Understanding the Cold War

• Since 1945 – 1990s

• Sudden end of cold war
• Certain developments Eg:
• Increasing role of mass media
• growth of Intl orgs
• Emergence of transnational NGOs
• Impact of globalization
• Somewhat erosion of significance of sovereign states
Understanding the Cold War
• Some developments were positive (as anticipated with the new world
order).
• Some developments were detrimental to stability and world peace.
Eg: Emergence of new armed conflicts and increasingly dysfunctional
economic relations ships.
Antecedents of the 1945 International System
• Post 1945 international sys: first time the world experienced bipolarity
in modern history.
• Post WW1, Germany reunited and became a problem for the European
stability
• It was American reluctance to shoulder the burden which emboldened
the German threat post WW-1.
• European states needed foreign intervention in the last 2 years of WW
1.
• Containing Germany (in 1920s) required a commitment that the U.S did
not afford till 1940s
Antecedents of the 1945 International System
• Beginning of the Cold War has been given different starting
chronological points
• In the nineteenth century, the development of large land-based empires
paved the way for an inevitable clash. (This explanation fits with the
classical realist explanation)
• Since 1917, the growing empires (states) coexisted peacefully till 1939.
• The timing of the CW was connected to the imbalance in global power
balance produced by the second world war.
• New sense of ideological rivalry (capitalism vs. Communism) became
the color/theme for this geopolitical rivalry.
Antecedents of the 1945 International System
• In the U.S, the domestic elites main concern was domestic social and
economic instability.
• With development of better communication and transmission
systems, the rivalry between two powers became global (easier and
cheaper)
• Therefore, CW was about two competing ideologies which threatened
the status quo of the ruling elites in the capitalist world.
• Thus, domestic interests and pursuit of ideological goals superseded
the old geopolitical rivalries.
Antecedents of the 1945 International System
•COLD WAR AND REALISM
•Realist school of international relations theorists was born out of the failure of liberal thinkers in the inter-war period.
•Sufficient weight to the importance of power as a determinant of international relations

•Reason: Hitler’s aggressive desire to maximize the territorial expansion.

•In contrast, liberals put their faith in international cooperation and states working together.

•Realists' perspective:
•lack of any single international authority
•anarchical nature of the international system
• necessity of survival through self-help.
•States maximizing relative gains in military and economy according the global power structure
•Hence domestic policies have nothing/little to do with foreign policy which is determined by
exclusively external considerations.
Antecedents of the 1945 International System
• US representing all capitalist states
• USSR leading all communist and pro-communist states
• In words of Hartman, ‘Cold war was a situation in which each camp
strengthened its own ideological base and tried to weaken the other
while avoiding direct confrontation.”
• Psyops and other means of war were utilized to target each other.
• Some physical conflict occurred but not directly amongst the
superpowers. Why?
• Concept of deterrence
Antecedents of the 1945 International System
• In 1941, Hitler invades and penetrated Russia
• President, Roosevelt sent armaments to Russia
• Relationship between Roosevelt and Stalin was good.
• After the German defeat, Stalin wanted to implement communist
ideology in Poland, Hungry, Bulgaria and Romania.
• At this point, U.S and British started suspecting Stalin.
Antecedents of the 1945 International System
• On March 5, 1946, Brit PM, Winston Churchill said in his Fulton speech that
USSR was covered with an ‘iron curtain’

• Iron Curtain:  a political, military, and ideological barrier erected by the Soviet
Union after World War II to seal off itself and its dependent eastern and central
European allies from open contact with the West and other noncommunist areas.

• It led Stalin to think deeply.

• This led to further amelioration in the conflict between the 2 camps.

Antecedents of the 1945 International System
• Both camps could not tolerate the penetration of the opposite camp
ideas.
• Race of armaments and nuclear arsenals also enhanced the cold war
and suspicions on each side .
• USSR was militarily stronger.
• To counter that, US got a lead in vertical nuclear proliferation
• The Western European states joined with the U.S in armaments race.
• Concept of nuclear umbrella during the cold war.
• Formation of NATO (1949) and WARSAW Pact (1955).
Antecedents of the 1945 International System
• Ideological difference was just the tip of the iceberg.
• However, when USSR started spreading its ideology, U.S did its best to
negate communism through Psyops, covert warfare (supporting
insurgencies/ aiding satellite states to contain USSR)
• Russian support of labor revolutions/movements around the globe further
accelerated cold war
• Similarly, U.S helped the pro capitalist states
• The atrocities of nuclear holocaust on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was also a
nightmare for the USSR and motivated it to maintain credible deterrence.
• Over-usage of Veto power by USSR in post WW2 era made the western
European states move away from USSR.