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The Cold War: Bipolarity to Multipolarity

Facilitators – Ronald Lesko & Tim Thomas
Dates & Times – Wednesdays, Nov. 7-Dec. 5, 12noon-2pm (skip Nov. 21)

Location – Blue Hill Public Library, Howard Room

Remember the Cold War? Historical bookends of this period are the Yalta Conference and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Events and historical figures to be reviewed include the Berlin Airlift, the "Berlin Wall", Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. American attitudes and fears of atheistic communism and perceived threats will be discussed, along with America's bigger and more costly government, constant warfare and our role as the world's policeman. Be ready to discuss your own memories and reflections. There will be a common text, film and oral materials.

Lowell (Tim) Thomas is a retired Philadelphia lawyer who was an English major in college but now enjoys reading and discussing American History.

Ronald J. P. Lesko is a retired and reformed Professor of Political Science, Political Theory and Philosophy, State University of New York.

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A Message from the Facilitators:
Guidance for Participants

    In this Colloquy we will ask you to remember any events that happened during the period known as the Cold War (1945 to 1991 more or less). We will also review the events of this period and their relationship to other events. The personalities are also important (e.g. Roosevelt, Churchill, Truman, Stalin, Khrushchev, Reagan, Gorbachov and many others). Did they, or some of them, make things happen or merely participate in the flow of events?

    Think about your own and your family’s reaction to the events of the Cold War. Do you know anyone who bought a bomb shelter? During World War II, did you think favorably of Stalin? Was Chairman Mao an evil person? Did you have any military service that brought you into contact with events of the period?

    This Colloquy gives you a choice among three books that discuss the Cold War. We ask that you obtain any one of the three (all three if you like) and read designated portions for purposes of participating in the session discussions.

The three are:

-   John Lewis Gaddis, The Cold War, A New History, Penguin Books (2005);

-   Melvin P. Leffler, For The Soul of Mankind, Hill and Wang (2007); and

- Vladislav M. Zubok, A Failed Empire, University of North Carolina Press (2009).

In each of the four meetings, we plan to cover the following:

1st session: Beginning to Cuban Missile Crisis
Reading: Gaddis: pp. 5-82; Leffler: pp 11-156; or Zubok: pp. 1-149

2nd session: Cuban Missile Crisis to Helsinki Conference
Reading: Gaddis: pp. 83-188; Leffler: pp. 157-259; or Zubok: pp150-238

3rd session: Pope Visits Poland to Opening of the Berlin Wall

Reading: Gaddis: pp. 189-259; Leffler: pp. 259-427; or Zubok: pp.239-330

4th session: To the Ending
Reading: Gaddis: pp.259 to end; Leffler: pp. 428 to end; or Zubok: pp. 331 to end.

    The assigned reading will be supplemented with articles on various aspects of the Cold War as well as some film clips of interest. For further exploration of the subject, two recent books are noted:

- Henry Kissinger, On China, Penguin Press (2011)

- John Lewis Gaddis, George F. Kennan, An American Life Penguin Press (2011).

-   for a review of the early beginnings of the Cold War, Volume Six of Winston Churchill’s The Second World War-Triumph and Tragedy, Houghton Mifflin (1953), the last half, is worth a read.

    For movie fans, three are noted: The Thirteen Days; On the Beach and Dr. Strangelove. There must be more. Also numerous novels have been centered on the period. Nevil Shute’s On the Beach is one. A recent novel focusing on the U.S. Navy’s tracking of Russian submarines is The Chess Players by Frank Partel (2011). Any novel of John LaCarre will involve Cold War participants.

Looking forward to sharing the Cold war with you,

              Ron Lesko              Tim Thomas

The Cold War: Bipolarity to Multipolarity

A Message from the Facilitators:Guidance for Participants

A Message from the Facilitators:
Guidance for Participants