ABSTRACT
History, E. H. Carr tells us, is a selective system of cognitive and causal orientations to reality. It attempts to explain the past in the context of the present with a view to understanding the world around us. Causation, Carr feels, may be impossible to prove, but interpretations of causation none the less remain the most convenient method of adapting ourselves to the world; they enable us to interpret and order both past and present, and occasionally better manage our environment. The study of history Carr sees as a study of causes. The historian asks the question: Why? The great historian askes the question: Why?, about new things or in new contexts, and historical argument revolves around the question of the priority of causes (Carr, 1961, pp. 113-43). 1 It may be useful to keep Carr’s definition of history in mind while reflecting in general on recent trends in the history of international relations and, in particular, on the extent to which a better understanding of the origins of the Cold War can illuminate the evolution of East-West relations and their prospects for the future.
