http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/cold-war Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Sun, 12 Apr 2026 19:32:46 -0400 Sun, 12 Apr 2026 19:32:46 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1922/dengs-war-assessing-the-success-of-the-sino-vietnamese-war By Richard Chen - The Sino-Vietnamese War remains one of the most peculiar military engagements during the Cold War. Conventional wisdom would hold that it was a proxy war in the vein of the United States’ war in Vietnam or the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; however, it was far from either of these engagements, both in its scope and in its final goals. Military analysis holds that the Sino-Vietnamese War was a tremendous failure—Chinese troops massively underperformed when compared to Vietnamese soldiers. However, after a consideration of Deng’s political situation and the balance of power in... Mon, 22 Nov 2021 09:22 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1922/dengs-war-assessing-the-success-of-the-sino-vietnamese-war http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1921/vindication-for-tin-foil-hats-an-analysis-of-unethical-cold-war-experiments-and-their-enduring-consequences By Michael D. Opheim - While the Cold War is popularly regarded as a war of ideological conflict, to consider it solely as such does the long-winded tension a great disservice. In actuality, the Cold War manifested itself in numerous areas of life, including the various scientific fields of the Contemporary Era. Accordingly, scientific research became nothing more than a competition to both the United States and Soviet governments, influencing both to hastily expend their resources on progressing their respective understandings of science. In their hasty pursuit of scientific superiority, however, recent investigations... Wed, 10 Nov 2021 09:11 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1921/vindication-for-tin-foil-hats-an-analysis-of-unethical-cold-war-experiments-and-their-enduring-consequences http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1901/the-jazz-ambassadors-intersections-of-american-foreign-power-and-black-artistry-in-duke-ellingtons-far-east-suite By Rebecca E. Coyne - Scholarly discussions of Ellington’s Far East Suite, a composition inspired by his travels to India and the Middle East, have tended to interpret its impressionistic depictions of the “exotic” either as evidence of a superior cultural sensitivity or as the straightforward continuation of a white Orientalist musical tradition. I propose a third view based on the overlapping and racialized power dynamics of jazz ambassadorship itself: Ellington uses conventional jazz tropes rather than absorbing foreign musical influences in the Far East Suite in order to assert the independent... Tue, 25 May 2021 09:12 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1901/the-jazz-ambassadors-intersections-of-american-foreign-power-and-black-artistry-in-duke-ellingtons-far-east-suite http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1804/james-e-webb-and-the-grand-strategy-of-the-moon-landing-a-political-administrative-and-contextual-analysis By Charlotte Waldman - The man who powered NASA through the Apollo Era had no background in science or engineering. Rather, NASA achieved one of history’s most thrilling tasks on an ambitious timeline in turbulent political conditions precisely because NASA Administrator James E. Webb operated so successfully as a strategist, not a scientist. The moon landing mapped onto cyclical strategic plans, folding into larger visions of the presidency and splitting into political and technical spheres. Webb formulated tactics for each strategic plan and demonstrated a dynamic perception for the way NASA's political and... Mon, 28 Sep 2020 09:21 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1804/james-e-webb-and-the-grand-strategy-of-the-moon-landing-a-political-administrative-and-contextual-analysis http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1596/scientific-federal-agencies-andand-the-united-states-negotiation-for-the-limited-test-ban-treaty-1962-1963 By Helen Thompson - In October of 1962, the United States and Soviet Union’s arms race in ballistic missiles escalated to an unnerving confrontation that lasted thirteen days, while both world leaders waited on opposite sides of the world for the other to say the word and start a nuclear war. This confrontation became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis and is equated to be the climax of the Cold War.[1] During these frightening thirteen days, President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev deliberated over launching nuclear warheads to begin a nuclear war in the Western hemisphere. The magnitude of this... Mon, 27 Mar 2017 12:38 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1596/scientific-federal-agencies-andand-the-united-states-negotiation-for-the-limited-test-ban-treaty-1962-1963 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1562/the-china-dilemma-a-study-of-the-ideological-roots-of-us-foreign-policy-towards-china-during-the-cold-war By Austin Krug - This paper investigates the influence of U.S. foreign policymakers' perceptions towards China on policy formulation during the Cold War. The influence of perceptions, especially perceptions surrounding the ideology of combatant states, is especially controversial when looking at the Cold War, a period known for extreme ideological vitriol between the United States and the Soviet Union. Drawing on the literature surrounding the relationship between these two states, I aim to expand the analysis to Sino-American relations. Specifically, I ask what influence did ideology have on