Examiners’ commentaries 2014

Examiners’ commentaries 2014

IR1034 World history since 1945

Important note
This commentary reflects the examination and assessment arrangements
for this course in the academic year 2013–14. The format and structure
of the examination may change in future years, and any such changes
will be publicised on the virtual learning environment (VLE).

Information about the subject guide and the Essential reading

references
Unless otherwise stated, all cross-references will be to the latest version
of the subject guide (2011).

General remarks
History needs to be seen as a key subject in promoting an understanding
of the world and, most importantly, in encouraging the development of an
ability to think. This is important in life after university and in most jobs,
few of which will ever require specific detailed knowledge of any academic
non-vocational subject. You should look on this course less as a means of
amassing information and more as a means of learning to think about the
world more effectively.

Learning outcomes
At the end of this course and having completed the Essential reading and
activities you should be able to:
• analyse the nature and significance of the Cold War international
system
• explain why the Cold War originated and how and why it ended
• describe how Cold War international crises were perceived and
responded to, particularly by the USA, in various parts of the world
• relate local and regional aspects of particular conflicts to the broader
international aspects of the Cold War which influenced them
• analyse what influenced states and their rulers as they sought to
expand their power and influence and deal with threats to their
interests
• become aware of the elements of the Cold War international system
that were connected to the post-Cold War era.

Reading
The key to any university subject is reading, particularly for International
Programmes students now that more material is available online.
Developing an ability to read effectively is crucial in the learning process,
and the provision of the subject guide is only a small part of this learning,
as is an ability to take notes from reading effectively.

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IR1034 World history since 1945

It is vital that you engage as much as possible with the learning

experience and accustom yourself to asking the sort of questions outlined
in the subject guide when reading. These skills are more difficult to
acquire without regular input and the expression of different ideas and
interpretations, but certain guidelines are important here.
• Do not expect knowledge to enter your mind automatically if you take
a look at a book recommended as Essential or Further reading. If you
are reading without thinking and without asking yourself questions you
will gain much less.
• Do not worry about what you might miss. Nobody knows everything.
The issue is whether you will be able to think about important issues
and make the most of the information you have, however small it
might seem at the start of your studies.
• You must ask yourself what it is you want to get from a book (namely,
what it is that you need to understand or find out about). The quality
of your input and the questions of a thoughtful and inquisitive intellect
are crucial to maximising the benefit of what you get out of this course.
• Some general questions (for example, the causes and consequences of
particular events) are important and common sense should make some
of them obvious.
• In your reading you must always think in historical terms about
the implications of facts and information. You should never simply
memorise the facts and information themselves.
• You should be aware that different questions may require different
parts of different books and that there are no short texts which can
provide you with just the important information.
• Part of the learning process is learning how to approach and develop
the learning experience, which means more than reading what you are
told.
• The broader the coverage in terms of chronology and geographical
area, the less information and analysis will be provided in terms of
particular topics and countries. Hence in a course as broad as this it is
important to try and read more detailed works if you want to obtain
more specific knowledge.
• Single chapters of books never provide definitive answers nor what can
be sensibly regarded as the Essential reading in such a vast subject.
• Reading and learning should be regarded as lifelong processes, which
never end at any particular level or sum of knowledge.
• In a vast subject like world history it is never a question of being able
to reduce material to small and manageable packages which must be
absorbed in order to conclude the learning process. You are engaged in
a process, the outcomes of which only provide a foothold on the ladder
of learning how to deal with information and evaluate its implications.
And the process is never-ending as everyone, however knowledgeable
at whatever level, has more to learn.
In the last four years, the Examiners have seen an increase in the
awareness of those taking the examination of the need in this course to
read more extensively and think about what is read. Thus, in particular,
there is a realisation that learning at this level requires not simply
understanding of what has been read but the ability to think about
the implications of what has been read and how it connects to other
interpretations and explanations.

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Key points

Argument
Answers to historical questions require a clear and concise argument. Hence
it is important and easiest to decide initially what your argument should be.
That means, for example, in questions which ask ‘why’, determining which
reasons primarily, but not exclusively, were the more important. Having a
clear view of what you should be arguing can be very important in ensuring
that you answer the question coherently and effectively.

Interpretation
History is all about interpreting the evidence to provide a particular
explanation. No interpretation is correct or incorrect and academics have
strong disagreements about the interpretation of events. You are tested not
on what you know but on how you can use what you know in providing
a coherent argument with the effective use of evidence in answering the
particular question.

Judgement
As in the real world, your own judgements will often be crucial. The
emphasis on your judgements and your input forms one key difference
between school and university. At school, everything is packaged so that
you can ‘learn’ a finite amount of material and a fixed interpretation.
At university you get guidance to assist you in thinking so that you can
make judgements on what is important and how it should be interpreted.
This is a process of thinking that has to be carried out in many jobs and
successful careers where your input and ability is important. A lifelong
learning process which is infinite cannot be simply packaged into specific
things which ‘have to be done’. You will become better acquainted with the
learning process, especially with learning to ‘think’ by studying a course
like this.
Yet, as with all such study, reading and thinking about the consequences of
what you read and the significance of the author’s interpretation for other
interpretations and your own understanding is always crucial.

