Event archive

Conflict and the Senses in the Global Cold War: From Propaganda to Sensory Warfare

International Workshop
The Cold War was to a large degree carried out by non-lethal methods. It was also a war of culture, politics, and (visual and sonic) propaganda which the interdisciplinary workshop "Conflict and the Senses in the Global Cold War: From Propaganda to Sensory Warfare" adresses. Applications can be submitted until 31 May 2020.
Tue, 10/13/2020, 12:00 am to Fri, 10/16/2020, 12:00 am
Berlin Center for Cold War Studies

Does learning from China mean learning to win? How did the Communist states respond to economic and social challenges from the 1970s onward?

CfP Yearbook for Historical Research of Communism 2020
Call for Papers 2020: It's the economy, stupid! Or: Does learning from China mean learning to win? How did the Communist states respond to economic and social challenges from the 1970s onward?
Mon, 2/19/2018, 12:00 am
Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur

Pugwash and the two Germanies, 1955-1967: Trust between Scientists as Political Resource? Lecture by Alison Kraft (Berlin Center for Cold War Studies)

LECTURE SERIES: TRUST AS A RESOURCE OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
This lecture series "Vertrauen als Ressource internationaler Politik | Trust as a Resource of International Politics" explores the many attempts at moderating and containing the global Cold War. Focusing on the superpowers, their allies, the non-aligned states and diverse non-governmental organizations, prominent experts from Germany and around the world will examine different models of political conflict moderation and present new findings from the area of historical emotion studies. The eighth and final lecture is by Alison Kraft (Berlin Center for Cold War Studies).
Thu, 2/8/2018, 6:00 pm
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Ending the Cold War: Personal Diplomacy of Gorbachev, Reagan, and Bush. Lecture by Svetlana Savranskaya and Thomas S. Blanton (Washington, D.C.)

LECTURE SERIES: TRUST AS A RESOURCE OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
This lecture series "Vertrauen als Ressource internationaler Politik | Trust as a Resource of International Politics" explores the many attempts at moderating and containing the global Cold War. Focusing on the superpowers, their allies, the non-aligned states and diverse non-governmental organizations, prominent experts from Germany and around the world will examine different models of political conflict moderation and present new findings from the area of historical emotion studies. The fourth lecture is by Svetlana Savranskaya and Thomas S. Blanton (National Security Archive, Washington D.C.)
Mon, 12/4/2017, 6:15 pm
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

The INF Treaty of 1987: A Re-Appraisal

International Conference in Berlin
With the "Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty" (INF-Treaty) of December 8th, 1987, the US and the USSR scrapped their European and Asian arsenal of missiles with a range of 500 to 5.500 km. It was the first disarmament treaty of the nuclear age. Most observers presumed that this step also signaled the beginning of the Cold War’s eventual demise. Recently, increasing Russian-American tensions have apparently undermined the treaty’s provisions. Based on recently declassified records, this international conference hopes to cast a new light on this chapter of the Cold War and to stimulate future research. Last but not least, it provides an opportunity to reflect on the future of arms control and disarmament.
Thu, 11/30/2017, 12:00 am to Sat, 12/2/2017, 12:00 am
Europäische Akademie Berlin

Pugwash and the two Germanies, 1957-1963: Transcending the divide, tackling the "German Question"

18th Brown Bag Breakfast with Alison Kraft (Berlin Center for Cold War Studies)
The Berlin Center for Cold War Studies' monthly Brown Bag Breakfasts provide an opportunity for young scholars to present their PhD and postdoc projects and to discuss them with a small circle of peers and experts. The breakfasts offer room for constructive feedback, networking and academic inspiration.
Wed, 11/8/2017, 8:30 am
Berliner Kolleg Kalter Krieg

Lecture Series: TRUST AS A RESOURCE OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

