Traditional narratives of the Cold War focus on a bi-polar series of conflicts that pit the United States against the Soviet Union in a good-versus-evil battle for global political and military supremacy. This course destabilizes this account of a process that affected every continent on earth – and even reached into space – over the period of more than half a century. It explores the Cold War from East-West, North-South, global, and interstellar perspectives. In addition to political and military issues, the course will also discuss the Cold War in social, cultural, intellectual, and economic spheres.
