The End of the Cold War Era The Transformation of the Global Security Order

by Dockrill, Saki

• ISBN13: 9780340740323
• ISBN10: 0340740329
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-09-30
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

Between 1989 and 1991 the world witnessed a series of dramatic changes: the end of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, the reunification of Germany, the end of the superpower nuclear arms race, the demise of East-West rivalries in the Third World, and, finally, the break-up of the Soviet Union, all of which effectively ended the Cold War. This book investigates the many unanswered questions posed by sudden end of the Cold War and extracts essential lessons from our recent past in three major areas: Europe, superpower relations, and the Third World. Saki Ruth Dockrill is Professor of Contemporary History and International Security, Department of War Studies, King's College London. Between 1989 and 1991 the world witnessed a series of dramatic changes: the end of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, the reunification of Germany, the end of the superpower nuclear arms race, the demise of East-West rivalries in the Third World, and, finally, the break-up of the Soviet Union, all of which effectively ended the Cold War. This book investigates the many unanswered questions posed by sudden end of the Cold War and extracts essential lessons from our recent past in three major areas: Europe, superpower relations, and the Third World. Between 1989 and 1991 the world witnessed a series of dramatic changes: the end of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, the reunification of Germany, the end of the superpower nuclear arms race, the demise of East-West rivalries in the Third World, and, finally, the break-up of the Soviet Union, all of which effectively ended the Cold War. This book investigates the many unanswered questions posed by sudden end of the Cold War and extracts essential lessons from our recent past in three major areas: Europe, superpower relations, and the Third World."An interesting, well-researched and readable book that deserves to be widely recommended to students."John Young, Professor of International History, University of Nottingham

Author Biography

Saki Ruth Dockrill is Professor of Contemporary History and International Security, Department of War Studies, King's College London.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	vii
List of Tables	viii
Abbreviations	ix
Chronology (1945--2004)	xii
Preface and Acknowledgements	xxi
Introduction	1	(16)
Dynamics of the Cold War	2	(9)
The End of the Cold War Debate	11	(3)
The Structure of the Book	14	(3)
Gorbachev's New Thinking and the Breakup of the Soviet Union, 1985--1991	17	(32)
The Soviet Union and the World Prior to the Gorbachev Era	17	(3)
Gorbachev in Power	20	(2)
Acceleration, Glasnost and Perestroika, 1985--7	22	(5)
From Democratization to Fragmentation, 1988--90	27	(6)
The Worsening Economy and Society, 1989--91	33	(3)
The Disintegration of the Soviet Union, 1990--1	36	(6)
The Implications of Gorbachev's 'New Thinking'	42	(7)
The Decline of Communism in Eastern Europe	49	(18)
The Troubled Alliance: The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe	49	(5)
Signs of Soviet Disengagement from Eastern Europe?: The Polish Crisis, 1980--1	54	(5)
Gorbachev's Policy Towards Europe, 1985--8	59	(3)
Gorbachev and Eastern Europe	62	(5)
The Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and the Unification of Germany, 1989--1991	67	(32)
On the Eve of the Fall of the Berlin Wall	67	(8)
The Fall of the Wall in November 1989	75	(4)
The Winds of Change in Eastern Europe	79	(8)
The Unification of Germany in the Autumn of 1990	87	(5)
Post-Cold War Europe	92	(7)
Reagan, Gorbachev and the Politics of Nuclear Security	99	(22)
Three Outstanding Issues	100	(5)
The Turning Point: Reagan and then Gorbachev, 1984--85	105	(4)
Meeting of Minds -- from Geneva to Reykjavik, 1985--6	109	(4)
The Conclusion of the INF Treaty in December 1987 and After	113	(8)
The Demise of the Superpower Arms Race	121	(20)
The Bush Administration and Gorbachev	121	(3)
The Malta Summit in December 1989	124	(2)
Baltic Clouds	126	(1)
The Washington Summit, 30 May--3 June 1990	127	(1)
The Red Army's Retreat from Europe, 1990--1	128	(2)
The Conclusion of the START Treaty, 1991	130	(1)
The Arms Reduction Race Continues After the August Coup -- the Autumn of 1991	131	(3)
Managing the End of the Cold War	134	(7)
Ideology and Great Power Politics in the Third World	141	(26)
Patterns of Soviet Policy in the Colonial and Third World	142	(5)
The Evolution of American Ideas Towards the Third World	147	(8)
The Vietnam Syndrome and Moscow's 'Wheel of Fortune' in the Third World	155	(7)
The Return of American Assertiveness: The Reagan Doctrine	162	(5)
The End of Superpower Competition in the Third World	167	(36)
Gorbachev's 'New Thinking' and Regional Conflict	167	(9)
Afghanistan	176	(9)
Angola and Africa	185	(5)
Nicaragua, Central America and Beyond	190	(8)
From Rivalry to Cooperation in the Third World?: The First Gulf War, 1990--1	198	(5)
The End of the Cold War and the Road to the War on Terror	203	(26)
The End of the Cold War	203	(2)
Different Visions of the End of the Cold War	205	(7)
Entering the Post-Cold War Era	212	(1)
Beyond the Cold War	213	(3)
The West Becomes Assertive	216	(2)
Post-Cold War American Grand Strategy -- Setting the Agenda for the Future	218	(4)
9:11 -- The Return of the Hegemony to the Global Security Agenda	222	(7)
Notes	229	(30)
Select Bibliography	259	(16)
Index	275