U.S. foreign policymakers... Sat, 31 Dec 2016 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1562/the-china-dilemma-a-study-of-the-ideological-roots-of-us-foreign-policy-towards-china-during-the-cold-war http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1434/theories-of-nuclear-proliferation-why-do-states-seek-nuclear-weapons By David A. Smith - Nuclear proliferation refers to the spread of nuclear weapons and the technology used to produce such weapons, and to the process by which a state develops and/or comes into possession of nuclear weapons (US Department of Defence 2005). The first nuclear fight for survival ended in 1945 when the United States (US) used two nuclear bombs against Japan to bomb the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Carroll 2007). However, after WW2 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) accelerated its nuclear development program, due to fears that the US and their Allies would attack them (Holloway 1995,... Tue, 30 Aug 2016 02:35 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1434/theories-of-nuclear-proliferation-why-do-states-seek-nuclear-weapons http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1439/detente-studies-in-cold-war-international-history-questions-unmarked By Jittipat Poonkham - Détente is generally understood as a relaxation of international tension. However, there are many conceptions and characteristics of détente: superpower détente (such as ‘Nixinger's, Leonid Brezhnev's or Mao Zedong/ Zhou Enlai's détente), European détente (such as Charles de Gaulle's détente and Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik) and, to a lesser extent, small powers' détente. Détente connotes different things to different states (and statesmen) at different time. That is, it is one concept with many interpretations. The article examines the... Wed, 24 Aug 2016 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1439/detente-studies-in-cold-war-international-history-questions-unmarked http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1179/a-new-cold-war-explaining-russias-new-confrontations-with-the-west By Michael McFaul - What I want to do today is answer one really big question. If we have time maybe we’ll get to the second question, but I want to answer one big question, because that’s what we should do as academics. It comes from an experience I had right after I left government. I came home to Palo Alto, and one of my neighbors said, “Mike you should come over for lunch, we’re interested in hearing about your experiences in Moscow.” So I went over to lunch and we started talking, and my neighbor started telling some stories about his time in government. My neighbor is George... Wed, 15 Apr 2015 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1179/a-new-cold-war-explaining-russias-new-confrontations-with-the-west http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/672/containment-and-the-cold-war-reexaming-the-doctrine-of-containment-as-a-grand-strategy-driving-us-cold-war-interventions By Moritz A. Pieper - By retracing shifts in the meaning, usage, and perception of the doctrine of ‘Soviet containment’, this article provides a balanced account of the extent to which US Cold War interventions were in fact driven by such a Grand Strategy. It argues that the US strategically sought to uphold spheres of influence and a global network of regional proxies out of essentially pragmatic politico-economic considerations in a wider context of containment of Soviet influence as a  Grand Strategy of foreign policy discourse. While the openly confrontational containment policy of the early Cold... Fri, 03 Aug 2012 05:58 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/672/containment-and-the-cold-war-reexaming-the-doctrine-of-containment-as-a-grand-strategy-driving-us-cold-war-interventions http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1230/the-new-geopolitics-why-nuclear-weapons-no-longer-serve-us-interests By Richard Burt - Now I talk about the Cold War because I personally was very much part of that process. After graduating from Cornell, I attended the Fletcher school, where I discovered my passion, which was studying the dynamic of the U.S.Soviet nuclear competition. From there, I went to the New York Times, where I was the recipient, not of WikiLeaks, but of many other leaks that described the new developments of nuclear weapons in the Soviet Union, and the response of the United States. Then, I went onto the State Department, where I was put in charge of one of the most complicated and challenging tasks of U... Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1230/the-new-geopolitics-why-nuclear-weapons-no-longer-serve-us-interests http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/232/berlin-after-the-wall-decades-after-its-fall-history-still-haunts By Cassie R. Leventhal - Game Changer—any person, institution, or event whose action significantly alters the current environment and status quo—for better or for worse.  They come in many different shapes and sizes; from presidents to technological giants such as Apple, or a baseball play where the runner steals home to win the series.  Regardless of their area of concentration, these actions and events shape the course of history.  All of these people and events are memorable in the minds of those affected.  But what about the game changer that has no actual voice or for that matter is... Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:21 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/232/berlin-after-the-wall-decades-after-its-fall-history-still-haunts http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/116/book-review-stephen-kotkins-armageddon-averted By Peter Crowley - As the world's first real Marxist experiment, the Soviet Union, by virtue of lasting seventy odd years, proved Western intelligentsia wrong. The latter had long thought it was doomed to fail. