1. Formation of the Cold War Order

2. https://www. youtube. com/watch

3. What is a cold war?
An intense, sustained political confrontation between countries, involving all spheres of relations (a war)
But without a direct armed clash (cold)

4. The 20th century Cold War:
The process
The system

5. Conflict and cooperation
The Cold War started in the framework of an international order established jointly by Western democracies and the Soviet Union – allies in World War II
It had a cooperative base
That order never broke down for the remainder of the century, despite being tested severely by Cold War conflicts
The Cold War can be seen as the process of global struggles over the specific terms of the international order
It came to an end in the 1980s when the struggle subsided, and the order was reinforced through East-West convergence

6. The asymmetry: USA and USSR
USA leads in the creation of the global order
USSR goes along, while maintaining its identity, special interests, bargaining chips
Challenging the West whenever interests would clash
Cooperating with the West whenever interests would demand it
Never on a par with the US

7. The asymmetry: USA and USSR
USA leads in the creation of the global order
USSR goes along, while maintaining its identity, special interests, bargaining chips
Challenging the West whenever interests would clash
Cooperating with the West whenever interests would demand it
Never on a par with the US

8. The main stages of the Cold War
Stage I : The Cold War system is formed Stage II : East-West Coexistence Stage III : The New Tensions Stage IV : The Cold War Ends

10. The Cold War started unexpectedly early after the end of WWII – almost without a pause
A unique convergence of geopolitical, ideological and military factors
Geopolitical
Ideological
Military

11. Emergence of a bipolar system: rise of the 2 superpowers Ideological:
Geopolitical
Emergence of a bipolar system: rise of the 2 superpowers
US-Soviet relations became the central axis of world politics
Ideological:
A new phase in the Global Civil War
The historic defeat of the Global Right in 1945 empowered the Global Left
Socialism, in various forms, began to look like an attractive alternative to capitalism
Military:
Invention of atomic weapons led to a revolution in warfare
A tool for global projection of military power on the cheap
A barrier against large-scale warfare

12. Jump to the 1980s:
The world is increasingly multipolar, no longer dominated by the two superpowers
Crisis of socialism, the wave of anti-Western revolutions gives way to a wave of liberal-democratic revolutions
The deadlock in the nuclear arms race, crisis of militarism

13. Noam Chomsky on the Cold War:

14. The first years after World War II:
Who was on the offensive?
Who was on the defensive?
Who felt threatened and insecure?
Who felt confident and aggressive?

15. Western Fears
The crisis of global capitalism
The shift to the Left in the politics of Western countries: socialism on the agenda
The upsurge of anti-colonial struggles in the Third World
The emergence of the USSR as the most powerful state in Eurasia

16. Soviet Fears
Enormous economic losses from the war
Problems of controlling society after the war
The war as a school of citizenship
Mass exposure to European life
The population of new territories under Soviet control
The legacy of terror
Fear of a united Western coalition against the USSR, possibility of new wars

17. Factors of Western self-confidence
The USSR is internally weak
The US is a powerhouse
US had enormous advantages in late 1940s:
50% of global production
Nuclear monopoly in
Naval and air superiority
Ground forces on a par with USSR
The role as the main architect of a liberal world order
Totalitarianism will be resisted by most people; Western liberal-democratic values will ultimately prevail

18. Factors of Soviet self-confidence
The Soviet system passed the test of survival and strength
Soviet assets:
Control of territory: the dominant power in Eurasia
A totalitarian system associated with progress
The leading role in the Global Left
Capitalism is in systemic crisis
The rise of the Global Left - potential Soviet allies

19. The Global Left: the postwar offensive
EUROPE
Yugoslavia and Albania – Communists have come to power on their own
Greece, Italy, France – Communist parties may come to power on their own
Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria – defeated states in shambles; Soviet presence a major boost to local Communists
Poland – Soviet presence assures Communist takeover
Czechoslovakia – gradual Communist takeover from a strong domestic base, with Soviet help
Moderate, reformist Left makes major political gains in the West (e.g. Labour Party in Britain)

20. The West was primarily concerned about survival and rebuilding of capitalism in Western Europe
USSR was primarily concerned about strategic control of Eastern Europe – securing the Western flank
The division of Europe, agreed in 1945, materialized
The fate of Germany remained the one major bone of contention – but even there, the lines established in 1945 helped stabilize the situation
In Asia, it was an open-ended continental struggle – but not between Russia and America

