- Preface to the Second Edition
- Preface to the First Edition
- New to this Edition
- List of Abbreviations
- List of Maps
- Guided Tour of the Online Resource Centre
- Introduction: Understanding the Cold War
- Part I The Origins and Development of the Cold War, 1945–53
- 1. Tensions in the Grand Alliance and Growing Confrontation, 1945–7
- 2. Two Worlds East and West, 1945–8
- 3. Empire, Cold War, and Decolonization, 1945–53
- 4. The Cold War Intensifies: Containment Superseded, 1948–53
- Part II Cold War: Crises and Change, 1953–63
- 5. Soviet–American Relations: Avoiding Hot War and the Search for Stability
- 6. Maintaining the Spheres of Influence
- 7. Fighting the Cold War: The Offensive Strategies
- 8. Collapsing Empires: The Cold War Battle for Hearts and Minds, 1953–63
- Part III The Cold War of Peaceful Coexistence and the Rise of Multipolarity, 1963–71
- 9. The Eastern and Western Blocs in the 1960s
- 10. The Vietnam War
- 11. Other Regional Conflicts
- Part IV The Détente Era, 1972–80
- 12. An Era of Negotiations, 1972–3
- 13. ‘Stagflation’ and the Trials of Détente, 1973–6
- 14. Détente in Decline, 1977–9
- 15. The Return to Confrontation, 1979–80
- Part V From Confrontation to Communist Collapse, 1981–9
- 16. The ‘Second’ Cold War, 1981–5
- 17. Middle East Conflicts in the 1980s
- 18. Instability in Latin America
- 19. The Decline of the Cold War, 1985–9
- Part VI The Post-Cold War World, 1990–2000
- 20. Europe and the Former Soviet Union
- 21. US Predominance and the Search for a Post-Cold War Order
- 22. Stability and Instability in the Less Developed World
- Part VII The Age of Terror, 2001–12
- 23. The ‘War on Terror’ and the War in Afghanistan
- 24. The Iraq War and the Middle East
- 25. The Shifting Global Balance
- Bibliography
- Index
(p. 353) Part V From Confrontation to Communist Collapse, 1981–9
- Author(s):
John W. Young
and John Kent
This chapter focuses on the so-called ‘second’ Cold War spanning the years 1981–1985. Ronald Reagan came to power on the back of a general rightwards shift in the political mood. He concentrated on a presentational role in government and pursued a simple foreign policy. He dismissed détente as a communist trick, was initially determined to resist the spread of the Soviet Union’s influence wherever it threatened and, going beyond that, wanted to carry the new Cold War into the Soviet camp. The chapter first considers US–Soviet relations during the new Cold War, paying attention to ‘Reaganomics’, before discussing the crisis in Poland in 1980–1982. It then explores the issue of nuclear weapons control and the ‘Year of the Missile’ and concludes with an assessment of the war in Afghanistan up to 1985.
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- Preface to the Second Edition
- Preface to the First Edition
- New to this Edition
- List of Abbreviations
- List of Maps
- Guided Tour of the Online Resource Centre
- Introduction: Understanding the Cold War
- Part I The Origins and Development of the Cold War, 1945–53
- 1. Tensions in the Grand Alliance and Growing Confrontation, 1945–7
- 2. Two Worlds East and West, 1945–8
- 3. Empire, Cold War, and Decolonization, 1945–53
- 4. The Cold War Intensifies: Containment Superseded, 1948–53
- Part II Cold War: Crises and Change, 1953–63
- 5. Soviet–American Relations: Avoiding Hot War and the Search for Stability
- 6. Maintaining the Spheres of Influence
- 7. Fighting the Cold War: The Offensive Strategies
- 8. Collapsing Empires: The Cold War Battle for Hearts and Minds, 1953–63
- Part III The Cold War of Peaceful Coexistence and the Rise of Multipolarity, 1963–71
- 9. The Eastern and Western Blocs in the 1960s
- 10. The Vietnam War
- 11. Other Regional Conflicts
- Part IV The Détente Era, 1972–80
- 12. An Era of Negotiations, 1972–3
- 13. ‘Stagflation’ and the Trials of Détente, 1973–6
- 14. Détente in Decline, 1977–9
- 15. The Return to Confrontation, 1979–80
- Part V From Confrontation to Communist Collapse, 1981–9
- 16. The ‘Second’ Cold War, 1981–5
- 17. Middle East Conflicts in the 1980s
- 18. Instability in Latin America
- 19. The Decline of the Cold War, 1985–9
- Part VI The Post-Cold War World, 1990–2000
- 20. Europe and the Former Soviet Union
- 21. US Predominance and the Search for a Post-Cold War Order
- 22. Stability and Instability in the Less Developed World
- Part VII The Age of Terror, 2001–12
- 23. The ‘War on Terror’ and the War in Afghanistan
- 24. The Iraq War and the Middle East
- 25. The Shifting Global Balance
- Bibliography
- Index
