Category Archives: Cards

Junta

Junta 1945– ? In Spanish, the term Junta means “coming together.” In a Cold War context, it normally refers to the coming together of right wing military cliques to oust an existing government and replace it with a military dictatorship. … Continue reading

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How I Learned to Stop Worrying

How I Learned to Stop Worrying 1964 As the reality of nuclear holocaust became accepted by the public, fatalism about its inevitability also took hold. The landmark black comedy, Dr. Strangelove, captured this new mood. However, such attitudes are hardly … Continue reading

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Summit

Summit 1959, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 Summits between the leadership of the superpowers became major implements of public diplomacy from the mid to late Cold War. Success was measured in terms of agenda items … Continue reading

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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