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Book Review of The Cold War - A World History

Preprint · December 2018

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.14628.12165

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Ryan Glauser
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 The Cold War: A World History by Odd Arne Westad, New York: Basic
Books, 2017. Pp. 720, Hardcover $40.00, ISBN: 978-0465054930
As a post-Cold War child, the lasting effects of the Cold War are a daily reality, not the ‘war’ itself.
Violent Islamism in the form of the 9/11 attacks, the most important effect of the Cold War to young
Americans, has been ingrained into my generation’s mind and frames our interactions with the wider
world. Current critiques from young Americans link the historical experience of both the US and the
local country, in this case Afghanistan and Iraq, with present-day domestic political debates. While Odd
Arne Westad’s book, The Cold War: A World History, does not explicitly connect post-Cold War
critiques to the historical experience, his work does explain the broader changes in the bipolar
international sphere and its fallout throughout the world regardless of a country’s allegiance.

The Cold War discusses the international battle between two competing systems of life, originating
from the United States and Soviet Union, and the lasting effects of their public and secret clashes.
Although the Cold War was not preordained, a self-replicating system of justification was established
within both superpowers which hindered their own ability to see the world outside of a Cold War lens.
This lack of sight and ingenuity caused the superpowers to exacerbate local conflicts; thus, continuing
the Cold War for decades. Eventually, local dynamics within the superpowers culminated in an
unexpected peaceful collapse of the Soviet Union, but the breakdown of a Cold War mindset did not
occur (and has not yet) in the US. In short, Westad sees the Cold War as a bipolar international struggle
between opposing styles of life that prolonged itself at the expense of ‘Third World’ people and local
power dynamics.

Structurally, the book begins its narrative in the 1880s and extends into the 2010s and the War on
Terrorism. In a linear time line, Westad addresses either a significant theme or geographic region in
each chapter. This structure allows Westad to simultaneously discuss broader debates, such as
decolonization, development aid, and human rights, alongside national debates about sovereignty,
political rights, economic inequality and growth. By using this framework, Westad is able to minimize
the “hot conflicts” of the Cold War and focus on the unseen, but more disruptive decisions enacted by
the superpowers; for example, the political cost of development aid to ‘Third World’ countries and sale
of weaponry to opposing sides in civil wars.

In chapter 16, Westad discusses the subcontinent of India and how its national debates occured parallel
to global ones. After independence, both Pakistan and India were classified as ‘underdeveloped’
economies that were ripe for foreign investments. While Jawaharlal Nehru was in charge of India, the
country accepted aid from all countries and attempted to mitigate international pressures that were
associated with the aid packages. In line with his domestic economic development plans, Nehru saw
the Non-Aligned Movement as a means for “different political orientations to break with the Cold War
dichotomy and declare themselves non-aligned.” (433) Before the 1970s, the subcontinent was
conflicted between its national economic plans and its desire to split itself from the bipolarity of the
Cold War.

During the 1970s and Indira Gandhi’s open friendship with the Soviet Union, India’s stance in the
international sphere changed dramatically due to Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and Nixon’s visit to China
in 1972, but the local economic and social debates remained. Over the decade, Gandhi attempted to
walk a fine line between ‘the East’ and ‘the West’ in order to secure further economic investments. In
1977, Gandhi lost an election after her attempts to create an authoritarian government, but the new
government led by Morarji Desai did not drastically change policies. In fact, the Desai confirmed
 India’s friendship with the Soviet Union in order to counter balance Pakistan’s growing friendships
with China and the United States. With the growing instability in international politics, Gandhi returned
to power in the 1980 elections and continued her 1970-efforts. While the subcontinent may have had
opportunities to break the international mold during the Cold War, the region found itself constrained
by local politics and desires. Westad concludes, “in spite of its many efforts, even a country as
significant India was never able to fully break away from the global conflict molding its policies.”
(447)

Although The Cold War may connect the international to the national, two problems arise due to such a
broad overview. Firstly, the book, at times, portrays superpowers as establishing the interactions with
the ‘Third World’ and determining the means with which the relationship existed. Instead of a bilateral
relationship, which could be an unequal one, the United States and the Soviet Union appear as the sole
arbiters of power throughout the ‘Third World.’ Secondly, Westad’s definition of the Cold War as “a
confrontation between capitalism and socialism that peaked in the years between 1945 and 1989”
remains disconnected in chapters that do not directly discuss the international struggle between the
superpowers. (1) Instead, these chapters tend to focus on local politics and debates which are
periodically connected to larger global debates at the end of chapters. In defense of Westad, however,
he himself states that inconsistencies will be present, but the purpose of the book is to “invite the reader
to explore further the ways in which the Cold War made the world what it is today.” (17)

Westad has included the numerous criticisms of his earlier 2005 book, The Global Cold War, in his
newest work. Instead of openly challenging any veins of Cold War history, Westad works within the
current debates in order to demonstrate the obvious and clear connections between the international and
national historiographies of the Cold War. In doing so, the prolonging of the Cold War becomes a
combination of rigid superpower decision-making and ideology, as well as domestic factors within non-
superpower countries. While the argument has flaws and a broad focus, The Cold War: A World History
is a necessary read for any historian wishing to begin the process of connecting narratives in both
national and international historiographies, thereby, deepening and complicating our current
understanding of the Cold War.

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