The History of the Cold War

The cold war was the crucible by which the United States was transformed into a global superpower and laid the basis for the national security state. The ideological and geopolitical competition between the United States and the Soviet Union shaped the global and regional makeup of the modern world and its legacies continue to influence global politics in the twenty-first century. This course charts the origins of the cold war; provides an overview of the ideological and geopolitical drivers of the conflict; examines how the cold war was played out in Europe, East Asia, the Middle East, and the Third World; assesses its impact as a driver for the development of both conventional and nuclear forces; and charts the mechanisms that developed in Washington and Moscow for managing the cold war. The course concludes with charting how the cold war wound down and the legacies it has left for the twenty-first century. It provides students with an overview and general survey of the key developments of the period from 1945 to 1990. This course is designed especially for national security professionals, although it is open to anyone. This is primarily a political-security history of the cold war with a focus on how this shapes and defines the national security enterprise.