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Was the Cold War the Biggest Change in Russia’s Relationship with the West?

Announced on 12 March 1947 with the intention of containing Soviet expansion, the Truman Doctrine is sometimes seen as the first declaration of the Cold War. Four experts ask whether the conflict’s legacy is a defining one.

History Today | Published in History Today Volume 72 Issue 3 March 2022

Announced on 12 March 1947 with the intention of containing Soviet expansion, the Truman Doctrine is sometimes seen as the first declaration of the Cold War. At a time of renewed tension, four experts ask whether the conflict’s legacy is a defining one.
Richard Nixon (right) meets Leonid Brezhnev (left) on 19 June 1973 during the Soviet Leader’s visit to the US. The interpreter is Viktor Sukhodrev. Image: The National Archives and Records Administration.

‘The Cold War fits the pattern of typical conflicts between Russia and the West’

Sergei Bogatyrev, Associate Professor of History at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies

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