Rethinking the End of The Cold War

1994 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Cox
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
New World ◽  
International Order ◽  
Simple Fact ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Collapse Of Communism ◽  
The Cold War

Like nuclear weapons, the literature on the end of the Cold War continues to proliferate. Much of this work it has to be said has been limited in its depth (if not range) by the simple fact that the structure of the new international order has yet to assume a finished form. Writing meaningfully about a constantly evolving subject is no easy undertaking. There is also the added problem of perspective. In many ways we are still living too close to recent events to say much that is particularly profound about them. Finally, understanding the new world has been made all the more difficult by the sheer scale of the changes that have occurred since 1989. Because of the triple collapse of communism as an ideology, the Soviet Union as a European power, and the USSR as a united country our known political universe has fallen apart. Making sense of the global results is no easy job; indeed it is turning out to be an extraordinarily difficult task—one for which we may not yet have the proper conceptual tools.

Soviet reform and the end of the Cold War: explaining large-scale historical change

1991 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Deudney ◽  
G. John Ikenberry
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Historical Change ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Collapse Of Communism ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Theoretical Issues

IntroductionAfter years of retirement in the academy, macro’historical commentary on contemporary events has returned to fashion. Radical domestic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and new patterns ofEast’West relations-in short, the collapse of communism and the end othe Cold War’mark the end of an era and present an invitation to international theorizing.1 Few would deny that these changes are momentous, but there is little consensus concerning their origins, trajectory, and implications. Explaining these events will necessitate a reweighing of fundamental theoretical issues. Thesize and speed of these changes were largely unexpected,reminding us how primitive our theories really are and encouraging us to broaden our theoretical perspective. To capture these events, theorists must reach across the disciplinary divides of Sovietology, international relations theory political economy, and political sociology.

A Utopian Vision? A Modest Proposal to Prevent Nations from Causing Future Wars

1996 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 547-549
Author(s):  
Nicolae Harsanyi
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Sweet Taste ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Modest Proposal ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Collapse Of Communism ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Cold War

I certainly find the present times most engaging: I have had the chance to live through events that will not be neglected by historians—the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the subsequent end of the Cold War, the failed Moscow coup and the breathtaking aftermath of undoing “mankind's golden dream” in its very cradle, the Soviet Union. There is so much hope in the air for East Europeans to return to development which was thwarted by decades of imposed socialist dictatorship. The sweet taste of freedom and self-assertion helps people to overcome the economic hardships ravaging the area. From the Baltic to the Balkans, from the Tatra to the Caucasus and beyond, nations, nationalities, and minorities show signs of vitality and righteous affirmation of their own complex existence on territories fragmented by conventional boundaries established with or without their own consent or approval.

scholarly journals REVIEW: New World myths

1994 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-97
Author(s):  
David Robie
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
World Economy ◽  
New World ◽  
World Order ◽  
New World Order ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
News Service ◽  
The World ◽  
The Cold War

Review of Whose Story? Reporting the Developing World After the Cold War, edited by Jill Spelliscy and Gerald B. Sperling, Calgary, Canada: Detselig Enterprises, 1993. 242 pp. 'I get terribly angry', remarks Daniel Nelson, editor of Gemini News Service, 'when journalists take the phrase, which is completly manufactured, "New World Order"—it's absolutely meaningless. Personally I don't think there is a New World Order. I think we have the same world order, but without the Soviet Union which was never a major part of the world economy. And if you live in Katmandu or Kampala, there is no change.'

3. International history 1900–99

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Len Scott
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Total War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
East West

This chapter focuses on some of the principal developments in world politics from 1900 to 1999: the development of total war, the advent of nuclear weapons, the onset of cold war, and the end of European imperialism. It shows how the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union became the key dynamic in world affairs, replacing the dominance of — and conflict among — European states in the first half of the twentieth century. It also examines the ways that the cold war promoted or prevented global conflict, how decolonization became entangled with East–West conflicts, and how dangerous the nuclear confrontation between East and West was. Finally, the chapter considers the role of nuclear weapons in specific phases of the cold war, notably in détente, and then with the deterioration of Soviet–American relations in the 1980s.

