| Edition |
1st ed. |
| Description |
xvii, 301 p. ; 23 cm. |
| Series |
Issues in the history of American foreign relations |
|
Issues in the history of American foreign relations.
|
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Summary |
The Cold War continues to shape international relations almost twenty years after being acknowledged as the central event of the last half of the twentieth century. Interpretations of how it ended thus remain crucial to an accurate understanding of global events and foreign policy. The reasons for the Cold War's conclusion, and the timing of its ending, are disputed to this day. In this concise introduction to the Cold War and its enduring legacy, John Prados recognizes the debate between those who argue the United States was the key player in bringing it to a close and those who maintain that American actions were secondary factors. Like a crime scene investigator meticulously dissecting evidence, he applies a succession of different methods of historical analysis to illuminate the key cataclysmic events of the 1980s and early 1990s from a range of perspectives. He also incorporates evidence from European and Soviet intelligence sources into the study. The result is a stunning narrative that redefines the era, embraces debate, and deconstructs history, providing a coherent explanation for the upheavals that ended the conflict. How the Cold War Ended also provides an in-depth guide to conducting historical inquiries: how to choose a subject, how to frame a narrative, and how to conduct research and draw conclusions. Prados does this for a variety of methods of historical analysis, furnishing a how-to guide for "doing history" even as it explores a crucial case study. - Publisher. |
| Contents |
What happened : accounting for history -- Players, programs, and plots -- Alice in Wonderland : institutions, operators, and political prerogatives -- "The most dangerous decade in human history" : popular movements and global outcomes -- Blue chips, bluegrass and national pride : economics, politics, and culture -- The shadow Cold War -- How the Cold War ended -- Appendix of documents. -- 1. Report from Colonel Kuklinski ('Jack Strong"), September 15, 1981 -- 2. Transcript of Meeting of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, December 10, 1981 -- 3. CPSU Central Committee Information Cable, December 13, 1981 -- 4. Impact of Credit Restrictions on Soviet Trade and the Soviet Economy, May 1982 -- 5. Excerpts Regarding Poland from KGB's 1981 Annual Report, April 13, 1982 -- 6. National Security Decision Directive 32, "U.S. National Security Strategy," May 20, 1982 -- 7. Whence the Threat to Peace, 1982 -- 8. National Security Decision Directive 66, "East-West Economic Relations and Poland-Related Sanctions," November 29, 1982 -- 9. Soviet Strategy to Derail US INF Deployment, February 1983 -- 10. National Security Decision Directive 75, "U.S. Relations with the USSR, " January 17, 1983 -- 11. Ethnic Balance in the Soviet Military in a Decade of Manpower Shortage, April 1983 -- 12. Commentary by Soviet General Staff Chief Marshal Nikolai N. V. Ogarkov, May 9, 1984 -- 13. A Space-Based Anti-Missile System with Directed Energy Weapons: Strategic, Legal and Political Implications, 1984 -- 14. Memorandum of Conversation between President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Camp David, December 22, 1984 -- 15. Memorandum of Conversation Between President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, Geneva Summit, November 20, 1985 -- 16. Memorandum of Conversation Between President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, Reykjavik Summit, October 11, 1986 -- 17. Memorandum of Conversation Between President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, Reykjavik Summit, October 12, 1986 -- National Intelligence Estimate, "Soviet Policy Toward Eastern Europe under Gorbachev, May 1988 -- 19. Gorbachev's Growing Confrontation with the KGB: A Coming Showdown? June 1988 -- |
|
20. SDI: Technology, Survivability, and Software, May 1988 -- 21. Solidarity Memorandum "On Starting the Roundtable Talks," September 4, 1988 -- 22. General Mikhail S. Gorbachev Address to 43rd UN General Assembly Session, December 7, 1988 -- 23. Diary of Anatoly S. Chernyaev, December 17, 1988 -- 24. Report of the Bogomolov Commission on the Soviet Union and East-Central Europe, February 1989 -- 25. Memorandum to Alexander Yakovlev from CPSU Central Committee International Department, February 1, 1989 -- 26. The Political Processes in the European Socialist Countries and the Proposals for Our Practical Steps Considering the Situation Which has Arisen in Them, February 24, 1989 -- 27. Record of Conversation between President Mikhail Gorbachev and Prime Minister Miklos Nemeth of Hungary, March 3, 1989 -- 28. Hungarian Government Agreement on National Roundtable Talks, June 10, 1989 -- 29. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation between Chancellor Helmut Kohl and President George H. W. Bush, October 23, 1989 -- 30. Soviet Record of Conversation between President Mikhail S. Gorachev and Egon Krenz, General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) of the German Democratic Republic, November 1, 1989 -- 31. Press Conference with SED Politburo Member Gunter Schabowski at East German Press Center, November 9, 1989 -- 32. Verbal Message from Mikhail Gorbachev to Helmut Kohl, November 10, 1989 -- 33. Verbal Message from Mikhail Gorbachev to Francois Mitterrand, Margaret Thatcher, and George Bush, November 10, 1989 -- 34. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation between Chancellor Helmut Kohl and President George H. W. Bush, November 10, 1989 -- 35. Diary of Anatoly S. Chernyaev, November 10, 1989 -- 36. Record of Telephone Conversation between President Mikhail Gorbachev and Chancellor Helmut Kohl, November 11, 1989 -- 37. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation between Helmut Kohl and President George H.W. Bush, February 13, 1990 -- 38. The Illegal Economy under Gorbachev, Growth and Implications, April 1990 -- 39. Chancellor Helmut Kohl Statement to the German Bundestag on the Occasion of the Parliamentary Vote on Reunification of Germany, August 23, 1990 -- 40 Beyond Perestroika: The Soviet Economy in Crisis, June 1991 -- 41. The Soviet Cauldron, April 25, 1991 -- 42. National Intelligence Estimate, "Implications of Alternative Soviet Futures," June 1991. |
| Subject |
Cold War.
|
|
Cold War -- Historiography.
|
|
World politics -- 1945-1989.
|
|
World politics -- 1945-1989 -- Historiography.
|
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United States -- Foreign relations -- Soviet Union.
|
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Soviet Union -- Foreign relations -- United States.
|
| ISBN |
9781597971751 (pbk. : alk. paper) |
|
1597971758 (pbk. : alk. paper) |
|
9781597971744 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
|
159797174X (hardcover : alk. paper) |
|
