The Cold War and Soviet Insecurity

This work argues that ideology was the cornerstone of the Cold War. It demonstrates that Stalin's single-minded adherence to Marxism-Leninism created an atmosphere, both domestically and internationally, of constant insecurity.

will undoubtedly take its place alongside the earlier work as one of the most valuable studies of postwar Soviet policy ... Mastny's overall assessment of Stalin is both arresting and persuasive.

Autorentext

Vojtech Mastny has taught history and international relations at Columbia University, the University of Illinois, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. His many books include The Helsinki Process and the Reintegration of Europe and The Czechs under Nazi Rule, which won the Clarke F. Ansley award.

Klappentext

In this long-awaited sequel to his acclaimed Russia's Road to the Cold War, Vojtech Mastny offers a masterful history of the birth of the Cold War, drawing on extensive research in newly opened Soviet archives. The earlier volume provided the definitive portrait of Stalin's foreign policy during World War II. Now, in The Cold War and Soviet Insecurity, Mastny offers an equally superb account of Stalin's foreign policy during his last years. Combining important new research with the fascinating insights of one of the leading authorities on Soviet affairs, this authoritative volume illuminates a crucial period in recent world history.

Zusammenfassung
Arguing that ideology is the cornerstone of the Cold War, Mastny demonstrates that Stalin's single-minded adherence to Marxism-Leninism created an atmosphere, both domestically and internationally, of constant insecurity. Behind the internal purges, Russia's control of Eastern Europe, Stalin's relationship with Tito and the West, and acts of espionage and assassination, lay an insecurity, born of ideology, that neither Stalin nor the Soviet Union could ever dispel.