Throughout the Cold War, the leading powers used postage stamps to promote their foreign policy goals. This brief research note cites illustrative examples of U.S. and Cuban postage stamps and discusses how and why they were produced.

Funeral ceremonies for Communist leaders during the Cold War signaled the end of a particular era and the beginning of a new one. In the case of Romania, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej's unexpected demise in March 1965 resulted in Nicolae Ceaușescu's spectacular rise to power and the beginning of a short lived de-Stalinization. Weeks after the former dictator's death, dramatic changes occurred within the top elite and in the interpretation of the Romanian Communist Party's history. Gheorghiu-Dej's name swiftly vanished from the official propaganda, and the new leader's cult of personality was born.