Department of Peacekeeping Operations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herman T. Salton
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
New World ◽  
World Order ◽  
New World Order ◽  
Rwandan Genocide ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Cold War

This chapter reviews the role of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) before and during the Rwandan genocide. After introducing the peculiar context of the early 1990s and the promises of the so-called ‘New World Order’ which followed the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the chapter outlines the role of DPKO during the early reconnaissance mission to Rwanda and reviews several decisions taken by the peacekeeping department. These include the size of the mission and its troop levels, the so-called ‘genocide cable’ sent by Dallaire about forthcoming ethnic massacres, and the mandate and rules of engagement of the Rwandan operation. The chapter also introduces the phenomenon of the ‘anticipatory veto’, or a tendency on the part of Secretariat officials to recommend to the Security Council only what the latter is likely to endorse.

3. International history of the twentieth century

2019 ◽  
pp. 54-69
Author(s):  
Len Scott
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Total War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Cold War

This chapter focuses on some of the principal developments in world politics from 1900 to 1999: the development of total war, the advent of nuclear weapons, the onset of cold war, and the end of European imperialism. It shows how the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union became the key dynamic in world affairs, replacing the dominance of—and conflict among—European states in the first half of the twentieth century. It also examines the ways that the cold war promoted or prevented global conflict, how decolonization became entangled with East–West conflicts, and how dangerous the nuclear confrontation between East and West was. Finally, the chapter considers the role of nuclear weapons in specific phases of the cold war, notably in détente, and then with the deterioration of Soviet–American relations in the 1980s.

The End of the Cold War

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Guyatt
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Order ◽  
Berlin Wall ◽  
Warsaw Pact ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Cold War

This chapter discusses the history of the end of the Cold War. It describes different versions of what signified the end of the Cold War, which include the demolition of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, Mikhail Gorbachev's declaration that the Soviet Union would no longer use its military to subdue the satellite states of the Warsaw Pact in 1988, and the reunification of Germany in October 1990. The chapter also considers the consequences of the end of the Cold War, which include a renewed search for international order and cooperation.

scholarly journals The Myth of the New Cold War

2020 ◽  
Vol 02 (02) ◽  
pp. 2050008
Author(s):  
Guo Shuyong ◽  
Li Boran
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Basis ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The World ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
The Cold War

With the changes of international order and the deterioration of China–US relations, it has been argued that a new Cold War is approaching. However, this view does not comprehensively consider the differences between the current world and the world during the Cold War era. In fact, the political and economic basis of a new Cold War is far from mature, and China and America have gained abundant experiences of risk management. In addition, China is also very different from the Soviet Union. All of these elements determined that China and US will not necessarily have a new Cold War. However, some potential risks that may push China and US crash with each other should be carefully considered.

The Hazards of Operations Involving Nuclear Weapons during the Cold War

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milton Leitenberg
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
False Alarms ◽  
Nuclear War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Cold War

This article provides an overview of the perils of U.S. and Soviet nuclear war planning during the Cold War. In particular, the article discusses instances of false alarms, when one side or the other picked up indications of an imminent attack by the other side and had to take measures to determine whether the indicators were accurate. None of these incidents posed a large danger of an accidental nuclear war, but they illustrate the inherent risks of the war preparations that both the United States and the Soviet Union took for their immense nuclear arsenals.

The Nuclear Revolution

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Campbell Craig
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Atomic Bomb ◽  
The United States ◽  
Arms Races ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Cold War

This chapter, which examines the role of nuclear weapons in the Cold War and the role of the Cold War in the nuclear revolution, argues that the development of nuclear weapons significantly affected the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union beyond the nuclear crises and arms races. It investigates the role of the atomic bomb in making impossible the postwar cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union, and evaluates the role of nuclear fear in invalidating the Soviet's Marxism-Leninism ideology. The chapter also considers how the mutual assured destruction pushed the superpowers away from direct military confrontation and into senseless weapon overproduction at home.

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