KC Johnson

This course will address U.S. political and diplomatic history during the Cold War period. Beginning with the aftermath of World War II, it will explore such themes as the growth of the presidency; the militarization of U.S. foreign policy; the domestic and international effects of anti-communism; the impact of the Vietnam War on U.S. politcs and standing abroad; the controversies of the 1970s; the historiographical debates over the end oft he Cold War; and the Cold War’s legacy on modern America. We will read a book each week, focused in particular on the ways in which the U.S. involvement in the Cold War spread beyond foreign policy concerns to affect U.S. politics and the nature of the U.S. state. Though the bulk of the course will focus on the period from 1947 through 1989, we will also explore the enduring legacy of the Cold War on contemporary American politics and international relations.

Assigned Books:

• Graham Allison and Philip Zelikow, Essence of Decision, 2nd edition (Pearson, 1999)
• Steve Coll, Ghost Wars (Penguin, 2004)
• Mary Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights (Princeton University Press, 2000)
• Piero Gleijeses, Visions of Freedom (UNC Press, 2013)
• Ken Hughes, Fatal Politics (University of Virginia Press, 2015)
• David Johnson, The Lavender Scare (University of Illinois Press, 2006)
• Melvyn Leffler, A Preponderance of Power (Stanford University Press, 1993)
• Asher Orkaby, Beyond the Arab Cold War (Oxford University Press, 2017)
• Judith Stein, Pivotal Decade (Yale University Press, 2010)
• Jeremi Suri, Power and Protest, rev. ed. (Harvard University Press, 2005)
• Sean Wilentz, The Age of Reagan (Harper Perennial, 2008)
• James Graham Wilson, The Triumph of Improvisation (Cornell University Press, 2015)
• Julian Zelizer, The Fierce Urgency of Now (Penguin, 2015)

Schedule:

January 30: Cold War Origins

Melvyn Leffler, A Preponderance of Power

February 6: Cold War at Home (reviews: Sean)

David Johnson, The Lavender Scare

supplementary reading:

• Robert Griffith, The Politics of Fear, 2nd ed. (UMass Press, 1987) (Maayan)

February 13: Intersection of Foreign & Domestic Policy (reviews: Rich)

Mary Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights

supplementary reading:

• Thomas Sugrue, Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit (Arooj)

February 20: No class–transition day

February 27: Cold War Liberalism (reviews: Todd)

Graham Allison and Philip Zelikow, Essence of Decision, 2nd edition

supplementary reading:

• Fredrik Logevall, Choosing War (University of California Press, 1999) (Nick)

March 6: Rights-Related Liberalism (reviews: Maayan)

Julian Zelizer, The Fierce Urgency of Now

supplementary reading:

• Jon Hale, The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement (Columbia University Press, 2016) (Sean)
• Joshua Zeitz, Building the Great Society (Viking, 2018) (Tatiana)

March 13: Expansion of the Cold War (reviews: Arooj)

Asher Orkaby, Beyond the Arab Cold War

supplementary reading:

• Michael Oren, Six Days of War, rev. ed. (Presidio, 2017) (Todd)

March 20: Protest & Backlash (reviews: Nick)

Jeremi Suri, Power and Protest (Harvard University Press, 2005), rev. ed.

supplementary reading:

• Thomas Knock, The Rise of a Prairie Statesman (Princeton University Press, 2016) (Rich)

March 27: Collapse of Confidence (reviews: Sean)

Ken Hughes, Fatal Politics

supplementary reading:

• Stanley Kutler, The Wars of Watergate (W.W. Norton & Company, 1990) (Maayan)

April 10: The Decline of American Dominance (reviews: Rich)

Judith Stein, Pivotal Decade

supplementary reading:

• Kevin Kruse, White Flight (Princeton University Press, 2005) (Arooj)

April 17: The Changing Nature of the Cold War (reviews: Todd)

Piero Gleijeses, Visions of Freedom (UNC Press, 2013)

supplementary reading:

• Joe Renouard. Human Rights in American Foreign Policy (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016). (Nick)

April 24: End of the Cold War (reviews: Maayan)

James Graham Wilson, The Triumph of Improvisation

supplementary reading:

• Coleman and Longley, eds., Reagan and the World (Sean)
• Mark Kramer, end of Cold War essays, Journal of Cold War Studies (5.4, 6.4, 7.1) (Tatiana)

May 1: Post-Cold War Foreign Affairs (reviews: Arooj)

Steve Coll, Ghost Wars

supplementary reading:

• Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower (Todd)

May 8: Post-Cold War Politics (reviews: Nick)

Sean Wilentz, The Age of Reagan

supplementary reading:

• David Greenberg, Nixon’s Shadow (W.W. Norton & Company, 2004) (Rich)

May 15: Review