”Studying the Cold War is significant today for at least three reasons. First, there continues to be disagreement among academics and practitioners alike as to what the Cold War was. Was it primarily a period in time? Was the Cold War the defining feature of its time or were there competing developments of equal importance…

”I would like to make two points here. First, if we analyse the Cold War period in a nuanced way (see below), we can see that it is important to question the way actors interpreted the period. The same critical work needs to be done today. It is also important to reassess the role of…

”The simple answer is that we are now once again facing a perceived threat from Russia. As a historian working at the Dutch Ministry of Defence, I notice that for many people, the Cold War is already a period from a rather distant past. Now that the threat is again coming from the east, however,…

”Whether we look at international institutions, global civil society, or military conflicts in the world today, it is clear that the Cold War has left a lasting mark. In my research on transnational activism, I see that many of the protest movements that are popular now find their roots in activist networks that emerged within…

”It invites oblique perspectives and counterintuitive approaches as the in-depth study of the Cold War reveals more diversity and subversion than meets the eye, thus standing well beyond superficial and distinctively polarized preconceptions. If you accept this immersive invitation, you will discover figures and groups that defied any apparent form of status quo to dare…

There are many misconceptions about the legacy of the Cold War and the relations between the Liberal Democratic world, its institutions and values, and the world that the Soviet Union was striving to bring into existence. The profound difference between these two worlds in terms of values, the role of the state, the role of…

”The battle between socialists and liberals was (and still is) at the core of politics, economics, and culture worldwide. For this reason, it’s easy to “weaponize” the Cold War and claim everything is a “new” Cold War. I think historians should stick to the “old” Cold War.”          

”The Cold War was the peak of a huge process which started in early modernity and involved the huge-scale debates and disagreements on the best way to organize human society. It was both a strategic confrontation of two military blocs, but also an ideological dilemma of enormous importance, touching upon both high politics and ways…