Humboldt University Berlin | Winter Semester 2017/18
This lecture series explores the many attempts at moderating and containing the global Cold War. Focusing on the superpowers, their allies, the non-aligned states and diverse non-governmental organizations, prominent experts from Germany and around the world will examine different models of political conflict moderation and present new findings from the area of historical emotion studies. In six lectures and two panel discussions it will become clear that the Cold War was far more than a history of conflict, crisis and escalation. It was precisely the multiple returns to the precipice that sparked the search for alternatives. Indeed, the non-violent end of the systemic confrontation from 1989 to 1991 would have been unthinkable without that search's longer-term effects. In light of today's renewed emergence of mutual threats and accompanying anxiety and blackmail attempts in international relations, this view of the Cold War is once again a matter of special interest.
Thu, 10/26/2017, 12:00 am to Thu, 2/8/2018, 12:00 am
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

France’s Europe? The Politics of Defense, Trade and Empire, 1950-1963

17th Brown Bag Breakfast with Paul M. Pitman (Office of the Historian of the US Department of State)
The Berlin Center for Cold War Studies' monthly Brown Bag Breakfasts provide an opportunity for young scholars to present their PhD and postdoc projects and to discuss them with a small circle of peers and experts. The breakfasts offer room for constructive feedback, networking and academic inspiration.
Wed, 10/11/2017, 8:30 am
Berliner Kolleg Kalter Krieg

From Below and In Between – Narrating and Practicing the Cold War in South East Europe

International Workshop at the Humboldt University of Berlin
Not only in a Cold War-context, South East Europe is often seen as a periphery to the global centers. The workshop will challenge this perspective. Instead, we will approach the region as a center of ideological fractions during the Cold War, therefore treating it as a "burning glass" of geopolitical orders.
Thu, 6/1/2017, 12:00 am to Fri, 6/2/2017, 12:00 am
Humboldt University

Consequences of Military Interventions Since 1945: Experiences, Lessons, Questions

International Conference at Herrenhausen Palace, Hannover
When may, when must one intervene to stop civil wars, mass murder or persecution motivated by politics, religion or ethnicity? Does it make sense to force regime change through armed intervention? And, especially: What are the long-term effects and how high is the price of military intervention for the states and societies immediately affected? The conference is meant to advance both the public debate and research agenda on the subject for historiography and the social sciences. On-the-ground political and military experience will challenge distinguished scholarship and vice-versa.
Fri, 5/12/2017, 12:00 am to Sat, 5/13/2017, 12:00 am
Herrenhausen Palace

The long détente: changing concepts of security and cooperation in Europe, 1950s–1980s. Edited by Oliver Bange and Poul Villaume

Book launch with fellow stephan kieninger
The Danish Institute for International Studies and the Saxo Institute at the University of Copenhagen are presenting the new edited volume by Oliver Bange and Poul Villaume. Both editors and contributers - among them fellow Stephan Kieninger - will present their findings on occasion of this book launch.
Mon, 5/8/2017, 10:00 am
Danish Institute for International Studies

Global/Transnational Perspectives on Civil Defense from the Cold War Era to the Present Day

Workshop in Zurich with Claudia Kemper
Roundtable sessions with invited scholars, organized by Silvia Berger Ziauddin (University of Zurich, CH), Sarah Robey (Temple University, USA), and Peter Bennesved (Umeå University, Sweden).
Thu, 3/9/2017, 12:00 am to Fri, 3/10/2017, 12:00 am
University of Zurich

The Federal Republic of Germany and the recognition of Bangladesh in 1972

Breakfast meeting with Ashok K. Metha
After a bloody war between India and Pakistan, Bangladesh emerged as new state from East Pakistan in 1971. In 1972, the Federal Republic of Germany under the Brandt government was the first power to officially recognize Bangladesh as an independent state. Ashok Mehta writes about the developments that led to the German move against the backdrop of the Cold War and Willy Brandt’s détente policy. He presents his findings at this breakfast meeting hosted by the Berlin Center for Cold War Studies and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The commentator is Amit Das Gupta.
Mon, 12/5/2016, 8:30 am
Berliner Kolleg Kalter Krieg

Dynamic Détente: The United States and Europe, 1964-1975. By Stephan Kieninger

Book presentation and discussion at the Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC
Stephan Kieninger, fellow at the Berlin Center for Cold War Studies, presents his recent publication "Dynamic Détente: The United States and Europe, 1964-1975" at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC. Ambassador James E. Goodby will comment on his study.
Tue, 11/29/2016, 2:00 pm
Woodrow Wilson Center

