Cold War (1979–1985)
The Cold War (1979–1985) refers to the phase of a deterioration in relations between the Soviet Union and the West. Arising from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. With the election of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1979, and United States President Ronald Reagan in 1980, a corresponding change in Western foreign policy approach towards the Soviet Union was marked with the abandonment of Détente in favor of a more confrontational attitude towards the USSR in response to their war in Afghanistan. During this time the threat of nuclear war had reached new heights not seen since the Cuban Missile Crisis. In response to the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, US President Jimmy Carter announced a US lead boycott of the Moscow 1980 Summer Olympics. In 1984 the Soviets responded with their own boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. Tensions increased when the US announced they would deploy Pershing II missiles in West Germany, followed by US President Reagan's announcement of the US Strategic Defense Initiative. East and West tensions were further exasperated in 1983 when Ronald Reagan branded the Soviet Union an "Evil empire". Also during 1983, the civilian airliner Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was downed by Soviet fighter jets near Moneron Island. This period of the Cold War would continue through US President Reagan's first term (1981-1984), through the death of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in 1982, the brief interim period of Soviet leadership consisting of Yuri Andropov (1982-1984), and Konstantin Chernenko (1984-1985). This phase in the Cold War concluded with the ascension of reform minded Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985, who brought a commitment to reduce tensions between the East and West, and bring about major reforms in Soviet society.
[edit] Culture and media
Dozens of board wargames were published covering both historical and hypothetical conflicts at scales ranging from man-to-man to global thermonuclear war. Historical conflicts include the Falklands, the Iran-Iraq War, Grenada and Angola. The vast majority of titles concerned contemporary World War III "what-if" scenarios wherein the Cold War turns hot and focused on a presumed Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe. Notable games include Ultimatum (1979), The China War (1979), NATO Division Commander (1980), Fifth Corps series (1980), and MechWar 2 (1980), Task Force (1981), Harpoon (1983), Silo 14 (1983), Assault series (1983), Gulf Strike (1983), Firepower (1984), The Third World War series (1984), Air Cav (1985) and Main Battle Area (1985).
[edit] See also
- History of the Soviet Union (1964–1982)
- History of the Soviet Union (1982–1991)
- History of the United States (1980–1991)
- Brezhnev Doctrine
- Reagan Doctrine
- Timeline of Events in the Cold War
[edit] References
- Ball, S. J. The Cold War: An International History, 1947-1991 (1998). British perspective
- Gaddis, John Lewis. The Cold War: A New History (2005)
- Long Peace: Inquiries into the History of the Cold War (1987)]
- Gaddis, John Lewis. * LaFeber, Walter. America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945-1992 7th ed. (1993)
- Heuser, Beatrice. "The Soviet response to the Euromissile crisis, 1982-83", in Leopoldo Nuti (ed): Reheating the Cold War: From Vietnam to Gorbachev, 1975-1985 (London: Routledge, 2008), ISBN 978-0415460514, pp. 137-149.
- Powaski, Ronald E. The Cold War: The United States and the Soviet Union, 1917-1991 (1998)
- Sivachev, Nikolai and Nikolai Yakolev, Russia and the United States (1979), by Soviet historians
- Brzezinski, Zbigniew. Power and Principle: Memoirs of the National Security Adviser, 1977-1981 (1983);
- Edmonds, Robin. Soviet Foreign Policy: The Brezhnev Years (1983)
- Mower, A. Glenn Jr. Human Rights and American Foreign Policy: The Carter and Reagan Experiences ( 1987),
- Smith, Gaddis. Morality, Reason and Power:American Diplomacy in the Carter Years (1986).
- Beschloss, Michael, and Strobe Talbott. At the Highest Levels:The Inside Story of the End of the Cold War (1993)
- Bialer, Seweryn and Michael Mandelbaum, eds. Gorbachev's Russia and American Foreign Policy (1988).
- Gaddis, John Lewis. The United States and the End of the Cold War: Implications, Reconsiderations, Provocations (1992)
- Garthoff, Raymond. The Great Transition:American-Soviet Relations and the End of the Cold War (1994)
- Hogan, Michael ed. The End of the Cold War. Its Meaning and Implications (1992) articles from Diplomatic History online at JSTOR
- Kyvig, David ed. Reagan and the World (1990)
- Matlock, Jack F. Autopsy of an Empire (1995) by US ambassador to Moscow
- Shultz, George P. Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Secretary of State (1993)
- Westad, Odd Arne The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times (2006) ISBN 0-521-85364-8
- Sasa Kubat, American hero that took down 3 soviet aircraft
