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The Cold War did not explode in World War III. During 1985 and 1991 the face-off between the superpowers was resolved peacefully – unlike earlier international crises during the first half of the twentieth century (1914-18, 1939-45). This dénouement was a complex process, including defusing tensions between the two sides, real engagement, revolutionary change in former communist states, and Western triumph at least in the short run. Explanations for this outcome remain matters of historiographical controversy: American pressure, the Gorbachev factor, the bankruptcy of Communist ideology, people-power, Soviet imperial overstretch or Soviet implosion. This course concentrates on the contribution of international diplomacy in the Cold War endgame, asking how far and in what ways relations at the top between leaders helped construct a diplomatic settlement that facilitated radical arms control agreements, the liberation of Eastern Europe, and unification of the two Germanies. It will also look at how the processes of Soviet break-up was managed – by Eastern and Western leaders – so that conflict did not break out and Russia and the other post-Soviet successor states felt at least initially integrated in the post-Cold War world order. Professor Kristina Spohr. <a href="http://bit.ly/1bebp5s" target="_blank">Click here to see evaluations, syllabi, and faculty bios</a>