Introduction

Cold War – Reagan, Gorbachev and the End of the Cold War, 1979-1991

In this course, Professor Andrew Preston (University of Cambridge) examines the end of the Cold War from 1979 to 1991. In the first module, we introduce the topic as a whole. After this, we examine the period of renewed escalation from 1979 to 1985. We then turn to examine the period of détente from 1985 to 1989. In the penultimate module, we answer the question "Why did the Cold War end?". In the final module, we explore what the world looked like after the Cold War.

Introduction

In this module, we introduce the topic as a whole. In particular, we'll look at how the Cold War can be split into three distinct phases: (i) origins and escalation, 1947-63; (ii) Détente, 1963-79; (iii) renewed escalation, 1979-85; and (iv) genuine détente. In this course, we will focus on the last two phases of the Cold War.