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the Soviet Union disintegrated two years later, Western conservatives and liberals alike felt vindicated. United States conservatives would point to Reagan's military arms buildup which the Soviet Union could not keep pace with, while liberal capitalists believed in the inherent unfeasibility of a nonmarket system. Contrary to these suppositions, Stephen Kotkin's Armageddon... Fri, 08 Jan 2010 10:13 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/116/book-review-stephen-kotkins-armageddon-averted http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/2/america-in-the-post-war-period By David Pierce - The end of World War II was not just the end of a war, but also the beginning of a tense and dynamic period that affected society on all levels. This “postwar” period, as it became known, shaped the world as we know it today; likewise, the period was shaped itself both by the war that had preceded it, and the powerful forces that surrounded it. As the energy of fundamentally different ideologies—Communism and Democracy—collided with advances in science such as the nuclear bomb, a dangerous environment ensued that created an atmosphere of paranoia throughout the world and... Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:59 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/2/america-in-the-post-war-period http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1094/a-new-red-peril-an-analysis-of-chinas-role-in-the-21st-century By Sarah Bradbury - The results of reform speak for themselves. In 1978, China’s share of world trade was half a percent. Within only years of entering the world economy, China’s economy has overtaken Japan’s and is predicted to be greater than the US’s within 20 years. It has witnessed real GDP growth rates of 8% and above since reforms were started, and during the period between 1990 and 1996 growth averaged 12.6%. Economists and the Chinese reformers have identified their huge dearth of potential in natural resources and man-power. Consequently, foreign investment is now flowing... Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1094/a-new-red-peril-an-analysis-of-chinas-role-in-the-21st-century http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1167/western-intelligence--nothing-more-than-a-cold-war-relic By John Devlin - The termination of the Cold War has meant dramatic changes for the Western intelligence services. The intensity of the infamous espionage conflict of the Cold War between the liberal-democratic West and the communist East is over. The Committee for State Security (KGB), like the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), has been abolished. The somewhat reassuring rigidity of the Cold War has been replaced by a mixture of old and new threats. Intelligence is still required. The only certain feature in the post-Cold War world is that the Western intelligence services will have to perform... Wed, 01 Jan 1997 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1167/western-intelligence--nothing-more-than-a-cold-war-relic http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1174/to-be-or-not-to-be-the-osce-in-the-new-europe By Leah Pybus - The aim of this article is to assess the role of the Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the post-Cold War era. The paper will firstly give a brief outline of the development of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) and will then consider two opposing views which have developed in the 1990s. The first argues that the OSCE is a product of the Cold War which has become obsolete in the absence of East-West rivalry. The second suggests that the OSCE has an important role in providing security in the “new Europe,” and goes so far... Wed, 01 Jan 1997 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1174/to-be-or-not-to-be-the-osce-in-the-new-europe http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1155/international-ngos-and-the-new-humanitarian-agenda By Babu Rahman - This article is based on a paper presented at the workshop on Understanding Security and Development in Africa, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, 8th March 1997. Let me begin by briefly explaining what NGOs are. NGOs are Non-Governmental Organisations. In the UK we might describe some of them as Charities, although not all NGOs actually have legal charity status. In this article I am concerned with those NGOs whose work occurs in a country different to the one in which they are based; that is International NGOs, or INGOs. More specifically I will examine those INGOs who participate in... Wed, 01 Jan 1997 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1155/international-ngos-and-the-new-humanitarian-agenda http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1162/covert-propaganda-in-the-cold-war By James Ritchie - E.H. Carr defined propaganda as “the specific means by which a state gained power over opinion.”(1) This definition includes overt methods such as political statements by leaders and publicly acknowledged media such as the BBC World Service or the Voice of America. In addition to its overt form,”(p)ropaganda is the bread and butter of covert action.”(2) Covert or black propaganda, in which the origins of the message are diguised, were used extensively during the Cold War. This essay examines and evaluates first the uses and secondly the limits of covert propaganda... Wed, 01 Jan 1997 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1162/covert-propaganda-in-the-cold-war