[TMJC] Theme I End of Cold War

International History 8838 Theme I: The Changing International Order: The End of the Cold War TMJC/ History Unit/ Updated 28 February 2024 1 Theme I: The Development of the Cold War, 1945 – 2000 (8838) End of the Cold War Learning Outcome Evaluate the causes of the end of the Cold War CONTENT • US policy of renewed containment and confrontation o US role in arms control negotiations o Strategic Defense Initiative Programme o Reagan Doctrine • Decline of USSR and shifts in Soviet foreign policy: o Economic problems o Gorbachev ‘New Thinking’, o Sinatra Doctrine • Eastern European movements & revolutions in the 1980s: o Poland and East Germany • Historical interpretations of the end of the Cold War: o Western Triumphalist o Soviet Initiative o ‘People Power’ debates

International History 8838 Theme I: The Changing International Order: The End of the Cold War TMJC/ History Unit/ Updated 28 February 2024 2 THE END OF THE COLD WAR – HISTORICAL DEBATES CONTENTS OUTLINE 1. Overview: When did the Cold War end? 2. Historical Debates - Why did the Cold War end? a. The Western Triumphalist - Centrist vs. Right Wing b. Soviet Initiative c. People Power 1. OVERVIEW – WHEN DID THE COLD WAR END? OVERVIEW  The Cold War, having dominated such a significant part of modern world history, is complicated whether we are studying its origins or ending.  Akin to the examination of reasons that led to the origins of the cold war, the end of the Cold War has a wide range of interpretations, each with its own validity.  The determination of when Cold War ended inevitably ties in with the take on why the Cold War ended. WHEN did the Cold War End?

International History 8838 Theme I: The Changing International Order: The End of the Cold War TMJC/ History Unit/ Updated 28 February 2024 3 WHY did the Cold War End? AGENTS FORCES CONTEXT Agent’s actions (shaped by memory of past experience, what’s happening at that moment) Historical context is the social, political, cultural, economic, and environmental situations that influence/shape the agents/s motivations, perception the events or trends we see happen during that time. Have the power to influence, affect or control. (eg loosening of censorship, political liberalisation)

International History 8838 Theme I: The Changing International Order: The End of the Cold War TMJC/ History Unit/ Updated 28 February 2024 4 2. SCHOOL OF THOUGHT – HISTORICAL DEBATES A. The “Western Triumphalist” Interpretation This interpretation emphasizes that the Soviet Union’s capitulation and the victory of the forces of freedom and democracy were due to the relentless application of the West’s military superiority and the dynamism of its economic system. These revealed communism’s moral illegitimacy and highlighted its economic stagnation