Twenty Years On: The Cold War and Its Legacy, Introduction

Twenty years ago last month, Solidarity won a landslide victory in Polish elections that the Communists had tried to rig. The result was the collapse of communism across Eastern Europe and ultimately the fall of the USSR.

I've had a long interest in the Cold War, as those who play Covert-81 can clearly see. The period is hugely interesting.

I'd like to start this series by making something very clear to certain members of the left. The Cold War was not a time of peace by any means and having a challenger to the United States actually made things worse.

The Cold War was a time of war by proxy, most notably in Vietnam and Afghanistan, but also in Central America and Africa. Human rights mattered far less to either side than retaining or gaining allies.

I would not want to go back to that period, that's for sure