# Cold War > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "Cold War," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cold-war/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *The U.S.–Soviet confrontation that built the CIA John Kiriakou joined. Kiriakou argues the Cold War was real "but also at a certain level desired" — America has always needed an ism to oppose — and that its habits never died: "The Russians thought the Cold War was over, but no one told the US." From its memoirs he draws a standing tradecraft lesson (the CIA's best recruits were always walk-ins), and in the new Russia and China confrontations he sees a Cold War 2.0 rebuilt on the old exaggerations.* - **What:** The U.S.–Soviet superpower confrontation, 1947–1991 - **Kiriakou's verdict:** Real, "but also at a certain level perhaps desired" — America always needs an ism - **On its end:** "The Russians thought the Cold War was over, but no one told the US" - **Tradecraft legacy:** Cold War memoirs show the CIA's best recruits were walk-ins The **Cold War** was the U.S.–[Soviet](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/soviet-union) confrontation that shaped the [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) joined in its final days — and, in his telling, a mindset that never actually ended. ## Real, but desired Asked whether the memorandum that kicked off the Cold War exaggerated Stalin's buildup, Kiriakou agrees the confrontation was real *"but also at a certain level perhaps desired"*: historically, the United States has always needed an ism to be opposed to — anarchism in the 19-teens, then communism, then terrorism.[1][2] The era's operating logic, as he describes the State Department and intelligence community of the time, was a zero-sum game: any means at your disposal were fair so the Soviets didn't capture the influence.[3] He also credits Zbigniew Brzezinski with deliberately making the Cold War less ideological — downplaying capitalism-versus-communism in favor of finding proxies inside the communist world.[4] The Cold War's dark side, he says, was that it was about cold, hard power — not freedom and democracy — and its worst nightmare was the U.S. invasion of Vietnam.[5] ## It never ended Kiriakou's blunter judgment: *"The Cold War never ended... The Russians thought that the Cold War was over, but no one told the US."*[6] He sees people who agree with him on everything else falling for *"Cold War 2.0"* over the proxy war in Ukraine,[7] and argues the original threat was itself inflated — the danger of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe was exaggerated then, exactly as the Russian threat is exaggerated now.[8] ## Tradecraft legacy One Cold War lesson Kiriakou repeats constantly: read the era's memoirs and you find the CIA's best recruits were [walk-ins](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/walk-in). You will never spot and develop the unknown KGB colonel — but one day he walks into an embassy and says, *"I'm a KGB colonel and I want to give you everything I have, and I want a million dollars."*[9][10] ## The succession of isms Put to him in 2022 that the terrorist enemy of his own career had been the replacement for communism and was in turn being replaced by Russia, Kiriakou agreed and generalised it into a sequence.[11][12] > *"We always seem to need an ism in this country to rally against, whether it was anarchism or socialism or for a very long time communism. It was fascism for a little while during the Second World War. Then it was Islamism. And, you know, it's like we just can't seem to function unless we have an enemy."* He traces the beginning of his own doubts about the current instance to his time still inside the agency, and to [an opening with Moscow](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/russia-nato-membership) that he says was available and was not taken.[13] ## See also - [Soviet Union](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/soviet-union) - [Walk-in](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/walk-in) - [Zbigniew Brzezinski](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/zbigniew-brzezinski) - [Russia-Ukraine war origins](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/russia-ukraine-war-origins) ## Sources 1. John Kiriakou: THEY Really Did THIS — Jay Dyer Show (2026-04-29), at 1:02:52. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqx0uSr1yYk&t=3772s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-04-29-jay-dyer-they-really-did-this/ 2. John Kiriakou Unleashed: The Real CIA History, Sexpionage, Black Ops & More (2026-05-08), at 57:37. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34ZPb1UuC7k&t=3457s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-08-jay-dyer-real-cia-history/ 3. Politics Done Right (2015-08-18), at 32:21. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOqRvWc5_AA&t=1941s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2015-08-18-politics-done-right-politics-done-right/ 4. Divisions in the US Deep State (w/ Lee Stranahan) (2021-01-22), at 11:34. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFAHekt9_mg&t=694s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-01-22-caleb-maupin-divisions-in-the-us-deep-state-w-lee-stranaha/ 5. The JK Report (2026-07-01), at 32:49. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PpseUAcs-I&t=1969s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-01-the-jk-report-the-jk-report/ 6. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-08-09), at 19:14. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-8vskJZ_mE&t=1154s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-09-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 7. Kiriakou & Gerald Horne on the Indictment of "Russian Agents" (2023-04-26), at 33:32. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SObrtWSxO4&t=2012s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-04-26-katie-halper-kiriakou-gerald-horne-on-the-indictment-of-ru/ 8. Ex-CIA Spy Exposes Mossad's Secrets (w/ Joe Lauria) (2025-10-12), at 56:07. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44AXcdINY24&t=3367s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-12-danny-haiphong/ 9. Mossad, Terrifying CIA Technology, Blackwater & The Most Secret CIA Unit (2025-08-31), at 1:57:35. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3FxH39oYsA&t=7055s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-31-dalton-fischer-mossad-blackwater/ 10. Terrifying CIA Technology They Don't Want You To Know (2026-05-24), at 30:46. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URbHPOAfub0&t=1846s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-24-john-kiriakou-podcast-terrifying-cia-technology-they-don-t-want-you/ 11. It's scoundrel time in the good ol' USA (2022-05-20), at 25:19. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aud8c90fc5bd&t=1519s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2022-05-20-scheer-intelligence-its-scoundrel-time-in-the-good-ol-usa/ 12. It's scoundrel time in the good ol' USA (2022-05-20), at 27:32. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aud8c90fc5bd&t=1652s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2022-05-20-scheer-intelligence-its-scoundrel-time-in-the-good-ol-usa/ 13. It's scoundrel time in the good ol' USA (2022-05-20), at 25:52. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aud8c90fc5bd&t=1552s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2022-05-20-scheer-intelligence-its-scoundrel-time-in-the-good-ol-usa/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cold-war/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt