leon Gouré papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives
| 1922, November 1 | Born, Moscow, Russia |
| 1923 | Emigrated with family from Russia to Germany |
| 1933 | Emigrated from Germany to France |
| 1940 | Emigrated from France to the United States |
| 1943-1946 | United States Army Counterintelligence Corps |
| 1947 | B.A., New York University |
| 1949 | M.I.A., Columbia University |
| 1951-1969 | Staff member, Rand Corporation |
| 1961 | Ph.D., Georgetown University |
| 1969-1978 | Director of Soviet studies, Center for Advanced International Studies, University of Miami |
| 1978-1980 | Associate director, Advanced International Studies Institute, Washington, D.C. |
| 1980-2004 | Director, Center for Soviet Studies, Science Applications International Corporation |
| 2007, March 16 | Died, Arlington, Virginia |
Scope and Content of Collection
The papers of Leon Gouré, American Sovietologist, defense expert, and longtime staff member of, first, the Rand Corporation,
and, subsequently, the Science Applications International Corporation, concern Soviet defense policy. Gouré's initial area
of expertise was Soviet civil defense. While maintaining this interest throughout a long career, he broadened his research
to cover Soviet military policy and strategic thinking in general. A persistent theme was Soviet perception of American and
NATO defense policy.
The heart of the collection is the SPEECHES AND WRITINGS series, including lectures, briefing presentations, conference papers,
Congressional testimony, technical reports, journal articles and longer writings by Gouré, alone or in collaboration with
colleagues. Many of the writings, all unclassified, are reports commissioned by United States government agencies, including
defense, arms control, nuclear energy, emergency management and other agencies. In addition to civil defense, specific topics
include nuclear war strategy, deterrence, nuclear proliferation, arms reduction negotiations, emergency planning, ballistic
missile defense, and the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Some writings are concerned with placing military and strategic issues
within a broader ideological and geopolitical context, with analysis of the nature of Soviet society and its decision-making
process. Gouré's academic lectures on Soviet society and foreign policy as a professor at the University of Miami are included.
While directly addressing Soviet perceptions of American policy, the writings also serve to document American perceptions
of Soviet policy during the Cold War. A feature of particular interest is that they extend through the decade of the 1990s,
thus dealing not only with the Cold War period at its peak, but also with the transition from Soviet Union to post-Soviet
Russia. They document the perception of the disintegration of the Soviet Union and of the new Russian political entity within
American strategic circles.
The collection is arranged in seven series: Biographical File, 1973-2007; Speeches and Writings, 1954-2004; Writings By Others,
1950-1998; Subject File, 1942-2005; Printed Monographs, 1919-1968; Audiovisual Material, undated; and Oversize file, 1958.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Slides (Photography)
Nuclear weapons
Soviet Union -- Military policy
Soviet Union -- Defenses
Arms control
Civil defense -- Soviet Union
Russia (Federation) -- Defenses
Russia (Federation) -- Military policy