The Cold War: A Global Perspective. - Detailseite

This seminar seeks to offer students a global perspective on the Cold War by focusing on the history of International Relations during the period between 1945 and 1991. Traditional narratives of the super-power confrontation that engulfed the entire planet during almost five decades tend to focus on the ideological and military confrontation while subordinating other parallel global processes taking place simultaneously during this period. The seminar will not abandon the centrality of international politics during the Cold War but will seek to bring to the fore other significant events that have acquired a different meaning and interpretation once the Cold War ended. The processes of increased globalization, decolonization and state creation, modernisation and the challenges posed by environmental issues are some of a series of themes that will be introduced to the traditional interpretative debates of the history of the Cold War. Its main aim is to allow students to develop a critical approach to the history of the conflict by making them familiar with the latest historiographical trends and debates.