This module is aimed toward challenging students to think critically about the course of the late Cold War. Students should have a good understanding of the key events and case studies, but they should also be able to put these into a larger context and develop innovative and nuanced ways of examining them. There will be a large emphasis on tackling the different ways that historians have interpreted American and Soviet policies. However, students will have the opportunity to explore primary sources, too, in order to form their own assessments and arguments.

This module will function as a critical and deep analysis of the late Cold War era. In doing so students will study the main components of the conflict, and consider how individuals, ideas, and structural forces impacted East-West relations. Students will consider the vital "how and "why" questions of history--such as causality, and the process of change and continuity. Different theoretical and methodological frameworks will be deployed to examine the end of the Cold War. Students will have the opportunity to assess and interpret a wide range of primary sources, deriving directly from original research. The module examines the transformation of the late Cold War, from the arms race of the late 1970s and early 80s through to its peaceful ending in 1991. The Cold War's sudden demise defied the predictions of most diplomats and international relations scholars, who had suggested that it could not end peacefully--that great powers seldom fall without putting up a fight. Three decades on, the rise and fall of the conflict continues to provoke much debate. Who was primarily responsible for ending the Cold War? Was it inevitable, or did it require bold initiative from Gorbachev his fellow reformers in Moscow? Did the end of the confrontation have more to do with Soviet internal factors or with international pressures? Were American policies decisive in forcing Gorbachev's hand, or was the end of the Cold War largely a Soviet and Eastern European affair? The module will examine traditional and revisionist explanations of the Cold War, as well as the new archival findings that have emerged, to debate key themes and issues, including: the demise of détente; the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; the U.S. and Soviet military buildups; the antinuclear movements in America and Western Europe; Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative; the arrival of Gorbachev as Soviet leader; glasnost, perestroika, and the Eastern European revolutions of 1989.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: - gain an understanding of the principle primary sources available for the topic - critically evaluate the key primary and secondary sources in the research area - consider the impact, intended and unintended, of historical change and continuity - critically assess different historiographical trends - use primary sources to construct their own arguments and interpretations

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: - display an appreciation of the importance of social, cultural and/or political change - appreciate the complexity of the past

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:

Like all other fourth-year history specialist modules, this module will be delivered in the form of a weekly three-hour seminar, where students will be active participants in their learning, considering primary and secondary literature, as well as being introduced to the key concepts, methods and approaches to the research topic. These modules are particularly designed to bring the historian's personal expertise and scholarship into the classroom. By engaging with the materials, content, assessment and ideas provided in the module, students become articulate, knowledgeable and collaborative. Students will be introduced to the recent archival findings on the late Cold War era, and the historiographical debates which have subsequently emerged.