ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the post-Cold War developments. Since the early 1990s the historiography of the end of the Cold War has gone through several stages, reflecting the politics of the present as well as the various turns and twists – conceptual, theoretical, and methodological – in historical scholarship. From the early 1990s much of the writing on the end of the Cold War has focused on the roles of two key individuals and the policies they pursued. These persons are Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. The focus on Reagan and Gorbachev continues to influence debates about the end of the Cold War. Other notable figures – Soviet, American, and European – have been credited with major roles in the events that climaxed in 1989–1991. The chapter finally presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
