Article ID: CBB558375096

The Cold War as comparative political thought (2018)

unapi

The aim of this article is to provide a programmatic statement for a research agenda in the comparative political thought of the Cold War. As an innovative methodology for the study of political ideas, the author contends that comparative political theory connects up very well with the ways in which Cold War historians have come to frame their questions: systematically applying its principles therefore offers an interesting opportunity to take the recent scholarship forward. The first section reviews the treatment of ideas across phases of the Cold War historiography, and proposes that an approach styled on comparative political theory potentially brings out two general qualities of Cold War ideas, which are often missed: what the author calls their granularity and embeddedness. At the same time some prospects are raised for reconciling the political and cultural histories of the Cold War. The second section focuses on the aspect of comparison, and situates the research programme in the context of the recent trend towards the study of international history. The third section is the most constructive. An indicative series of projects is offered which such a programme might pursue. The concept of the Cold War ‘thought-practice’ is proposed as the most promising unit of analysis by which the figure of the political theorist might contribute to the interpretation of Cold War history.

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Authors & Contributors
Urbansky, Sören
Gnoinska, Margaret K.
Karamouzi, Eirini
Herrala, Meri Elisabet
Zofka, Jan
Sittmann, Julia
Concepts
Political science
International relations
Cold War
Geopolitics
Technology and war; technology and the military
Communism
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
Places
United States
Soviet Union
China
Middle and Near East
Eastern Europe
Iraq
Institutions
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Bolshoi Ballet Company
Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON)
Stasi [Ministerium für Staatssicherheit]
International Red Cross
League of Nations
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