Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Institut für Geschichtswissenschaften

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | Institut für Geschichtswissenschaften | aktuelles_veranstaltungen_startseite | Ankündigungen | Ringvorlesungen | Ringvorlesung "Neue Forschungen zum Kalten Krieg" - WiSe 2015/2016 | Einzeltermine | Robert MacMahon (Columbus, Ohio): The Vulnerable Titan: Fear, Threats, and the Making of American Foreign Policy during the Cold War*

Robert MacMahon (Columbus, Ohio): The Vulnerable Titan: Fear, Threats, and the Making of American Foreign Policy during the Cold War*

  • Wann 03.12.2015 von 18:00 bis 20:00
  • Wo Hörsaal 1072 | Unter den Linden 6
  • iCal

Vortrag im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung "Neue Forschungen zum Kalten Krieg"

 

Chair: Andreas Wirsching (Institute of Contemporary History Munich-Berlin)

 

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? To what extent have American apprehensions about lurking dangers been genuinely felt? Have elites at certain times sought to spread fear about external threats simply to mobilize public, congressional, or bureaucratic support for a particular set of policies desired for other purposes?  What can be said about the interplay between state actors and the larger society they purport to serve? Reflecting on these questions helps explain a persistent puzzle. Why has the United States, a global superpower for over seven decades now, regularly been haunted by fears of its own vulnerability?

 

Robert J. McMahon is the Ralph D. Mershon Distinguished Professor at the Department of History and Mershon Center for International Security Studies, Ohio State University.

 

* Veranstaltung in englischer Sprache

 

Die Ringvorlesung „Neue Forschungen zum Kalten Krieg“ ist eine gemeinsame Veranstaltung der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin und des Berliner Kollegs Kalter Krieg. Weitere Informationen finden Sie hier

Ansprechpartnerin:
Prof. Dr. Gabriele Metzler
Friedrichstraße 191/193, Raum 5005
Tel. +49 (0)30 2093-70595
E-Mail: office.geschichte.westeuropas@hu-berlin.de