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Lecture

The Cold War: Ideologies and Nuclear Weapons

In course

HUM-248(a): History of international relations

A la lumière de l'histoire de la Guerre froide globale, ce cours familiarise les étudiant.e.s avec les méthodes d'histoire et avec l'analyse critique de sources primaires. ...

Description

This lecture delves into the emergence of the non-aligned movement, the ideological clash of the Cold War, and the pivotal role of nuclear weapons. It explores how different interests benefited from war policies, the consolidation of national power, and the nuclear arms race between the US and USSR. The course structure includes an introductory overview, group work, and discussions on various historical events such as the Berlin Crisis, the Korean War, the Sino-Soviet alliance, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Instructor

Janick Marina Schaufelbuehl

Official source

Related concepts (16)

Cold War

The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term cold war is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two superpowers, but they each supported opposing sides in major regional conflicts known as proxy wars. The conflict was based on the ideological and geopolitical struggle for global influence by these two superpowers, following their roles as the Allies of World War II that led to victory against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in 1945.

Nuclear weapon

A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb types release large quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first test of a fission ("atomic") bomb released an amount of energy approximately equal to . The first thermonuclear ("hydrogen") bomb test released energy approximately equal to .

Second Cold War

The Second Cold War, Cold War II, or the New Cold War are terms that refer to heightened geopolitical tensions in the 21st century. They have been used to describe the tense relations between the United States and China and, similarly, between the United States and Russia, the primary successor state of the former Soviet Union, which took part in the original Cold War. The terms are sometimes used to describe tensions in multilateral relations.

Non-Aligned Movement

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide. The movement originated in the aftermath of the Korean War, as an effort by some countries to counterbalance the rapid bi-polarization of the world during the Cold War, whereby two major powers formed blocs and embarked on a policy to pull the rest of the world into their orbits.

Nuclear weapons testing

Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance, yield, and effects of nuclear weapons. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by different conditions, and how personnel, structures, and equipment are affected when subjected to nuclear explosions. However, nuclear testing has often been used as an indicator of scientific and military strength.

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