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Author Archives: theory
Bear Trap
Bear Trap 1979 – 1992 In an era of seemingly increasing Soviet hubris, the USSR reverted to old patterns of power politics by meddling in the affairs of Afghanistan—the battleground country in the “Great Game” rivalry between imperialist Russia and … Continue reading
SALT Negotiations
SALT Negotiations 1969, 1972 Initiated during the Johnson Administration, and completed by President Nixon and Secretary Brezhnev, the first Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT) treaty essentially sought to limit the number of nuclear platforms, and restrict defensive systems that threatened … Continue reading
Quagmire
Quagmire 1964 – 1975 It is hard to put a precise date on when US involvement in Vietnam ceased to be support for an anti-communist counter-insurgency and became instead an inextricable quagmire. However, Congressional passage of the Gulf of Tonkin … Continue reading
Nuclear Subs
Nuclear Subs 1955 The United States launched the first nuclear powered submarine. It instantly antiquated decades of antisubmarine warfare that had developed during the Second World War. Admiral Hyman Rickover was to oversee the development of a new nuclear navy, … Continue reading
Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 The mere mention of this event elicits fears of the nuclear holocaust that almost was. For 14 days in October 1962, the two superpowers seemed destined to clash directly about the Soviet emplacement of Medium Range … Continue reading
Arms Race
Arms Race 1947 –1989 The arms race between the Soviet Union and the United States was at play throughout the Cold War, and many attribute the Soviet Union’s collapse to an inability to sustain the final arms race instigated by … Continue reading
Regions: Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia Scoring In Southeast Asia the process of decolonization intertwined with superpower rivalry in particularly deadly ways. Beginning with the British counter-insurgency in Malaya, to the US wars in Vietnam and Cambodia, and ending in 1979 with the Sino-Vietnamese … Continue reading
Regions: Central America
Central America Scoring Central America and the Caribbean were frequently termed America’s “backyard” and “lake.” With the advent of Fidel Castro in the 1959, Americans could no longer take the region for granted. The US reaction to communist influence in … Continue reading
Brush War
Brush War 1947– ? Also characterized as low intensity conflicts, brush wars tended to begin in reaction to local conditions either within a state or between states. However, due to duration, or superpower intervention, an essentially local dispute could be … Continue reading
Regions: South America
South America Scoring The regional penchant to turn to strong men or military juntas to resolve questions of instability made South America ripe for leftist reaction throughout the Cold War. Rising nationalism and the world-wide wave of anti-imperialist sentiment also … Continue reading
Twilight Strategy 