International Relations since 1945

Geir Lundestad was born in 1945. He was professor of history and American Civilization at the University of Tromsø from 1974 to 1990. He has held fellowships at Harvard University (1978–79, 1983) and the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC (1988–89).Since 1990 Lundestad has been director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute and permanent secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The Committe awards the Nobel Peace Prize. Since 1991 he has also been adjunct professor of international history at the University of Oslo.Lundestad has written numerous books and articles on the Cold War and on transatlantic relations. His most recent books are The Rise & Decline of the American ‘Empire’. Power and its Limits in Comparative Perspective (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012) and, edited, International Relations Since the End of the Cold War. New & Old Dimensions (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).

East, West, North, South is a classic overview of international politics since the Second World War, and Geir Lundestad is one of the contemporary historians who are extensively read by peace researchers and international relations scholars. Always solidly grounded in empirical research and detail, his ability to provide sweeping analyses has great scholarly appeal among social scientists.

• 1The New WorldThe Rise and Fall of Great PowersThe World in 1945The Literature2The Cold War in Europe, 1945–1949Political science and historySome Old and New Theories about the Cold WarSome Structural Explanations for the Cold WarWho Acted Where?US PolicySoviet PolicyThe Problem of GermanyMotivating Forces behind US and Soviet PoliciesThe United StatesThe Soviet UnionThe Literature3The Cold War Becomes Global, 1945–1962The United States, the Soviet Union, and Asia, 1945–1950The Civil War in ChinaOther Countries in AsiaSigns of Re-evaluation in the Superpowers’ Asian PoliciesThe Korean WarChanges in US Policy in AsiaThe Soviet Union Tries to Play a Global RoleA New Policy in Asia and the Middle EastA New Policy in AfricaThe Cold War Reaches Latin AmericaThe United States, the Soviet Union, and the Third World: A ComparisonThe Literature4Detente Between East and West, 1962–1975Signs of Detente during the 1950sThe Policy of Detente, 1962–1975Agreements and Contact between East and WestReasons for DetenteDetente and Geographic Expansion of the East–West ConflictRespect for Each Other’s Vital RegionsThe Grey Zones between East and WestThe Middle East, 1967–1975The Vietnam WarThe Literature5Renewed Tension Between East and West, 1975–1984The Soviet Union: A New GlobalismThe United States: Reaction to DetenteThe Literature6The End of the Cold War, 1984–1990Different Theories about the End of the Cold WarWhat Happened – and Why?The Literature7Major Powers and Local Conflicts after the Cold War, 1990–2016The Major Powers in the New WorldHopes for Peace – and the Reality of Local Conflicts11 September 2001, Afghanistan and IraqBarack Obama and the Greater Middle EastThe Literature8The Arms Race, 1945–2016Perspective and Motivating ForcesHiroshima, Atomic Weapons, and Conventional Forces, 1945–1949The US Turnabout, 1949–1953New Directions in US and Soviet Defense PoliciesThe ‘New Look’The ‘New Look’ in the Soviet UnionKennedy, McNamara, and Flexible ResponseThe Soviet Build-upThe US ReactionThe First Phase: Prior to 1973–1974The Second Phase: The Years up to 1984Cooperation, Disarmament and Rearmament Once MoreThe Smaller Nuclear StatesThe Literature9The United States and Western Europe, 1945–2016Expansion by Invitation, 1945–1950European Integration, 1945–1973Explanations for the US StanceUS–European Relations, 1950–1973Cooperation Prior to 1962Political and Military Controversy, 1962–1973Economic Relations, 1962–1973The United States and Western Europe after 1973: New TensionsExpansion and Integration of the EC/EUFrom the Year of Europe to German Reuni?cationThe US and the EU from Clinton to Donald TrumpThe Literature10The Soviet Union/Russia and the (formerly) Communist Countries, 1945–2016Expansion and Conformism, 1945–1953The Reins are Loosened (1953–1956) and Tightened (1956–1958)The Revolts in Poland and Hungary in 1956The Split between the Soviet Union and ChinaFrom Cooperation to Armed StruggleExplanations for the SplitSoviet Relations with Eastern Europe, 1958–1985Czechoslovakia – 1968Developments in PolandThe Soviet Union and the Communist Movement ElsewhereThe Fall of Communism in Eastern EuropeThe Fall of the Soviet UnionDevelopments in Russia and Eastern Europe After the Fall of CommunismThe Literature11The Rise of East AsiaThe United States and Japan, 1945–20161945–1960: Occupation and US Dominance1960–1990: Economic Strength and Greater Political Independence1990–2016: Economic Problems and Political UncertaintyThe Sino–Soviet–US Triangle Since 1972East Asia in the New World SystemThe Literature12DecolonizationChanges on the International LevelThe National Level: Changes within the Colonial PowersBritish PoliciesFrench PoliciesBelgium and PortugalWhy Different Attitudes?The Local Level: Independence Movements Grow StrongerThe Three StagesEconomic and Cultural DevelopmentThe Influence of International EventsThe Nonaligned States in World PoliticsThe Literature13Economic Relations Between North and South, 1945–2016Aid and Trade, 1945–20131945–19551955–19641964–19811981–20002000–2016The Soviet Union and North–South IssuesThe Literature14Two Theories on Development and Under-developmentThe Liberalist and the Structuralist SchoolsDiscussion of Some Issues Central to Economic DevelopmentThe North’s Development–The South’s Under-development?The Multinational CorporationsRaw Materials and Processed GoodsThe Question of DependencePopulation, Gender, EnvironmentProduction of Crude OilWhy Poverty?The Literature15Globalization and FragmentationGlobalizationRegionalismFragmentationWhy both Globalization and Fragmentation?East, West, North, SouthSuperpowers, States and IndividualsThe Literature16Conclusion: The FutureOld and New SuperpowersWhat will happen to the International System?The LiteratureIndex