Points to avoid
When you set out to learn a topic (for example, the ‘breakdown of the
Grand Alliance 1944–46’) you need to be aware that the question will
require you to exclude points about the Cold War that are not relevant
to that particular question and the approach it requires in the time
period on which it is focused. Avoid simply describing what happened or
writing ‘all you know’ about that topic without focusing on the particular
question. Examiners will usually penalise candidates who have memorised
information about a particular topic but are unable to differentiate
between what is needed in one particular question from the information
that is not needed because it is not relevant to that question.
You will therefore need to ensure that your answer does not include events
outside the particular time period mentioned in the question.

How to approach reading

As learning through reading is never ending, different approaches to
books form the different stages of the educational process. Some books,
as at school, simply provide limited information and analysis of small,
self-contained topics. At university you encounter others; for example,

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Osgood, K.A. Total Cold War: Eisenhower’s secret propaganda battle at

home and abroad. (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2008)
[ISBN 9780700615902], which are useful because they provide a lot of
analysis and information that is not limited to a single important aspect
or compartmentalised in particular self-contained chapters. All such
chapters might contain information relevant to a number of issues which
have not been separated into particular packages of knowledge. In other
words, they may contain material of less relevance to a specific question
on a particular theme or topic, however closely associated with another
specific question on that topic they might be. Such chapters could also
provide analysis useful for understanding aspects of a closely associated
topic. The reader therefore has to prioritise and sort out the most relevant
information and analysis within several chapters which is important for
a particular topic or specific question. Acquiring the skills to do that and
to read different material in different ways used to be a key part of a
university learning experience and often remains an important attribute
to have when entering the world of work. In part this skill will flow from
the ability to ask questions and consider the implications of what is read in
books by, for example, connecting it to interpretations in other works. It is
thus a more advanced form of study from simply being able to understand
what is selected for you to read. Note that when whole books are referred
to here they generally provide opportunities to develop these more
advanced skills.

Question spotting
Many candidates are disappointed to find that their examination
performance is poorer than they expected. This can be due to a number
of different reasons and the Examiners’ commentaries suggest ways
of addressing common problems and improving your performance.
We want to draw your attention to one particular failing – ‘question
spotting’, that is, confining your examination preparation to a few
question topics which have come up in past papers for the course. This
can have very serious consequences.
We recognise that candidates may not cover all topics in the syllabus in
the same depth, but you need to be aware that Examiners are free to
set questions on any aspect of the syllabus. This means that you need
to study enough of the syllabus to enable you to answer the required
number of examination questions.
The syllabus can be found in the Course information sheet in the
section of the VLE dedicated to this course. You should read the
syllabus very carefully and ensure that you cover sufficient material in
preparation for the examination.
Examiners will vary the topics and questions from year to year and
may well set questions that have not appeared in past papers – every
topic on the syllabus is a legitimate examination target. So although
past papers can be helpful in revision, you cannot assume that topics
or specific questions that have come up in past examinations will occur
again.
If you rely on a question spotting strategy, it is likely
you will find yourself in difficulties when you sit the
examination paper. We strongly advise you not to adopt
this strategy.

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 Examiners’ commentaries 2014

Examiners’ commentaries 2014

IR1034 World history since 1945 – Zone A

Important note
This commentary reflects the examination and assessment arrangements
for this course in the academic year 2013–14. The format and structure
of the examination may change in future years, and any such changes
will be publicised on the virtual learning environment (VLE).

Information about the subject guide and the Essential reading

references
Unless otherwise stated, all cross-references will be to the latest version
of the subject guide (2011).

Comments on specific questions

Candidates should answer FOUR of the following EIGHTEEN questions. All
questions carry equal marks.

Question 1
Did the disagreements at Potsdam and the London Council of Foreign Ministers
constitute the main reasons for the growing tensions in the Grand Alliance in
1946?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
13–20 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young, J.W. and J. Kent International relations since 1945: A global history. (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2013) second edition [ISBN 9780199693061]
Chapters 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D.
Approaching the question
Good answers to this question require a good knowledge of Potsdam,
(protocols of which are available online), and an awareness of the main
issues at the London Council. Some judgement must be made as to the
main points of disagreement and an analysis provided of the connections
that these disagreements had to those arising in 1946. This must be
compared to the disagreements over – and different approaches to – the
new post-war international order which had arisen at Yalta and prior to
it, especially in 1944. An assessment must thus be made of the essential
causes of the growing tensions in 1945 and 1946. More specifically,
were these tensions, primarily related to differing general principles on
which Moscow, Washington and London disagreed? And if so, in what
period? Knowing that the Big Three allies initially sought to base a stable
and peaceful new world order on an agreed set of principles, and that
disagreements arose when it became difficult to reconcile them with
specific vital interests in particular regions of the new world order will be
useful.

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IR1034 World history since 1945

Question 2
‘The Marshall Plan was the real cause of the Cold War whereas the Truman
Doctrine was merely designed to have an impact on US domestic policies’.
Discuss.
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
21–25 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 1E, 2A, 2B, and 2D.
Approaching the question
The best answers to this question will be constructed from a clear idea
of what the most important causes of the Cold War were. Without that
awareness at the start of the answer it will be more difficult for candidates
to construct an answer by selecting material and providing a meaningful
interpretation of it. Whatever cause is chosen as being the most important
from a range of possible ones, the answer must give some attention to
the relationship of the Truman Doctrine to the Marshall Plan. A decision
must be made as to whether the Truman Doctrine was geared primarily
to winning Congress over to providing finance for assisting European
recovery, thereby ensuring that capitalism’s problems would not lead to
communism becoming more attractive. Or it was designed primarily to
give confidence to the USA’s European allies. Or alternatively, whether the
Marshall Plan was seen as essential for the successful development of the
US economy whatever the importance of resisting Soviet communism.

