The logic of the Cold War : the web of interdependent governance and the connective power

The Cold War revealed, for the first time in human history, the logic of human togetherness, which indicated that it was not only necessary for nation-states to live together but also possible for them to do so. The necessity was because of the inescapably shared vulnerability of “mutually assured destruction,” not only in terms of security but more so in economic well-being and political stability. The possibility was due to the unipolar world structure sustained by the global governance web of interdependent partnership which worked powerfully “between” the power agents to ensure the best of all possible world. This latent governance system was both hierarchical and dynamic because its power was “connective” in the sense that power was rooted in one another and the ability to be interdependent by empowering other power agents and sharing vulnerability at the same time was the way of becoming the “nucleus” on the global web of interdependent partners and hence gaining power in transforming one another connectively and governing the world collectively. George Kennan's patience in building up hard and soft powers “within” individual power agents of the web and Wilson/Roosevelt's institutionalization of collective power “above” each power agents contributed to the construction of the system. The Soviet big-brotherly governing type was proven a failure. Contents......Page 9 Acknowledgments......Page 11 Introduction......Page 13 1 Logic of Togetherness at Work......Page 29 2 Governance of the Web of Interdependent Partnership......Page 53 3 Governance of the Big-Brotherly Vanguard Group......Page 87 4 The Cold War Wisdom......Page 121 5 Historical Logics and Emergence of an Interdependent Leviathan......Page 141 6 Construction of the Post–Cold War World......Page 165 Postscript......Page 185 Bibliography......Page 189 Index......Page 199 About the Author......Page 207 "This study provides a broad examination of the international power structure during the Cold War. Combining research from history, sociology, and political science, the author analyzes how the international system was based on a hierarchical and dynamic web of interdependent partnerships."-- Provided by publisher