”As someone studying the Cold War from a historical International Relations perspective, I find that the Cold War amply demonstrates the inability of the system of states to function solely on the basis of great power politics – smaller powers and regional dynamics can often have a rebalancing effect on a body politic that seems…

”I always liked to explore the “hot peace” side of the Cold War, that is, the widespread, popular mobilization that within and across the blocs supported the “politics of peace,” as Petra Goedde has aptly defined it, thus contributing to preventing a direct, open conflict among nuclear powers. I think that one of the most…

”That in the world of great power struggles nothing should be taken at face value or for granted. What today looks strong and impregnable may tomorrow implode and disintegrate. Domestic cohesion and legitimacy are sometimes more important than vast military arsenals.”

”The most important lesson of the Cold War is that small states matter as much as large ones do. It is common to assume that the Cold War was an ideological competition of social, political, and economic systems, which had the potential to spark armed conflict on a massive scale. Many assume that this competition…

”Know your enemy! Study them and try to understand them. What drives them? Accept that someone may reason completely differently from what you are used to. Only then will you be better able to make wise and well-founded decisions on how to deal with ‘the other’.”

”The idea that a nuclear conflict would nullify any possibility of victory for either side.”        

”The most important lesson of the Cold War is that war is not an inevitable consequence of enmity between great powers, and radical change can occur without violence. Though the spectre of nuclear annihilation continues to hang unwelcomely over our heads, its presence has allowed other forms of conflict and competition to take the place…

“That the only solution to superpower conflict is negotiation.”      

‘‘The Cold War was not a mistake. This is the most important lesson. The administration of Harry Truman reacted decisively to the realities of post-WWII Europe and the world as a whole, without triggering a third “hot” war. The effectiveness of those policies is gauged by the fact that they were followed by every successive…

“That it can end and how it ended. We now have the privileged viewpoint of observing history in hindsight and we could be honored to unveil a so far unconnected causal link leading to turning points such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and peaceful transitions. By focusing on the intertwined ecosystem of: root…