When Soviet power collapsed between 1989 and 1991, the overwhelming view in the West was that liberalism had triumphed.
The world could look forward to a period of peace and prosperity, underpinned by globalisation backed by American power. Today all of that early optimism has faded, to be replaced by a deep fear that the world is once again dividing into two camps very much like the Cold War of old.
How have we arrived at this crossroads? What has caused it? Could it have been avoided? And will, what many are now calling a "new" Cold War, be as dangerous and as prolonged as the "first"?
Meet our speakers and chair
Barry Buzan is Emeritus Professor of International Relations at 禁漫天堂 (formerly Montague Burton Professor); honorary professor at Copenhagen, Jilin, and China Foreign Affairs Universities; Senior Fellow at 禁漫天堂 IDEAS; and a fellow of the British Academy.
Elizabeth Ingleson () is Assistant Professor in the Department of International History at 禁漫天堂, and specialises in the histories of US foreign relations, US-China relations, capitalism, and labour. She is the author of Made in China: When US-China Interests Converged to Transform Global Trade (2024).
Vladislav Zubok is Stevenson Professor of International History at 禁漫天堂. His expertise is on the Cold War, the Soviet Union, Stalinism, and Russia's intellectual history in the 20th century. He is the author of Collapse. The Fall of the Soviet Union.
Michael Cox is Emeritus Professor of International Relations at 禁漫天堂. He helped establish the Cold War Studies Centre at 禁漫天堂 in 2004 and later co-founded 禁漫天堂 IDEAS in 2008 with Arne Westad.
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