Question 3
Did NSC 68 mark the transformation of the Cold War into a military
confrontation?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages 26
and 30–31 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing
you with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning
process to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the
following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 4A, 4D and 5B.
Approaching the question
Good answers to this question will come from a knowledge of NSC
68, (copies of which are online) and an ability to analyse the reasons
behind it and its aims and outcomes. Again a prerequisite is an ability
to understand and use, in the development of an argument, what the
Americans perceived as the nature of the Cold War, which in orthodox
and post-revisionist accounts of the Cold War is often misrepresented. You
will also need a knowledge of the arguments that developed about what
policy towards the Soviet Union should consist of. Central to this is how
preparations for hot war, essentially were linked to, but separate from, the
Cold War. Thus the best answers will provide an analytical explanation of
how these different types of ‘wars’ were linked to, and reflected in, NSC 68
with its often ambiguous statements.

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Question 4
To what extent was the policy of ‘containment’ merely a justification of US policy
towards the Soviet Union under the Truman administration?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
21–25 and 29–31 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as
providing you with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective
learning process to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in
the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 1E, 2B, 2D and 4A.
Corke, S. ‘Bridging the gap: containment, covert action and the search for the
missing link in American Cold War policy, 1948–1953’, Journal of Strategic
Studies 20(4) 1997.
Corke, S. ‘History, historians and the naming of foreign policy: a postmodern
reflection on American strategic thinking during the Truman administration’,
Intelligence and National Security 16(3) 2001.
Approaching the question
To answer this question well it will be necessary to develop an
awareness of the policy arguments formulated within Washington about
‘containment’, and what policies actually emerged at the time from the
bureaucratic turf wars and the battle for control over how such policy was
implemented in particular areas. It should be considered whether there
was a well-defined defensive policy actually implemented; or whether
there was simply a desire to portray a defensive policy of containment,
which was never implemented, as the most suitable justification for
US Cold War policy to the Soviets. Thus a detailed knowledge of the
US government and its competing bureaucratic elements, concerned
particularly with covert operations, will be necessary. The best answers
will analyse the competition between the CIA and the State Department to
assess whether a policy of ‘containment’ was actually implemented or used
as a justification for US policy towards the Soviets.

Question 5
To what extent were propaganda and covert operations the key elements of
1950s US Cold War policy under Eisenhower?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
36–37 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013) Chapter 7A.
Osgood, K.A. Total Cold War: Eisenhower’s secret propaganda battle at home
and abroad. (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2008) [ISBN
9780700615902].
Approaching the question
To provide a good answer to this question it will be necessary to be able
to understand and analyse US Cold War policy under Eisenhower and the
importance of propaganda and covert operations for the president and
his advisers in the 1950s. It may be useful to divide the analysis into two
different chronological periods to explain exactly when one, or both, of
the elements were particularly important and why. An understanding of
Project Solarium and an ability to explain its significance and implications

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IR1034 World history since 1945

will be important in the early period, as will the role of C.D. Jackson and his
committee.

Question 6
‘The Sino-Soviet split did not begin until 1958.’ Discuss.
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages 47–50
in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you with any
learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process to begin by
reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Luthi, L.M. The Sino–Soviet split: Cold War in the communist world. (Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 2008) [ISBN 9780691135908], especially Chapters 2
and 3.
Zubok, V. and C. Pleshakov Inside the Kremlin’s Cold War: from Stalin to Khrushchev.
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996) [ISBN 9780674455313],
Chapter 7.
Approaching the question
In order to answer this question well it will be necessary to have a clear idea
of the overall causes of the split and when it began in earnest. Once this is
determined good answers will start by introducing, at the beginning of the
essay, an explanation of why a particular time can be justified as the start of
the split. In particular, why the split began, or did not begin, in 1958 – for
example with the second Offshore Islands crisis; or whether it began earlier;
for example, with Khrushchev’s speech denouncing Stalin at the twentieth
party Congress in February 1956; or whether it began later than 1958; for
example, in 1962 with the Sino-Indian war; or, for example, with the fall
of Khrushchev in 1964. Good answers will then explain why a specific date
was particularly important and more so than other dates in terms of general
causes such as ideological differences, regional rivalries, personalities,
leadership or Cold War tactics in the confrontation with the US.

Question 7
In what ways did the world become less at risk from nuclear war between 1961
and 1969?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages 44–45
in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you with any
learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process to begin by
reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 5C (for background), 12B and 14E.
Kaplan, F. The wizards of Armageddon. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1983) [ISBN
9780671424442], Chapters 21–26.
Approaching the question
Good answers to this straightforward question will focus on the ways in
which talks and treaties on arms limitations and preventing nuclear tests in
the atmosphere may have made armed conflict less likely. Thus a detailed
knowledge of the Test Ban treaty and the beginning of the SALT (Strategic
Arms Limitation) talks will be required especially in terms of why and
with what consequences these negotiations occurred. The best and more
sophisticated answers will then go on to explain why Cold War hostilities
might have still made hot war involving nuclear weapons likely, despite
such efforts. Using the Cuban Missile as a turning point after which hot
war was less of a risk, despite the continuing ideological rivalries, would
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offer a valuable alternative analysis. Explaining why the disarmament

talks and the Cuban Missile Crisis had reduced the risk of armed conflict
while increasing Cold War tensions would enable candidates to show a
sophisticated understanding of the relationship of nuclear weapons to the
Cold War.

