ABSTRACT
The Korean and Vietnamese wars, however, were only indirect clashes of the Titans and, in fact, great power collisions have not been seen since the ultimate of such clashes in 1939–45. That the potential ‘mother’ of all clashes of the Titans, the Cold War, should end with an apparently peaceful transition to a new order, rather than military victory, served to challenge the ascendancy of Realism in the study of military security. Liberals also distance themselves from the Realist assumption of international anarchy by seeing international law, in the guise of collective security – the international community together keeping the peace – as representing a way in which military order can be maintained in international relations. Economic cooperation has blossomed through mutual interest but diplomatic and military tensions remain. It is worth remembering that there was no official end to this dimension of the Cold War.
