Handbook 1996 : Faculty of Arts (Volume 3 page 157)
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Year 4 Politics.
Credit points: 16.7 4th year
Coordinator: Dr. Peter Shearman.
Prerequisite: entry into fourth-year.
Contact: One 2-hour seminar per week.
Timetable: Second semester
Objectives:
Students who complete this subject should:
- have an understanding of what the Cold War was all about in its various dimensions (power, ideology, culture, economics);
- be able to critically evaluate the contending theories regarding the origins and dynamics of the Cold War and its demise;
- have a critical understanding of the conflicting interpretations regarding the end of the Cold War;
- have a theoretical background for understanding the possible post-Cold War order in world politics.
Content:
This subject examines the Cold War. What was it? How do we explain it? When and why did it start? When and why did it end? How did it end? Who won? Who lost? What can we learn from it? Does its demise mean the end of history, or simply the end of another interstate power struggle, or the end of international relations as traditionally conceived? Utilising the relevant theoretical literature an attempt will be made to answer these questions. An examination will be made of how and why explanations over time shifted from orthodox accounts of Soviet Communist expansionism to revisionist accounts of American capitalist imperialism, to the most recent and contending post-revisionist theories.
Assessment:
Written work totalling 6,000 words.
Prescribed texts:
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Handbook 1996 : Faculty of Arts (Volume 3 page 157)
Status: Official 1996 Date created: Oct 9 1995 Last modified: Oct 9 1995 Authorised by: Academic Registrar Email enquiries: Course_Information@registrar.unimelb.edu.au
Maintained by: Dept. of Political Science, Faculty of Arts.
Copyright © University of Melbourne 1995,1996.