Question 8
Who gained and who lost most from the Korean War?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
59–63 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 2C and 4E.
Stueck, W. Rethinking the Korean War. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004)
[ISBN 9780691118475].
Approaching the question
To answer this question well requires a clear assessment of what might
constitute victory in that particular war. In other words, are gains and
losses to be measured in hard power realist terms by which economic
benefits and military strength are important; or in soft power terms
where regional and international influence are increased in the Cold War
international system; or is it a combination of both with perhaps one
element, for example, prestige and status being particularly significant?
Such an analysis will be linked, in the best answers, to the aims of each
of the combatants and how successfully they were achieved. In the Soviet
case, specific goals would be linked to the gain of warm water ports to
compensate for the loss of the Chinese port of Dairen, and to preserving
their leadership role within the international communist movement; for
the Chinese to increasing their importance in regional and international
terms by resisting US imperialism; and for the Americans to preserving
their credibility as resistors to communist attempts to use force to increase
their influence internationally; and to maintain their importance within
the western alliance.

Question 9
Was the US more responsible for the failure of détente than the Soviet Union?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
55–58 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters of Part IV.
Zubok, V. ‘The Soviet Union and détente of the 1970s’, Cold War History 8(4) 2008.
Approaching the question
The best answers to this question will be able to analyse the reasons for
the collapse of détente by looking at what the USA and the Soviet Union
each sought to achieve from the policy. The extent to which these aims
could not be realised and thus contributed significantly to détente’s failure
will need to be analysed. This will be especially important in both general
and specific terms. Thus the Soviet desire for recognition of equality with
the US and enabling it to pursue its support for revolutionary movements

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in the less developed world without risking hot war should be emphasised.
While for the Americans managing a more multipolar world in ways
which would preserve US dominance will be significant. The more specific
goals, for example, for the Soviets the gaining of trade deals and access
to technology and for the Americans to get out of Vietnam and keep the
Soviets out of any involvement in the Middle East peace process, will have
to be integrated into the analysis provided by the best answers.

Question 10
Why did the Soviets intervene to restore control in East Germany in 1953 but did
not subsequently intervene in Berlin?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
74–79 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 6A and 7B.
Approaching the question
In order to answer this question effectively, knowledge of the 1953
East German revolt and its suppression will be required, along with
an understanding of Berlin’s role and significance in the Cold War of
the 1950s. The best answers will be able to structure their analysis
by incorporating into it why East Germany and the position of Berlin
within it were both particularly important for the Soviets. The different
circumstances facing the Soviets in 1953 and 1961, and why Berlin
was also vital for the West in the Cold War will also need explaining.
At the same time the best answers will also display an awareness of the
military realities which limited the options for the West in preventing a
conventional Soviet attack on the city without using nuclear weapons. An
awareness of the implications of this will be important in explaining the
actions of the Soviets and the limited importance of greater US nuclear
firepower in the Cold War.

Question 11
In what ways and with what success did the US react to the Cuban Revolution
between 1959 and 1963?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
85–90 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapter 6C.
Rabe, S.G. ‘Controlling revolutions: Latin America, the Alliance for Progress and
Cold War anti-communism’ in Paterson, T.G. (ed.) Kennedy’s quest for victory:
American foreign policy 1961–1963. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992)
[ISBN 9780195045840].
Approaching the question
The best answers will be able to assess within the essay’s structure the
reactions of the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations to Fidel Castro
coming to power with the removal of Batista. The best answers will have a
good knowledge of the developments of the revolution and the support for
it within Cuba, as well as the more important changes to the approaches
of the two administrations to this development. Knowledge of the precise
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chronology of when Castro moved the revolution to a Marxist one and

received support from the Soviet Union will be particularly important.
Without such knowledge it will not be possible to explain successfully
whether these changes were the prime causes of the American reaction
or not. As in most questions, an analysis of why such policies were
implemented will also be significant, but particularly so in this question,
before assessing just how unsuccessful the US policies were and the
reasons for their failures.

Question 12
Why did the independence of the Congo produce international concern between
1960 and 1963?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages 109–
116 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapter 8B.
Kent, J. America, the UN and decolonization: Cold War conflict in the Congo.
(Abingdon: Routledge, 2010) [ISBN 9780415464147]. Chapters 1–7.
Approaching the question
The best answers will display a good knowledge of all the issues and
problems that emerged with the independence of the Congo. An
understanding of the role of the UN, the aims of the United States and the
Soviet Union, and the policies of those European powers (Belgium and
Britain) with important economic assets in Katanga will be necessary. It
will be important to be aware of how the role of Africans in and outside
the Congo became so involved in the process of decolonisation and the
latter’s relationship to the Cold War. The vision of the role of the United
Nations and its Secretary General, Dag Hammarskjöld in using the Congo
to attempt to forge important ties with the newly emerging nations in
tropical Africa should be one important aspect of the analysis. The other
will be the concerns of those countries in Africa that had just gained
independence, or were about to do so in 1960. These international
concerns have to be set against the background of the significance of
colonialism and Cold War in the Africa of the early 1960s.

