Orphans of the Cold War: America and the Tibetan Struggle for Survival

Knaus brings a dose of realpolitik and detailed history to the often romanticized subject of Tibet. A former CIA officer and a friend of the Dalai Lama's family for 40 years, Knaus became involved with the CIA's clandestine operation to support Tibetan self-determination in 1958 and watched it sputter, flourish and fizzle under Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson. At a CIA-staffed training base in Colorado, Tibetan resistance fighters learned guerrilla warfare, and the CIA air-dropped those Tibetan men, arms and equipment into Tibet. By 1959, large pockets of central Tibet came under rebel control. But most Tibetans were unwilling or unable to adopt guerrilla tactics, and the CIA, according to Knaus (who retired from the agency in 1995 and is now a Harvard East Asian scholar), greatly underestimated China's willingness to decimate the Tibetan resistance. By 1974, having opened diplomatic relations with China, Washington cut off support for Tibetan paramilitary and political programs. Although the Dalai Lama accused the U.S. of sacrificing Tibet to the exigencies of Cold War geopolitics, Knaus portrays Western politicians, operatives and diplomats often motivated by altruism or idealism. Nevertheless, as the title implies, this remarkable book demonstrates that the Tibetans have been triply ""orphaned"": by the U.S., which never delivered on its promise of sustained support; by India, which gave sanctuary to the Tibetan government-in-exile but pursued an equivocal policy designed to placate China; and by the UN, where support for Tibetan autonomy faded as China's star rose. This thorough diplomatic and political history is vital to an understanding of the tragedy of modern Tibet. 53 pages of b&w photos. (May)