The End of the Cold War, 1981-1991
CHUM 339
Fall 2010 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
HIST 375 |
| Certificates: International Relations |
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the relative stability that prevailed between the United States and Soviet Union since the end of the Cuban missile crisis (and more fundamentally since the East and West German governments were formed in 1949) broke down. "A strong sense of foreboding holds sway in Washington today," a former member of the National Security Council observed in early 1981. By mid-1982, well-informed figures in both Washington and Moscow feared nuclear war. Hostility between the two governments only intensified over the succeeding months.
Yet by mid-1988 the Cold War ended and a new mode of cooperation between the Soviet and U.S. leaders emerged. How and why did this profound transformation occur? This seminar will concentrate on this question. It will call into question both the liberal and the conservative explanations for these developments that have reigned in the United States over the past two decades.
Students will read secondary works, memoirs of negotiators, and primary documents from both sides. In the concluding weeks, each student will do a research essay. |
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Essential Capabilities:
None |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS CHUM |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (HIST-MN)(HIST) |
Major Readings:
(partial and tentative):
James Mann, THE REBELLION OF RONALD REAGAN: A HISTORY OF THE END OF THE COLD WAR (2009).
John Lewis Gaddis, STRATEGIES OF CONTAINMENT: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF
POSTWAR AMERICAN NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY (1982)
Stephen F. Cohen, et al., eds., THE SOVIET UNION SINCE STALIN (1980)
Don Oberdorfer, FROM THE COLD WAR TO A NEW ERA: THE UNITED STATES AND
THE SOVIET UNION, 1983-1991 (1998)
Jack F. Matlock, REAGAN AND GORBACHEV: HOW THE COLD WAR ENDED (2004)
William C. Wohlforth, ed., COLD WAR ENDGAME : ORAL HISTORY, ANALYSIS,
DEBATES (2003)
Vladislav M. Zubok, (A FAILED EMPIRE) THE SOVIET UNION IN THE COLD WAR
FROM STALIN TO GORBACHEV (2007)
Kiron K. Skinner, ed., REAGAN IN HIS OWN VOICE: RONALD REAGAN'S RADIO
ADDRESSES (2001), selected portions
P. (Pavel) Palazchenko, MY YEARS WITH GORBACHEV AND SHEVARDNADZE:
THE MEMOIR OF A SOVIET INTERPRETER (1997)
Zhores Medvedev, GORBACHEV (1986)
Strobe Talbott, U.S.-SOVIET NUCLEAR ARMS CONTROL: WHERE WE ARE AND
HOW WE GOT THERE (1985)
Paul Nitze, THE IMPACT OF SDI ON U.S.-SOVIET RELATIONS (1986)
Kenneth Adelman, et al., NATIONAL SECURITY IN THE 1980S: FROM WEAKNESS
TO STRENGTH (1980)
Kenneth Adelman, THE GREAT UNIVERSAL EMBRACE: ARMS SUMMITRY--A SKEPTIC'S ACCOUNT (1989)
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Examinations and Assignments:
One major research essay; frequent response papers |
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