COLD WAR.Aterm coined by American journalist H. B. Swope and
made popular by Walter Lippman, the Cold War refers to the state of
neither war nor peace between the Western and Eastern blocs after
World War II. The two bloc leaders, the United States and the So-
viet Union, spent most of the Cold War in adversarial diplomacy, in-
terspersed by periods of détente, although they did come close to
armed confrontation on several occasions, including during the
Cuban Missile Crisisin 1962, the Arab-Israeli conflict in 1973, and
the Soviet war scarein the early 1980s.
Several themes dominated the Cold War between the East and the
West. One, the contest over Germany gave rise to two Berlin crises,
one in the 1948–1949 period and the other during 1958–1962. It also
led to the establishment of rival military alliances, first the North At-
lantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on 4 April 1949 and then the
Warsaw Pacton 1 May 1955. Two, the American policy determina-
tion to limit Soviet expansion through a policy of “containment” and
Soviet efforts to frustrate the policy defined the conduct of much of
the Cold War. Three, the ideological conflict was played out through
surrogates in Korea in the early 1950s, in Hungary and Czechoslova-
kia in the mid 1950s, in Cubabeginning in 1960, in Vietnam in the
1960s and 1970s, and in Afghanistan, Central America, and Africa
in the 1980s. Four, there was the occasional drive for accommodation
that included the development of a whole body of international law
based on arms controltreaties to reduce tensions, establish a record
of confidence-building measures, and set the stage for collaborative
efforts in such areas as space exploration, antiterrorism, environmen-
tal protection, and international rule making. Five, the Cold War was
fought largely in the shadows, in a silent and secret intelligence war
to ferret out secrets and gain advantage over each other in a game of
one-upmanship over nuclear capabilities and political influence. See
alsoKENNAN, GEORGE; NATIONALSECURITYCOUNCIL68.COMMISSION ON CIA ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE UNITED
STATES.SeeROCKEFELLER COMMISSION.COMMISSION ON THE INTELLIGENCE CAPABILITIES OF
THE UNITED STATES REGARDING WEAPONS OF MASS
DESTRUCTION.Established by Executive Order 13328 on 6 Febru-COMMISSION ON THE INTELLIGENCE CAPABILITIES OF THE UNITED STATES•3305-398 (2) Dictionary.qxd 10/20/05 6:27 AM Page 33