220135 Cold War in the Americas (S) (WiSe 2020/2021)

The Cold War began right after the end of the Second World War and ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Its main line of confrontation ran between the two former allies (against Germany) and post-war superpowers, the afore-mentioned Soviet Union and the USA. Soon after the end of the war they formed two Blocs, which were more than just military coalitions, as they also represented two different types ideologies as well as political and economic systems. Empowered by the largest arsenals of nuclear weapons, the superpowers pulled in the rest of the world into their competition. Thus, the Cold War reached global dimensions and turned “hot” more than once into military conflicts on third-party territories, for example in Cuba, Korea, Vietnam or Afghanistan. Furthermore, in Latin America a whole series of military dictatorships and anti-comunist authoritarian regimes emerged in this period, related to the US. This is probably best expressed in the Chilean way to socialism which is ended in 1973 by a military coup.
In close cooperation with the historical contextualization (by Franz Mauelshagen) on the same subject, the main purpose of this seminar will be to further explore the inter-American dimensions and events of the Cold War in a global context. We will seek to better understand cold-war constellations around the world to better grasp the peculiarities of inter-American relations in this period.

Requirements for participation, required level

Ability and willingness to read and discuss theoretical texts in English as this course will be held entirely in English.

Bibliography

Westad, Odd Arne: The Cold War: A World History. Penguin: Milton Keynes, 2017.
Brands, Hal: Latin America’s Cold War. Harvard University Press: Cambridge (MA), 2010.
Field Jr., Thomas C. et al. (eds.), Latin America and the Global Cold War. The University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, 2020.