On Every Front: The Making and Unmaking of the Cold War - Hardcover

Paterson, Professor Of History Thomas G

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393030601 ISBN 13: 9780393030600

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 1992

Synopsis

In this book, Thomas G. Paterson examines the history of the Cold War, beginning with its origins in the rubble-strewn countries after World War II and ending with the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. He looks at features of the international system that guaranteed conflict: the great power quest for order by building spheres of influence; the power, ideology and strategic economic needs of the United States and the Soviet Union that compelled activist, global foreign policies; and the personalities of key figures, ranging from Truman to Bush, Stalin to Gorbachev. After demonstrating that the Cold War derived from many sources, the author analyzes the end of the Cold War and concludes that detente ultimately stemmed from the decline of the two superpowers.

About this title

From the Back Cover

How and why did the Cold War begin? How and why did it end? What will its end mean for international relations? Opening his new book with the drama of people struggling to survive in rubble-strewn countries after the Second World War, Thomas G. Paterson follows the long Cold War crisis though to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. He examines features of the international system that guaranteed conflict: the great-power quest for order by building spheres of influence; the power, ideology, and strategic-economic needs of the United States and the Soviet Union that compelled activist, global foreign policies; and the personalities of key figures, from Truman to Bush, Stalin to Gorbachev and Yeltsin. In his exploration of the end of the Cold War, the author concludes that the two superpowers sought detente because they had been weakened by the economic costs of the Cold War, challenges from allies, and the diffusion of power in the international system after the rise of the Third World. As historical story and analysis, On Every Front provides a telling account of an era - of the making and unmaking of the Cold War.

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393030601
• ISBN 13: 9780393030600
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 304