The thirty-third series in our People’s University program, “The Cold War,” starts this evening, Thursday, December 2, 2021 at 7. Attend in person at the Library (evening hours added just for the program!) or wacth online (see links below).
The “Cold War” was the crucible by which the United States was transformed into a global superpower and laid the basis for the national security state. The ideological and geopolitical competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union shaped the global and regional makeup of the modern world. A driver for the development of both conventional and nuclear forces, the Cold War played out not just between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R, but also in Europe, East Asia, the Middle East, indeed, the entire world, leaving legacies that continue to influence global politics in the twenty-first century.
In this series of eight classes, we’ll look at the origins and developments of the conflict, from containment, the red scare, the space race, the building and tearing down of the Berlin Wall, to the collapse of the Soviet Union. We will also explore memories and events of Wheeling and the state of West Virginia during the period and end by examining how the Cold War is still impacting the world today.
In this opening class, we will discuss the wartime agreements; the first confrontations over Poland, Iran, Turkey, etc.; the Long Telegram and Containment; the Truman Doctrine, The Marshall Plan, Berlin Airlift, and NATO.
