Memories of the Cold War fade. Few of us remember coups allegedly carried out by covert operators of the United States during that time.

We were locked in a struggle with the Evil Empire, the Soviets. Who but historians and aging Cold War warriors remember the pawns in that struggle: Iran, the Congo, Pakistan, Chili?

In those countries in the long ago fifties and sixties, how much did United States covert action contribute to the unseating of democratically elected leaders? How much responsibility should we take for the results of their toppling and the often brutal dictators that replaced them? Or the corruption? Or the refugee flows that followed bloodletting?

The July/August 2014 issue of Foreign Affairs recounts those events by those who have studied them and sometimes were on the scene when they happened. In some instances, our reputation has exceeded what our agents on the ground actually did. Inept leaders contributed more than U.S. policy, stated or unstated. Nevertheless, the studies illustrate what happens when a nation beset by real enemies is carried away by hatred and paranoia.

As the studies show, the actions in question were usually opposed at each step by cooler, more rational actors. But they weren’t listened to. In some cases, they were steam rolled and even suffered loss of careers.

How much responsibility should we accept for the hostility to the United States that remains in those countries to this day?