America's Cold War: The Politics of Insecurity [Hardcover]

Campbell Craig (Author), Fredrik Logevall (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0674035534 | ISBN-13: 978-0674035539 | Publication Date: October 30, 2009 | Edition: 1

The Cold War dominated world affairs during the half century following World War II. It ended in victory for the United States, yet it was a costly triumph, claiming trillions of dollars in defense spending and the lives of nearly 100,000 U.S. soldiers. Apocalyptic anti-communism sharply limited the range of acceptable political debate, while American actions overseas led to the death of millions of innocent civilians and destabilized dozens of nations that posed no threat to the United States.

In a brilliant new interpretation, Campbell Craig and Fredrik Logevall reexamine the successes and failures of America’s Cold War. The United States dealt effectively with the threats of Soviet predominance in Europe and of nuclear war in the early years of the conflict. But in engineering this policy, American leaders successfully paved the way for domestic actors and institutions with a vested interest in the struggle’s continuation. Long after the USSR had been effectively contained, Washington continued to wage a virulent Cold War that entailed a massive arms buildup, wars in Korea and Vietnam, the support of repressive regimes and counterinsurgencies, and a pronounced militarization of American political culture.

American foreign policy after 1945 was never simply a response to communist power or a crusade contrived solely by domestic interests. It was always an amalgamation of both. This provocative book lays bare the emergence of a political tradition in Washington that feeds on external dangers, real or imagined, a mindset that inflames U.S. foreign policy to this day.

(20091027)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A landmark study that takes a remarkably fresh approach to the Cold War, asking not only how it began or ended but why it lasted so long. The answer--that the U.S.-Soviet confrontation was perpetuated largely by the imperatives of American electoral politics and an ever expanding military-industrial complex--demands the serious attention of anyone interested in global affairs, past or present. Craig and Logevall remind us that American foreign policy is decided as much by domestic pressures as external threats. America's Cold War is history at its provocative best.
--Mark Atwood Lawrence, author of The Vietnam War: A Concise International History (20100501)

Much ink has been spilled on the history of the Cold War, but Craig and Logevall have written a wholly new and original book. In beautiful, compelling prose, America's Cold War unearths the inner dynamic of American foreign policy by highlighting its intimate but hidden links with both domestic politics and economics. With its revealing insights into the partisan political influence upon U.S. foreign policy, this brilliant book offers a timely reminder that politics doesn't always stop at the water's edge.
--Andrew Preston, author of The War Council: McGeorge Bundy, the NSC, and Vietnam

A refreshingly incisive analysis of U.S. foreign policy during its long struggle with the Soviet Union. Craig and Logevall show how the interplay of structural forces and domestic politics led U.S. leaders to consistently exaggerate foreign threats, leading to costly misadventures that squandered much blood and treasure and inflicted considerable harm on other countries. Their judgments are subtle and balanced, the writing is clear and concise, and the implications for today's leaders are profound.
--Stephen M. Walt, author of Taming American Power

In this beautifully incisive and important reinterpretation of U.S. foreign relations history, Craig and Logevall demonstrate why Cold War America could never shake its own insecurity complex. It is a must read, not simply for understanding U.S. national security in the second half of the twentieth century, but for insight into why the politics of insecurity persist.
--Timothy Naftali, coauthor of One Hell of a Gamble

Craig and Logevall compellingly argue that the American experience in the Cold War must be understood in terms of the interplay between domestic and international politics. American history, political culture, and raw partisanship shaped attitudes and responses just as encounters with the USSR affected internal politics, economy, and society. This is an important book that will be read for years to come.
--Robert Jervis, author of American Foreign Policy in a New Era

This is a creative, carefully researched, and incisive analysis of U.S. strategy during the long struggle against the Soviet Union. There are plenty of good books on this topic already, but Craig and Logevall's is one of the best, and their interpretation has important implications for contemporary strategic debates.
--Stephen M. Walt (foreignpolicy.com )

It is an excellent history, providing the best treatment of the question, "Who ended the Cold War, Reagan or Gorbachev?"
--H. Nelsen (Choice )

About the Author

Campbell Craig is Professor of International Politics, Aberystwyth University.