Question 13
In what ways was the Middle East changed by the Suez Crisis of 1956 and its
outcomes in 1957?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
91–95 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapter 8C.
Approaching the question
Good answers to this question will not require detailed knowledge of the
Suez Crisis although some awareness of the general causes of the crisis
will be valuable. The best answers will be able to provide an analysis
that encompasses the significant impact of the Crisis on the international
Cold War and on the United States and Soviet positions within the Middle

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East. The next level of the analysis should be looking at the regional
consequences for the Arabs and the Israelis within the region. The final
level of analysis should focus on country-specific positions, given the effect
of Suez on particular Middle Eastern states. Egypt’s position and that of
the other Arab states within the region will need analysing especially with
regard to the implications of Suez as well as its immediate consequences
for them in a changed Middle East.

Question 14
Did the 1973 Yom Kippur War increase or reduce the importance to the Cold War
of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages 100–
107 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapter 8B.
Shlaim, A. The iron wall: Israel and the Arab world. (London: Allen Lane, 2001)
[ISBN 9780140288704] Chapters 8–12.
Approaching the question
To answer this question effectively some awareness of what constituted
the Cold War will provide the best basis for an analysis of the effect of the
Yom Kippur War. An assessment of the importance of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict in the Cold War will depend on that. What the aims of the USA
and the Soviet Union in the Middle East were, as well as the relationship
of the Israel-Palestinian conflict to the Cold War will be important. In
particular, you will need to analyse the aims of Sadat and his expectations
that the USA would look more urgently on attempts to end the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict and explain the connection to Sadat’s visit to the
Knesset and the subsequent US determination to move towards Camp
David and the obtaining of an Egyptian-Israeli peace settlement.

Question 15
To what extent was the Vietnam War a hot war or Cold War problem for the US
and the USSR?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
65–71 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 8A, 10A, 10B, 10C and 10D.
Approaching the question
Again a clear judgement about what might be deemed the essence, or most
important aspects, of the Cold War will be essential to have in mind for the
construction of an argument. It will be particularly necessary to be clear
about the difference between Cold War and hot war. The best answers
will start with the policies and perceptions of the Soviet Union in having
to compete with the Chinese for influence in Hanoi and the provision of
military aid to the insurgents and North Vietnam. A judgement will have to
be made as to whether Moscow saw the war primarily as an international
armed conflict or as an ideological struggle with only Cold War
significance. Similarly, with Washington the question will be, particularly
after 1964, whether they were involved in a hot or Cold War. A judgement
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 Examiners’ commentaries 2014

will need to be made as to whether the Vietnam War required a military

victory for the American led anti-communist forces, or whether it was
perceived as an ideological and political struggle (Cold War). In both the
Soviet and American cases the reasons for the respective perceptions and
policies will need explaining by emphasising how these perceptions were
translated into the policies that were then implemented.

Question 16

How far did Gorbachev’s political and economic reforms within the Soviet Union
contribute to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages 119–
129 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapter 19A.
Kramer, M. ‘The collapse of East European communism and the repercussions
within the Soviet Union (Part I)’, Journal of Cold War Studies 5(1) 2003, ‘(Part
II)’, Journal of Cold War Studies 6(4) 2004 and ‘(Part III)’, Journal of Cold War
Studies 7(1) 2005.
Approaching the question
The best answers to this question will be aware of the nature and timing
within the Soviet Union of Gorbachev’s ‘new thinking’ and the impact of
perestroika and glasnost for the communist movement in general and for
the impact on Eastern Europe in particular. It will be important to have
knowledge of the development of non-communist reformist movements
in Poland and at least one other Eastern European country, and the extent
to which they were caused or facilitated by the changes that Gorbachev
had set in motion within the Soviet Union. To provide the best analysis it
will be important to be aware of the economic and political consequences
of Gorbachev’s initial reforms and why they had such an impact on Soviet
and Eastern European societies.

Question 17
‘The 2003 attack on Iraq was the wrong war fought for the wrong reasons’.
Discuss.
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
135–140 and 149–156 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded
as providing you with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective
learning process to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in
the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 23B, 23C, 23D, 24A and 24B.
Approaching the question
Good answers to this question will begin by selecting the various
possible reasons for the attack on Iraq. Then you will need to analyse
the possibilities of economic gains for the US administration, and
the prospects of reducing the risk from Al Qaeda and international
terrorism, of ending the threat of weapons of mass destruction which,
allegedly, Saddam Hussein represented, and of gaining economic benefits
for particular western corporate interests. The misperceiving by the
Pentagon’s neo-cons has to be compared, criticised or justified. Then the

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ways in which the war was fought by the rapid advance of small forces
after air attacks by precision-guided missiles and advanced aircraft must
be analysed in terms of the military advantages and social and political
disadvantages arising from the lack of preparations. This lack of planning
for the consequences of a militarily defeated Iraq and the consequences of
inadequate preparations for the peace needs to be assessed.

Question 18
Is China’s recent policy of seeking a greater regional role in East Asia a threat to
regional stablility?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages 143–
148 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 25B and 25C.
Wang, J. ‘China’s search for stability with America’, Foreign Affairs 84(5) 2005.
Approaching the question
Good answers to this question will inevitably involve speculative
judgements on the enormous changes taking place within China and its
role in East Asia. The best answers will be able to provide some logical
and coherent judgements about the impact of China’s rapidly increasing
economic power and its military ability and the way this is perceived
within East Asia. The key questions arising from the increased economic
connections between China and the West and its use of military power in
the territorial disputes in East Asia will need to be made and judged in
terms of greater self-interest in friendliness or competitive rivalry with the
leading international and regional power. Something that might be used
to measure China’s ultimate goals as its rise develops might be not just the
reactions of the most significant power and its international allies outside
the region but the reactions of governments in Tokyo and Taipei and other
less important regional capitals.

