Traditional / Orthodox

  • blaming SU for breaking the post-war arrangements
  • Berlin blockade

SU to blame

  • Stalin paranoia
  • expansionism threats

members of the orthodox view

  • George Kennan

Revisionist

  • blaming US new imperialism and economic domination

Post Revisionist

Post-post revisionist

Michael Cox
Caroline Kennedy-Pipe

Polish, east German, Hungarian, some of Soviet archives opened up

Reagan factor

  • Ronald Reagan, USA president following aggresive policies against the SU
  • 80s 2 approaches to SU
    • in the beginning he was very hardline
      • starwar - anti-nuclear weapon shield -> but never worked
    • Reagan more cooperative w/ Gorbachev
      • allowed some SU archive open up

post-post -> after 1991