Fredrik Logevall is Professor of History at Cornell University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 1 edition (October 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674035534
• ISBN-13: 978-0674035539
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,862 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Current Events > Arms Control
  • #7 in Books > History > Military > Weapons & Warfare > Nuclear

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A BRILLIANT AND ORIGINAL ANALYSIS OF THE COLD WAR, October 17, 2009

By 

Paul Gelman "PAUL Y. GELMAN" (HAIFA , ISRAEL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: America's Cold War: The Politics of Insecurity (Hardcover)

In the last months there were published a number of very good books on the Cold War.This book, however, is unique, because of its excellent analysis of the ideological conflict which spanned the latter half of the twentieth century.
Briefly stated, the authors' thesis is runs like this: the Cold War could have come to an end in the late fifties or in 1963, after the Cuban Missile Crisis ended.But there were other factors which unnecessarily prolonged the conflict and the Americans were responsible for this.
The story starts with Charles Beard's advice that, since America is a superpower separated from Europe, there "is no need for its militarization".Reality was different and the era of Woodrow Wilson
proved that if the USA did not become actively involved in worldly affairs, it would become isolated in light of the rising dictatorships in Europe and elsewhere.After the end of WW2,the Cold War started because of many and various reasons.The arms race gained momentum especially after the dropping of the two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities.It was only a matter of time and good intelligence gained from Russian spies for the Russians to get an atomic bomb of their own.President Truman,who is described by the authors as seeing the world in terms of black and white, preferred to take a tough hand against the Russians.The McCarthy years only inflated this atmosphere .The famous NSC-68 paper, drawn by Paul Nitze, advocated an aggressive approach towards the Reds.
But how to to this? How can you intimidate your enemy? By building a massive and expensive arsenal which was to be achieved by a military- industrial complex.Thus, the military budget shot up from $14 billion in 1949 to $ 53 billion in 1953(See page. 127)
In the bipolar world after 1945, the United states could not deal adequately with the Soviet Union ,their bombs and the Chinese by strengthening thier alliances or establishing new one.Therefore,The USA turned to increase its own military capabilities.As a result of this policy, there were many sectors which had a lot to benefit from it-the armed forces,arms industrialists,labour unions associated with weapons industries,universities and other firms that had connections to military research.Corporations such as Lockheed,Convair,General Dynamics,McDonnell,Pratt and Whitney, and Gruman-many of them clustered in Texas and California- became hugely profitable and highly dependable on militery contracts.Their lobby representatives on the House and Senate were key players that determined defense expenditures.
Eisenhower, who took a tougher hand against the Soviets,understood how dangerous such a nexus was for the USA and the world and in one of his speeches warned and alerted the American people against this danger of "military-industrial complex"- an alliance of gropus which benefited from endless growth of military spending and endless overseas confrontation.(p.193)
All this continued during the Kennedy-Johnson administrations, in spite of the fact that specialists warned that the USA would never win the Vietnam war, and this course of events ran until the demise of the 'Evil Empire'- as it was dubbed by Reagan.All this went on in spite of the fact that the American policy- makers knew very well that from the end of the fifties the USA had the upper hand in the arms race and that the Soviet Union stopped being a real threat to the USA.Kennedy, for instance, had this information, but he had to satisfy the appetite of the military-industrialists' complex.
Add the fact that some other lobbyists- Israeli and Latin American-
put a lot of pressure on the various administrations to sell their respective countries weapons and you get an even greater ,vast panorama of this mammoth complex.
Could the Cold War have ended earlier? Yes, it could.But there was "an addiction" to magnify the supposed danger to the USA(p.369) which only increased the presence of duty personnel and military commitments in many countries in the world.The authors claim, justly, that this phenomenon is still going on these days.
This book will hammer at you on every page and you wil get new insights about this fascinating period like you never had before.
Five stars definitely go to this meticulously-researched, interesting and original book!

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars One step at a time, I guess, January 25, 2010

By 

Robin Ramsay - See all my reviews
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This review is from: America's Cold War: The Politics of Insecurity (Hardcover)

In this a couple of history professors, one American and one British, look at the American role in the Cold War and conclude the following:

1. There was no real Soviet 'threat'
2. Most of the 'threat' was generated by the US arms industry to keep the arms orders flowing.

They don't quite say this in so many words (very bad for careers, that sort of thing) but that's their drift. Of its ilk it's OK but it's small beer compared to, for example, Peter Dale Scott, Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman.

Robin Ramsa

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A BOOK WORTH READING, February 7, 2010

By 

James L. Woolridge "Wooly in PSL, FL." (Sunny Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: America's Cold War: The Politics of Insecurity (Hardcover)

American Professor Frederick Logevall and British Professor Campbell Craig have teamed to give us a look at the reasons for the Cold War. Be aware you are about to look at things in a different perspective. We usually think of the United States working against the spread of Communism. This book lessens the Soviet threat and looks more closely at American politics and its impact on the Cold War. It is well worth the read to examine this idea whether you agree or not. The book often reads like an advanced lecture, but obvious these teachers are well versed and familiar with the details. RECOMMENDED