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 Examiners’ commentaries 2014

Examiners’ commentaries 2014

IR1034 World history since 1945 – Zone B

Important note
This commentary reflects the examination and assessment arrangements
for this course in the academic year 2013–14. The format and structure
of the examination may change in future years, and any such changes
will be publicised on the virtual learning environment (VLE).

Information about the subject guide and the Essential reading

references
Unless otherwise stated, all cross-references will be to the latest version
of the subject guide (2011).

Comments on specific questions

Candidates should answer FOUR of the following EIGHTEEN questions. All
questions carry equal marks.

Question 1
How important as causes of tension were Allied disagreements over the post-
war settlement outside Europe between 1944 and 1945?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
13–20 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young, J.W. and J. Kent International relations since 1945: A global history. (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2013) second edition [ISBN 9780199693061],
Chapters 1A, 1B,1C and 1D.
Approaching the question
Good answers to this question will have detailed comparative knowledge
of the wartime and post-war conferences of 1944 and 1945 involving
two or more of the Big Three leaders as well as the two Councils of
Foreign Ministers in late 1945. An analytical structure will need to be
provided to show whether the disagreements over the Middle East and
the Italian colonies and the initial disagreement over the occupation of
Japan were more important than the European agreements at Yalta – in
particular those over Germany. This analysis should then show how and
why the disagreements about areas outside Europe grew, or how they
were less important than the flaws in the agreements on European issues
that followed the failures to carry out agreements made at the meetings
between the Big Three leaders and their foreign ministers in 1945.

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IR1034 World history since 1945

Question 2
Was the Marshall Plan designed to assist US exporters or to secure Western
Europe against communism?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
21–25 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 2A, 2B, and 2D.
Approaching the question
In order to answer this question well, it will be necessary to be aware
of the economic transformations brought by the Second World War
and to have an idea of how the essential nature of the Cold War should
be interpreted; for example, was the Cold War essentially about hard
power and military rivalries or was it more about soft power and the
ideologies of capitalism and communism and their economic and political
requirements? Good answers will analyse the aims of the Marshall Plan on
a comparative basis rather than simply describe the important contribution
to the defeat of communism that successful economic links between
Europe and the USA were perceived to provide. That will mean explaining
why European recovery was deemed to be so important in defeating
communism, and then comparing it to why US exporters required a
Europe able to purchase American goods with dollars and the post-war
problems they were having in doing so.

Question 3
What were US plans for the ‘containment’ of the Soviet Union primarily designed
to contain?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
29–30 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 1E, 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D.
Corke, S. ‘Bridging the gap: containment, covert action and the search for the
missing link in American Cold War policy, 1948–1953’, Journal of Strategic
Studies 20(4) 1997.
Corke, S. ‘History, historians and the naming of foreign policy: a postmodern
reflection on American strategic thinking during the Truman administration’,
Intelligence and National Security 16(3) 2001.
Approaching the question
In order to answer this question effectively, good knowledge will be
required of the way the US National Security Council defined what policy
towards the Soviet Union should be during the Truman administration,
and the arguments that then developed within the government. An
understanding of these differing views, and particularly of what they
meant for the implementation of containment, will be important. It will
then be necessary to define what the differing views had in common – or
not – as this will be necessary for an accurate understanding of what it
was that was important to contain (as opposed to what was desirable to
portray as the threat that needed to be contained in order to win domestic
support for Cold War policy in the 1940s). For example, was it Soviet
power and ambition or the spread of communist ideology?
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 Examiners’ commentaries 2014

Question 4
‘The Cold War was a propaganda battle to secure one way of life from being
subverted by a rival socio-economic system.’ Discuss.
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
37–39 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapter 7A.
Osgood, K.A. Total Cold War: Eisenhower’s secret propaganda battle at home
and abroad. (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2008) [ISBN
9780700615902].
Approaching the question
The best and easiest way to answer this question is to emphasise why
propaganda was such an important component of the Cold War on both
sides of the Iron Curtain, but particularly in the USA. Again this will need
to be linked to the candidate’s own interpretation of the essential nature
of the Cold War. It will be necessary to describe how this propaganda
operated through radio, newspapers, film and television in both the USA,
Western Europe and the Soviet satellite states using white, grey and black
propaganda. And to understand the state-private network operating in
the USA. It will then be important to show how the lifestyles in the West,
centering on material goods and consumption, exploited the advantages
the capitalist West had over Soviet communism in being able to provide
much greater benefits through the numbers, range and quality of
consumer goods.

Question 5
Did the hydrogen bomb have more impact on strategy for fighting a hot war
than on the Cold War conflict?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
41–43 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 5B and 5C.
Approaching the question
The prerequisite of any good answer will be an awareness of the difference
between Cold and hot War and an ability to explain this effectively. You
will need knowledge of atomic weapons and the difference brought by
the advent of thermonuclear weapons using fusion power when replacing
atomic bombs that used the fission process. An analysis will then need
to be produced of the impact of the hydrogen bomb on military strategy
involving how the bomb could be used in hot war. Then the different
Cold War strategy and the hydrogen bomb’s effect on it and the symbolic
importance of thermonuclear weapons must be assessed. The key element
in both assessments will be the significance of the enormous increase in
destructive power presented by thermonuclear weapons.

