The Fifty Years War: The United States and the Soviet Union in World Politics, 1941-1991
ISBN: 9780203206263
Platform/Publisher: Taylor & Francis / Routledge
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Unlimited; Download: Unlimited
Subjects: Humanities; Politics & International Relations; International Politics; International Relations; History; Political History;

Crockatt (The Cold War Past and Present) analyzes the breakdown of the wartime alliance between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. and the two nations' differing concepts of their postwar roles. He reviews the formative period of détente, from 1965 to 1973, which witnessed the signing of major nuclear arms agreements by the superpowers, and the erosion of mutual trust in the early 1980s as the U.S. built up its military forces. The author argues that the defense buildup, particularly President Ronald Reagan's advocacy of the Strategic Defense Initiative, or Star Wars, forced the Soviet Union to match the U.S. and thereby bankrupt itself or seek accommodation. Mikhail Gorbachev chose the latter course, ushering in the end of the Cold War. American strength of will and material resources at a critical moment in Soviet history, observes Crockatt, tipped the scales in the U.S.'s favor. A comprehensive assessment of the Cold War from a global perspective. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved


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