"Summitry and the German Question." Lecture by David Reynolds (Cambridge) and Kristina Spohr (London)

Lecture series : "Compromising the Cold War"
“Grenzen des Kalten Krieges | Compromising the Cold War“ is the title of this lecture series inviting historians from Germany and abroad to discuss the limits of social perceptions of order and patterns of thinking throughout the Cold War. The third talk will be given by David Reynolds (Cambridge) und Kristina Spohr (London).
Thu, 11/17/2016, 6:00 pm
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Transcending the Cold War. Summits, Statecraft, and the Dissolution of Bipolarity in Europe, 1970-1990

Kristina Spohr and David Reynolds on their new anthology
In 1989 and 1990 the map of Europe was redrawn without a war. How did this happen? And what was the impact of summits, how, indeed, did they evolve? What was the role of individual leaders such as Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Leonid Brezhnev, Mikhail Gorbachev or Willy Brandt, Helmut Kohl and Deng Xiaopeng? Are there lessons to be learned against the backdrop of today's international crisis? Bernd Greiner (Berlin) discusses with Kristina Spohr (London) and David Reynolds (Cambridge), the editors of "Transcending the Cold War. Summits, Statecraft, and the Dissolution of Bipolarity in Europe, 1970-1990" (Oxford University Press 2016).
Wed, 11/16/2016, 6:00 pm
Forum Willy Brandt Berlin

Late Cold War Tandems: Solidarities and Anxieties of the 1980s

International Workshop at Sheffield University, with Bernd Greiner
The purpose of this workshop is to explore the possibilities of ‘tandem history’ (Kate Brown) as a transnational approach in new research on the final decade of the Cold War. The period was marked not only by the renewal of superpower tensions, but also by new concerns that poorly fit the Cold War framework and which have remained with us since the collapse of the binary order.
Fri, 11/4/2016, 12:00 am to Sat, 11/5/2016, 12:00 am
University of Sheffield

"Grenzen des Kalten Krieges | Compromising the Cold War". Lecture series at the Humboldt University Berlin

Winter semester 2016/2017
The lecture series' title "Grenzen des Kalten Krieges | Compromising the Cold War" refers not only to borders on the political map, but also to the limits of social perceptions of order and patterns of thinking. What could be said and done under the conditions of the Cold War? When, why and under what conditions were these perceived frontiers crossed, undermined or completely suspended? Who were the actors? What lines could be shifted, and how far? Which ones were porous, and which particularly stable, even irreversible remaining in effect past the Cold War's end? The focus is on questions directing awareness towards countercurrents, rigidities, passages and bottlenecks, all replete with their innate dynamics and unintended consequences.
Thu, 10/20/2016, 12:00 am to Thu, 2/9/2017, 12:00 am
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

The IAEA and the Global Cold War

Expert Meeting of the IAEA History Research Project
On 2 September 2016, the IAEA History Research Project will host an expert workshop on the history of the IAEA during the global Cold War, in cooperation with the Berlin Center for Cold War Studies. The meeting is part of the IAEA History Research Project’s larger research activities focusing on the history of the IAEA. The project aims to catalyze the opening of the IAEA archives and the integration of IAEA history within the global nuclear history narrative. The Berlin meeting will bring together experts from the worlds of practice and academia to shed new light on the history of the IAEA during the Cold War.
Fri, 9/2/2016, 12:00 am
Berliner Kolleg Kalter Krieg

Call for Papers: The Berlin Airlift. A Realm of Memory of the Cold War

International Conference in Berlin, March 13/14, 2017
Please submit a suggested topic and a précis for the conference "The Berlin Airlift. A Realm of Memory of the Cold War" by July 10, 2016. The conference will take place on March 13th/14th in 2017 in the Allied Museum in Berlin. It is presented by LaBex ENHE, CEGIL (Université de Lorraine), the Allied Museum and the Berlin Center for Cold War Studies.
Sun, 7/10/2016, 12:00 am

