Cold War Rivalry in a Bipolar World

This chapter covers the history of the cold war. It starts from the events such as the fall of Berlin and subsequent division of Berlin as the genesis of the cold war. It examines the Bretton Woods system, reconstruction of post-war Europe (predominantly Britain, Germany, and France), and the usage of the dollar as the currency for international commerce and maintaining reserves. This chapter examines the economic benefits accruing to the American financial elites under this new system. It also examines to what extent USSR’s refusal to participate in the Bretton Woods financial and economic system transpired into the cold war. The Cuban Missile crisis, Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, Sino-Soviet Split, the Oil Standard, and Sino-American Rapprochement are also analysed.