Reference
- Chapter 7: The End of the Cold War and the Fate of Nuclear Protest, 1985 to the PresentIn late 1984, in the wreckage of a resounding victory for Ronald Reagan in that year's presidential election, a dispirited Nancy Donaldson, the Political Director of Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament (WAND), wrote to members of her group. WAND had spent hundreds of hours mobilizing for the Democratic candidate Walter Mondale and raising money for political candidates who supported nuclear disarmament. Defeating Reagan had become the focus of millions of antinuclear activists in groups like WAND, the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign, and hundreds of others across the nation. And yet Reagan had triumphed in a historic landslide, winning 49 of the 50 states. Donaldson worried that there was little for disappointed activists to do but “sift through the rubble, pick up the pieces and go home.” But, she added, “where IS home?”1 Donaldson's home state of Massachusetts could normally be counted on to vote Democratic, but in 1984 the Bay State had joined almost all the others in going for the Republican candidate.
Online Resources
- The End of the Cold War, 1981-1992President Reagan entered office in January 1981, determined to contain, if not “roll back,” Soviet expansionism in global trouble spots such as Afghanistan and Angola. The United States and its European allies found themselves in frequent disagreement over the western response to Soviet moves against the burgeoning Solidarity movement in Poland and European participation in the Soviet natural gas pipeline from Western Europe to Siberia. The Reagan Administration adopted a two-pronged approach to authoritarian governments in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The Central Intelligence Agency provided military assistance for “freedom fighters” to combat left-wing regimes, while the Department of State provided diplomatic incentives for right-wing regimes to allow free elections.
- End of the Cold Warames Goldgeier, the Henry Alfred Kissinger Scholar in Foreign Policy and International Relations in the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, presented a lecture titled "The End of the Cold War and the Struggle Over American Foreign Policy" in a program sponsored by the Kluge Center.
- Melting Ice with the Peaceful Atom: The NRC and the End of the Cold WarDespite not seeing eye-to-eye on many matters, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, nevertheless, continued to exchange information about nuclear reactor safety even during the Cold War. Then the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and the information exchanges stopped. It wasn't until the 1985 Reagan-Gobachev summit that discussions were restarted.
- The Cold WarWhen did the Cold War start? The answer is classic irony in the somber shadow of today’s headlines. For it started when the President of the United States decided to protect Iran from our wartime ally, the Soviet Union.
The wartime allies had used Iran – with the Soviets occupying northern Iran and the British and American forces occupying the south – as a back-door Allied supply line to the Red Army. At their Teheran Conference in 1943 all the allies had agreed to clear out of Iran within six months of an armistice in Europe.
Streaming Media
- George HW Bush and the End of the Cold WarIn which John Green teaches you about the end of the Cold War and the presidency of George H.W. Bush. It was neither the best of times, nor the worst of times. On the domestic front, the first president Bush inherited the relative prosperity of the later Reagan years, and watched that prosperity evaporate. That was about all the interest Bush 41 had, domestically, so let's move to foreign policy, which was a bigger deal at this time. The biggie was the end of the Cold War, which is the title of the video, so you know it's important. The collapse of the Soviet Union was the biggest deal of Bush's term, and history has assigned the credit to Ronald Reagan. We give the guy a break, and say that he helped. He was certainly expert in foreign policy, having been and envoy to China, ambassador to the United Nations, and head of the CIA. Bush also oversaw the first Gulf War, which was something of a success, in that the primary mission was accomplished, and the vast majority of the troops were home in short order. It didn't do much to address some of the other problems in the region, but we'll get to that in the next few weeks. Along with all this, you'll learn about Bush's actions, or lack thereof, in Somalia and the Balkans, and you'll even be given an opportunity to read Bush's lips.
Perspectives
The End of the Cold War
Giving an overview of the origins and history of the Cold War, this work considers whether the Cold War is truly over, and what the effects have been on Europe, and the former Soviet Union, as well as US foreign policy.
The End of the Cold War?
Thomas Simons held an important position in US-Soviet relations for most of the 1980s. However, his account of policy development during this period is not confined to personal reminiscence. He tries, drawing on his training as a historian, to weigh events in their broader, more long term context.
New Perspectives on the End of the Cold War
This collection of essays makes a significant contribution to the historiography of the end of the Cold War. Research on the causes and consequences of the end of the Cold War is constantly growing. Initially, it was dominated by fairly simplistic, and often politically motivated, debates revolving around the role played by major "winners" and "losers". This volume addresses a number of diverse issues and seeks to challenge several "common wisdoms" about the end of the Cold War. Together, the contributions provide insights on the role of personalities as well as the impact of transnational movements and forces on the unexpected political transformations of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Geographically, the chapters largely focus on the United States, Europe, with special emphasis on Germany, and the Soviet Union. The individual chapters are drawn together by the overarching theme relating to a particular "common wisdom": were the transformations that occurred truly "unexpected"? This collection of essays will make an important contribution to the growing literature on the developments that produced the collapse of the Iron Curtain, the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. This volume will be of much interest to students of Cold War Studies, International History, European Politics and International Relations in general.