6th Brown Bag Breakfast: The Security Screening of Refugees in Cold War Germany

Keith R. Allen (Berlin/Universität Gießen)
The Berlin Center for Cold War Studies' monthly Brown Bag Breakfasts provide an opportunity for young scholars to present their PhD and postdoc projects and to discuss them with a small circle of peers and experts. The breakfasts offer room for constructive feedback, networking and academic inspiration.
Tue, 5/17/2016, 8:30 am
Berliner Kolleg Kalter Krieg

5th Brown Bag Breakfast: The Lessons of Aerial Warfare: Expertise in the Social Sciences in the US, 1944-1994

Sophia Dafinger (University of Augsburg)
The Berlin Center for Cold War Studies' monthly Brown Bag Breakfasts provide an opportunity for young scholars to present their PhD and postdoc projects and to discuss them with a small circe of peers and experts. The breakfasts offer room for constructive feedback, networking and academic inspiration.
Tue, 4/5/2016, 8:30 am
Berliner Kolleg Kalter Krieg

4th Brown Bag Breakfast: A Spectre is Haunting Arabia: How the Germans Brought Their Communism to Yemen

Miriam Müller (Hamburg Institute for Social Research)
The Berlin Center for Cold War Studies' monthly Brown Bag Breakfasts provide an opportunity for young scholars to present their PhD and postdoc projects and to discuss them with a small circe of peers and experts. The breakfasts offer room for constructive feedback, networking and academic inspiration.
Tue, 2/9/2016, 8:30 am
Berliner Kolleg Kalter Krieg

Cold War Road Trip. Destinations: Washington, DC – The American West – Outpost Berlin*

Keith R. Allen (Universität Gießen)
As the modern era's longest military face-off fades from personal recollection, a small fraction of the Cold War's vast physical legacy is gaining a new lease on life. High-priced tours of nuclear weapons facilities in the western United States and recently successful lobbying efforts by advocates of "atomic heritage" in Washington, D.C. are two among several signs that the buying and selling of the Cold War continues apace. What is the interpretative story telling implicit in the choice of sites, artifacts, and stories?
Thu, 2/4/2016, 6:00 pm
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

3rd Brown Bag Breakfast: Research on the Sino-Soviet Rivalry in the Third World

Austin Jersild (Berlin Center for Cold War Studies)
The Berlin Center for Cold War Studies' monthly Brown Bag Breakfasts provide an opportunity for young scholars to present their PhD and postdoc projects and to discuss them with a small circe of peers and experts. The breakfasts offer room for constructive feedback, networking and academic inspiration.
Tue, 1/12/2016, 8:30 am
Berliner Kolleg Kalter Krieg

The Martial Muses: Roberta and Albert Wohlstetter and the Cold World They Made Together*

Ron Robin (New York University)
Albert and Roberta Wohlstetter were the power couple of strategic studies during the Cold War period and its immediate aftermath. Both produced seminal texts that have entered the cannon of strategic studies, such as Roberta's "Surprise at Pearl Harbor" or Albert's "Delicate Balance of Terror". It was Roberta, rather than the flamboyant Albert, who provided the foundations for the Wohlstetter doctrine with her study of the Pearl Harbor intelligence failure.
Thu, 1/7/2016, 6:00 pm
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

2nd Brown Bag Breakfast: GDR and PLO. East Germany's Palestine Policy

Lutz Maeke (Institute for Contemporary History Munich – Berlin)
The Berlin Center for Cold War Studies' monthly Brown Bag Breakfasts provide an opportunity for young scholars to present their PhD and postdoc projects and to discuss them with a small circe of peers and experts. The breakfasts offer room for constructive feedback, networking and academic inspiration.
Tue, 12/8/2015, 8:30 am
Berliner Kolleg Kalter Krieg

The Vulnerable Titan: Fear, Threats, and the Making of American Foreign Policy during the Cold War*

Robert MacMahon (Ohio State University)
Elite-level and popular-based fears – triggered by an array of imminent, potential, or imagined dangers – played a crucial role in the making of U.S. foreign policy in the transition period between World War II and the early Cold War. Precisely how important have perceptions of external peril been to American decision makers?
Thu, 12/3/2015, 6:00 pm
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

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