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At the dawn of the 21st century, it should be evident that the Cold War of 1945-1991 was but the first of its kind. Nichols urges the reader to consider previous resolutions before another such conflict arises. He asserts that the Cold War was essentially a clash of ideologies tempered by the ever-present threat of nuclear annihilation. Victory for the West came quietly, without the final and utterly destructive war often envisioned.
Undoubtedly, the end of the Cold War was a signal victory for the West, and for the United States in particular. Yet Nichols reminds that enemies of the ideals of democracy, capitalism, and liberty abound and will lash out against western states that hold true to them. When this occurs, it will be imperative for the West to remember key lessons taken from the Cold War. Nichols argues that conflicts driven by dissonant ideologies differ from wars fought over resources and territory, and must therefore be fought differently.
List of contents
Preface
From the Cold War to "Cold Wars": Can it Happen Again?
The Centrality of Ideology
From the "Two Camps" to Korea: Soviet Ideology and the Origins of the Cold War
Contesting the World
The Limits of Détente
Jimmy Carter and the Mounting Crisis
The 1980's: Fighting to Win or Prolonging the Agony
Managing the End
Lessons from the Cold War
About the author
THOMAS M. NICHOLS is Chairman of the Department of Strategy and Policy at the U.S. Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island. He is the author of
The Russian Presidency: Society and Politics in the Second Russian Republic (1999), and
The Sacred Cause: Civil-Military Conflict Over Soviet National Security, 1917-1992 (1993).