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IR1034 World history since 1945

Question 6
Was the Sino-Soviet split fundamentally an ideological conflict?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
47–51 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Luthi, L.M. The Sino–Soviet split: Cold War in the communist world. (Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 2008) [ISBN 9780691135908], especially Chapters
2–7.
Zubok, V. and C. Pleshakov Inside the Kremlin’s Cold War: from Stalin to Khrushchev.
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996) [ISBN 9780674455313],
Chapter 7.
Approaching the question
The best answers to this question will analyse the nature and causes of
the Sino-Soviet split and focus on analysing all the contributory causes in
ways which can make it clear what the prime reason or reasons for the
split were. Special attention will need to be paid to the role of ideology
given that ideology is mentioned in the question. This does not mean that
ideology has to be the fundamental cause. Other factors which might be
deemed more important in the analysis are the personal rivalry between
Mao and Khrushchev, Sino-Soviet arguments over military and nuclear
cooperation, power political rivalries in East Asia and different approaches
to the struggle against the imperialist USA.

Question 7
‘Détente increased Cold War tensions whilst reducing the risk of hot war.’
Discuss.
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
53–58 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters of Part IV.
Zubok, V. ‘The Soviet Union and détente of the 1970s’, Cold War History
8(4) 2008.
Approaching the question
To answer this question well it will be necessary once again to have an
ability to understand the general issues arising from the nature of Soviet-
American Cold War rivalry and how they were affected by changes to
the international system in the 1960s and 1970s. That again means
having the ability to be able to define the nature of the Cold War and its
distinction from hot war and Soviet-American relations while also being
able to analyse the connections between them. Thus one possible answer
is to base that analysis on an explanation of how events such as SALT
I may have reduced the risk of hot war, while the Soviet and American
determination to manage the changing international system in ways which
would maximise its Cold War benefits produced more complex tensions
from the same rivalries in a more multipolar world.

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 Examiners’ commentaries 2014

Question 8
To what extent did the Korean War enhance Chinese influence in Asia?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
59–63 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 2C and 4E.
Goncharov, S., J.W. Lewis and X. Litai Uncertain partners: Stalin, Mao and
the Korean War. (Stanford CA: Stanford University Press, 1995) [ISBN
9780804725217].
Approaching the question
The best answers to this question will require a good knowledge of why
China entered the Korean War and what it was seeking to achieve from
it. Special attention should be given to Chinese influence in East Asia
and how this was connected to the success of the communist revolution
in unifying the country apart from the island of Formosa. Internationally,
the increased benefits provided to China’s status and prestige from being
able to repulse the American dominated invasion of North Korea should
be covered and compared to the damage done to the Soviet Union. The
mix of gains and losses suffered by the USA as it provided support for the
South, but failed to unify the peninsular, must be explained by examining
the consequences for the three protagonists in the Cold War once the
fighting had stopped.

Question 9
To what extent was the 1954 coup in Guatemala instigated by the US for the
economic benefit of US companies?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
81–84 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapter 6C.
Approaching the question
To answer this question successfully requires an analytical comparison of
the main motivations for the decision of the Eisenhower administration
to overthrow the regime of Jacob Arbenz. In essence, the general Cold
War reasons for preventing the spread of communism must be examined
in the context of the perceived US need to ensure that left wing regimes
did not stay in power especially in the Western hemisphere. The nature
of the US concern about regimes which were not communist, but deemed
susceptible to take over by communist parties – as befell regimes in
Europe – needs explaining. These causal explanations must be compared
to the impact of the measures taken by Arbenz which damaged the
economic interests of the United Fruit Company in the context of John
Foster Dulles’s and his brother Allen’s roles in United Fruit and their
positions and influence within the Eisenhower administration. And a
judgement must be made and justifed as to which was a prime cause.

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IR1034 World history since 1945

Question 10
Why was Berlin so important for Khrushchev?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
77–79 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 2B and 7B.
Approaching the question
Good answers to this question will need to show some background
knowledge of the wartime zonal arrangements for Berlin and their
importance within the differing approaches on either side of the Iron
Curtain and the policies for the two Germanies. In particular, you will need
to analyse how Berlin’s significance as a symbol of Germany’s division in
the Cold War assumed significance in the Cold War and in the politics of
the Federal Republic of Germany in order to explain Khrushchev’s attitudes
to Berlin. In addition, you will need to explain the particular interests of
Khrushchev in using Berlin in an effort to make progress on having the
eastern frontier of Germany and the position of the German Democratic
Republic recognised. Secondly, you should assess his attempt to use a
new agreement with the West on Berlin to enhance the value of peaceful
coexistence and weaken his domestic critics. Finally, the answer requires
reference to the reasons why it was important in the Cold War for the USA
to preserve the status quo on Berlin embodied in the wartime zones and
for Khrushchev to change it.

Question 11
Why and with what consequences did the US get involved in the quagmire of
Vietnam?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
65–71 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 10A, 10B, 10C and 10D.
Approaching the question
In order to answer this question well, a broad and substantial knowledge
of the Vietnam war is required including its regional and international
impacts and the way in which domestic politics affected the nature and
extent of the developing US involvement from Eisenhower to Johnson.
It will be necessary to understand and refer to the decisions to supply
aid, arms and non-combat troops before explaining Johnson’s decisions
to deploy air power and ground combat troops. The latter is particularly
important as Kennedy had always resisted requests to deploy combat
troops on the ground. Thus the influence of US domestic politics, events
relevant to the Cold War in Asia and the broader implications of the
conflict internationally will need to be analysed. The consequences should
be examined in a similar way with attention given to the consequences for
the people of Vietnam as well as for the South East Asian region and for
Johnson and US domestic politics.