21. China, 1945-49: Communists defeat Nationalists
ASIA:
Indochina: Vietnamese Communists as the main anti-colonialist force, proclaim Vietnam’s independence in 1945
China, : Communists defeat Nationalists
Korea, 1945: Communists control the North with Soviet help
India, 1947: Independence won by nationalists supported by communists
Indonesia, Burma: nationalist-communist coalitions lead anticolonialist campaigns
Iran: the rise of a Communist-nationalist alliance
Turkey: emergence of a strong Communist-led Left
The Mideast
The establishment of Israel - with Soviet support
The rise of Arab nationalism against Western colonial rule

22. The Soviet role in the Global Left’s offensive?
To beat the Global Right in World War II
to project the image of successful socialism
to help install Communist regimes in a few countries
to be there as a counterweight to the US
Stalin could control only a small part of the Global Left – in Eastern Europe
He readily betrayed the Left whenever it suited his geopolitical goals
And he would try to engineer a Left-wing takeover of a country whenever he considered it necessary
The postwar surge of the Global Left offered opportunities to Stalin and his regime – but also posed major challenges

23. US responses to the Global Left’s offensive
The core dilemma: suppression or cooptation? The range of options:
Suppression extreme: War against the USSR and the Global Left
Cooptation extreme: Social-democratic reforms of capitalism, cooptation of the Left, accommodation with the Soviet Union as a status-quo power badly in need of healing.
A search for the middle ground – for effective combinations of both
American elites were split
US foreign policy process was heavily politicized and hotly contested
the strategy evolved from crisis to crisis

24. Winston Churchill declares the Cold War: https://www. youtube

25. First American Cold War President: Harry S
First American Cold War President: Harry S. Truman (in office from 1945 to1952)

26. George Kennan, American diplomat, architect of the policy of Containment of Communism

27. “Containment of Communism”
A massive, complex, messy, costly, evolving strategy of global counterrevolution
2 levels:
interstate
transnaitonal

28. Containment of the USSR
The interstate level
Containment of the USSR
Nuclear deterrence
A chain of anti-Soviet alliances (NATO and others)
Economic attrition strategies
Propaganda war against Communism
Covert operations in Soviet and allied territories

29. The transnational level Containment of the Global Left
Revival of the global capitalist economy (e.g. the Marshall Plan)
Use of force in various forms, open and covert
Information warfare (propaganda)
Cooptation: tactical alliances with elements of the Global Left on anti-Soviet platforms

30. The two superpowers never had a significant direct armed conflict between them
They fought wars by proxy (Korea, Vietnam, Angola, etc.)
But they kept preparing for total military confrontation
Nuclear arms
Conventional armies and navies
Military alliances – NATO, the Warsaw Pact
Spy wars
New structures of militarism
The military-industrial complex
The national security state

31. The end of WWII saw
the rise of the two superpowers:
USA and USSR
A bipolar world – something unique in world history
Challenging each other
Containing each other
Trying to control other states to follow them
But also: cooperating with each other to keep their power
Each needed the other as “The Other”
But both wanted to survive

32. Did containment work?
Yes: in Europe. Why?
There was a geopolitical deal between Stalin and the West (Yalta)
Successful cooptation of the reformist Left
Stalin’s influence on Western Communists and his policy of discouraging revolution

33. In Asia, these conditions were absent:
No deal like Yalta
The US refused to co-opt the Left
Asian Left-wing forces were mostly out of Soviet control; Stalin was prepared to gamble (Korea)

34. By 1950, containment looked like a manifest failure:
The USSR rapidly rebuilt its economy (5 years instead of expected years) and went nuclear
Soviet totalitarianism hardens, no state breakdown
Eastern Europe is firmly under Soviet control
Communists take power in China
North Korea invades the South with Soviet and Chinese support
The image of Communism on the march; unstoppable, winning
Revolt of the American Right against failing Cold War policy

35. 1953
January: Dwight Eisenhower enters the White House. The Republicans are committed to victory in the Cold War. The war in Korea continues. Stalin is bracing for a world war
ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS POINTS IN THE COLD WAR
March: Stalin dies, a new leadership emerges in the Kremlin. It proclaims the goal of peaceful coexistence
March: Release of GULAG prisoners begins
July: Armistice in Korea