Cold War Tango

Summit meetings between Soviet and American leaders critically influenced events during the cold war. However, despite their significance, little is known about why these meetings transpired. This paper provides a crucial understanding for when leaders sought summit meetings and when the meetings actually occurred. Moving beyond previous research that focuses on particular meetings or leaders, this study develops a theory of leadership security to explain why leaders sought summits. This theory is tested using a new dataset developed by the author, with the results showing the tenure in office and job security were more critical in determining the desire for a meeting than strategic or economic concerns. <br>The dataset includes new data on when leaders sought summits, when summits occurred, and Soviet leader security.