In the Cold War’s Wake: The Bush and Clinton Presidencies, 1988-2000

In this series of four lectures, we will be examining one of the most fraught episodes in modern history: the end of the Cold War and the emergence of a post-Cold War era. Viewed largely from the US perspective, we will explore the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Persian Gulf War, the AIDS crisis, and the profound political and domestic transformations that occurred during the Clinton and first Bush administrations. Both men were critical figures in the development of a “new world order,” one that globalized economics and politics in ways both unexpected and broadly misunderstood, leaving the US the lone superpower but one whose people were increasingly dissatisfied.