To Run the World: The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power

Radchenko, Sergey Sergey Radchenko,

ISBN 10: 1108708595 / ISBN 13: 9781108708593

Published by Cambridge University Press, 2026

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 6666-GRD-9781108708593

Bibliographic Details

• Title: To Run the World: The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1108708595
• ISBN 13: 9781108708593
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

What would it feel like To Run the World? The Soviet rulers spent the Cold War trying desperately to find out. In this panoramic new history of the conflict that defined the postwar era, Sergey Radchenko provides an unprecedented deep dive into the psychology of the Kremlin's decision-making. He reveals how the Soviet struggle with the United States and China reflected its irreconcilable ambitions as a self-proclaimed superpower and the leader of global revolution. This tension drove Soviet policies from Stalin's postwar scramble for territory to Khrushchev's reckless overseas adventurism and nuclear brinksmanship, Brezhnev's jockeying for influence in the third world, and Gorbachev's failed attempts to reinvent Moscow's claims to greatness. Perennial insecurities, delusions of grandeur, and desire for recognition propelled Moscow on a headlong quest for global power, with dire consequences and painful legacies that continue to shape our world.

About the Author

Sergey Radchenko is the Wilson E. Schmidt Distinguished Professor at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is a historian of the Cold War, and an expert on Russian and Chinese foreign and security policies. Previous publications include Two Suns in the Heavens: the Sino-Soviet Struggle for Supremacy and Unwanted Visionaries: the Soviet Failure in Asia.