As we continue to talk about the cold war in large lecture the tv show the Americans came to mind when the Professor talked about how calling communist spies out in court backfired.During the 70s and 80s most of the American public shared a common paranoia. It’s taken decades for the topic of the cold war and spies to become okay. The show the Americans portrays a soviet spy couple living in D.C.

As side note, I find this is similar to the paranoia that terrorists from the middle east are in (or have infiltrated) the United States.

It could be argued that, in both cases, the government has invested interests in ensuring the public shares a common fear. It makes it easier for the government to achieve their goals when backed by the public.

JAH