Cold War Theories: World Polarization, 1943--1953

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LSU Press, 1981 - Biography & Autobiography - 262 pages

In this first of a two-volume examination of the Cold War, Kenneth Thompson offers a broad and, at the same time, specific account of its history and its historians. Thompson’s aim is to find the best framework for understanding how the Cold War originated, what forces and factors produced it, how Soviet and American policies intensified the conflict, and what alternatives were open to the rivals. He evenhandedly sets forth three competing theories of the Cold War—the orthodox, revisionist, and critical/interpretative views—and reveals how the ideological confines of certain interpretations have made for incomplete understanding. Calling upon some of the great thinkers of our century, Thompson shows that orthodox and revisionist historians alike are misled by their exaggerated estimates of national capacity and interests.

Volume I follows the course of the Cold War from the end of World War II and America demobilization through the war in Korea. Tracing the influence of the theories on policy makers, Thompson finds missed opportunities and unintentional acts of belligerence during such tense times as the debates over Poland, Iran, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, NATO, and the Berlin Blockade.

By joining political history with the theoretical approaches, the author seeks to show that theory and history ought to be conjoined in a study of the Cold War without minimizing the value of each separate outlook. In its widest sense Cold War Theories is about the nature of history—that intricate tapestry that stretches past out limits to see. In discussing the early period in the Cold War, Thompson keeps his eye on possible parallels and differences with the present era marked by the conflicts in Iran and Afghanistan. Throughout his presentation, Thompson keeps in mind that we are entering a new era of intense conflict in the Cold War wherein we can ill afford any form of dogmatism: “Not only is reality more complex than ideology, but change is the first law of the political universe.”

From inside the book

 

Contents

Introduction
1
Chapter Two Historic Origins of the Cold War
57
Containment Revisited
119
Copyright

3 other sections not shown

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Cold War Theories: World Polarization, 1943--1953
Kenneth W. Thompson
Snippet view - 1981

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38th parallel accept Acheson action administration agreement Ambassador American foreign policy American policy Asia billion Bohlen Britain British China Chinese Churchill Churchill's Cold Cold War collective security commitment Committee communism Communist conflict Congress countries critics Curzon Line Dean Acheson debate decision defense democratic discussion domination East Eastern Europe economic elections Europe's European forces Foreign Ministers Germany Greece Harriman historians Ibid ideological interests issue Kennan Korean War leaders limited Lippmann London Poles Lublin MacArthur Marshall Plan ment Mikolajczyk military Molotov Morgenthau Moscow NATO negotiations Niebuhr North official peace Poland policy makers Polish government political postwar President Truman proposed question Red Army reparations Republican resolution response revisionists Roosevelt Russians Secretary Senate South Korea Soviet Union speech Stalin strategy struggle threat tion Treaty troops Truman Doctrine unconditional surrender United Nations Vandenberg victory viet warned wartime Western Allies World War II wrote Yalta Conference York

About the author (1981)

Kenneth W. Thompson is director emeritus of the White Burkett Miller Center of Public Affairs, and J. Wilson Newman professor of government and foreign affairs. He served as director of the Miller Center from 1978 to 1998. He is the author of some twenty books and coauthor of another two dozen.

Bibliographic information

TitleCold War Theories: World Polarization, 1943--1953
Volume 1 of Cold War Theories, Kenneth W. Thompson
Southern Biography Series
AuthorKenneth W. Thompson
Editionrevised
PublisherLSU Press, 1981
ISBN0807108766, 9780807108765
Length262 pages
Subjects ›  ›  › 

Biography & Autobiography / Political
History / Modern / 20th Century / Cold War
History / Modern / 20th Century / General
History / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)
History / United States / State & Local / South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)
Political Science / General
Political Science / International Relations / General
Political Science / World / General
  
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