Ending the Cold War: Interpretations, Causation, and the Study of International Relations (New Visions in Security)

Annotation Although in hindsight the end of the Cold War seems almost inevitable, almost no one saw it coming and there is little consensus over why it ended. A popular interpretation is that the Soviet Union was unable to compete in terms of power, especially in the area of high technology. Another interpretation gives primacy to the new ideas Gorbachev brought to the Kremlin and to the importance of leaders and domestic considerations. In this volume, prominent experts on Soviet affairs and the Cold War interrogate these competing interpretations in the context of five 'turning points' in the end of the Cold War process. Relying on new information gathered in oral history interviews and archival research, the authors draw into doubt triumphal interpretations that rely on a single variable like the superior power of the United States and call attention to the importance of how multiple factors combined and were sequenced historically. The volume closes with chapters drawing lessons from the end of the Cold War for both policy making and theory building

Although in hindsight the end of the Cold War was inevitable, almost no one saw it coming and there is little consensus over why it ended. A popular interpretation is that the Soviet Union was unable to compete in terms of power, especially in the area of high technology. Another interpretation gives primacy to the new ideas Gorbachev brought to the Kremlin and to the importance of leaders and domestic considerations. In this volume, prominent experts on Soviet affairs and the Cold War interrogate competing interpretations in the context of five "turning points" in the end of the Cold War. Relying on new information gathered from oral history interviews and archival research, the authors draw into doubt triumphal interpretations that rely on a single variable like the superior power of the United States and call attention to the importance of how multiple factors combined and were sequenced historically. The volume closes with chapters drawing lessons from the end of the Cold War for both policy making and theory building.

Front Matter....Pages i-viii What Was the Cold War? When and Why Did it End?....Pages 1-27 Front Matter....Pages 29-29 Gorbachev and the End of the Cold War....Pages 31-57 Regional Conflicts as Turning Points....Pages 59-82 Turning Points in Arms Control....Pages 83-105 The Emancipation of Eastern Europe....Pages 107-129 German Unification....Pages 131-157 Front Matter....Pages 159-159 Leadership and the End of the Cold War....Pages 161-188 Understanding the End of the Cold War as a Non-Linear Confluence....Pages 189-217 Learning from the End of the Cold War....Pages 219-238 Back Matter....Pages 239-248 In this volume, experts on Soviet affairs interrogate competing interpretations of why the Cold War ended, in the context of five 'turning points' in the end of the Cold War process The end of the Cold War constitutes one of the most remarkable transformations of the twentieth century.