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 Examiners’ commentaries 2014

Question 12
To what extent was the Suez crisis a victory for Israel and a defeat for Britain?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
91–95 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapter 8C.
Approaching the question
Good answers to this question will focus on the standard way of evaluating
the reasons for the respective participants becoming involved in the crisis,
and what each was seeking to achieve from the invasion of Egypt. Along
with the more important consequences these should be analysed with the
specific and the more general aims of the respective combatants in mind.
Knowledge of why Britain’s main aim was the removal of Nasser will be
useful in analysing those aspects of the operation which were unsuccessful
and why. Also, to produce a good answer you will need to be able to
explain what constituted defeat or victory, and why, for Israel and its aims.
Similarly, you will need knowledge of the strategic and tactical aims of
Israel, and why the invasion might realise them will be necessary when
analysing the extent to which they constituted a defeat or victory.

Question 13
To what extent did the Congo conflict from 1960–1963 damage the UN and the
Western alliance?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages 109–
116 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapter 8B.
Kent, J. America, the UN and decolonization: Cold War conflict in the Congo.
(Abingdon: Routledge, 2010) [ISBN 9780415464147].
Approaching the question
The best answers to this question will demonstrate an understanding of
the complex events in the Congo and the diverse participants in them
before analysing the effects on the United Nations and on US, Belgian
and British cooperation in the Cold War and on the decolonisation
processes in tropical Africa. It will be particularly important to be aware
of the events in the Congo immediately after independence which almost
simultaneously produced the secession of Katanga and the involvement
of a UN force under the political and military control of the Secretary
General. The best answers will then assess the financial impact of the
crisis on the UN and the way its alleged impartiality was affected in
the perceptions and actions of the UN and the Kennedy administration
concerning the importance of the newly independent members of the less
developed world in Africa and Asia for Cold War success. The best answers
will finally analyse the degree of difference that existed between the three
most concerned members of the Western alliance and the impact of the
Congo crisis on their bilateral relations within NATO and the Cold War.

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IR1034 World history since 1945

Question 14
To what extent did the Angolan wars of 1961–1976 replace a colonial Cold War
conflict with an international one?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages 109,
112 and 116–118 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as
providing you with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective
learning process to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in
the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapter 8B.
Westad, O.A. The global Cold War: third world interventions and the making of our
times. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007) [ISBN 9780521703147],
Chapter 6.
Approaching the question
In order to answer this question well it will be necessary to understand
and analyse the interactions between Africans and Portuguese that
produced the Angolan conflict which broke out in 1961. The development
of this colonial conflict into an international one over the importance of
the self-determination/self-government argument at the UN as it applied
to Angola, and its rejection by Portugal, should be analysed before the
growing importance of outside powers’ involvement after the 1974 Lisbon
coup which resulted in the transfer of power agreement at the beginning
of 1975. The extent to which this became, or had become, primarily a
Cold War conflict in 1975–1976 with the increasing involvement of the
Chinese, the Americans, the Soviets, the South Africans, the Congolese and
Cubans must then be analysed. This requires the nature and importance
of their contribution to the conflict to be assessed relative to the influence
of colonial legacies in the Cold War as opposed to the impact of Cold
War concerns in a situation characterised by more complex international
rivalries.

Question 15
‘The 1967 Six Day War affected the whole Middle Eastern region whereas the
1973 Yom Kippur was essentially an Israeli-Egyptian affair.’ Discuss.
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
95–97 and 100–102 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded
as providing you with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective
learning process to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in
the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 11D and 13A.
Approaching the question
The best answers to this question will provide a clear analysis of the
general nature and effect of the two conflicts. It is thus possible to argue
in such a general overview that the nature of one or both was essentially
Middle Eastern, or primarily Israeli and Egyptian; while the consequences
could have involved a different nature and effect for either – or both.
Thus an analysis of the essential causes and nature of the 1967 war
could involve the whole region and/or its Arab states. The post-1967
consequences for the Middle East and for the subsequent conflict also
could be argued as having a regional impact and transforming the Arab-
Israeli conflict firstly into an Israeli-Palestinian one and by 1973 into an

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 Examiners’ commentaries 2014

Israeli-Egyptian one. An ability to analyse why one of these interpretations

is correct by supporting the argument with knowledge of the actions of
the Israelis, Egyptians and Palestinians will be significant. Alternatively the
nature and causes of the 1973 war could arguably be limited to Egypt and
Israel even if Syria was involved, and the consequences focused primarily
on Egypt and Israel even if it is arguable that they affected the whole
region. Again the ability to analyse how and why will be important when
explaining what occurred.

Question 16
Neither the reformers in Eastern Europe nor Boris Yeltsin in Russia would have
succeeded without the changes introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev.’ Discuss.
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages 119–
133 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapter 19A.
Kramer, M. ‘The collapse of East European communism and the repercussions
within the Soviet Union (Part I)’, Journal of Cold War Studies 5(1) 2003, ‘(Part
II)’, Journal of Cold War Studies 6(4) 2004 and ‘(Part III)’, Journal of Cold War
Studies 7(1) 2005.
Approaching the question
Good answers to this question will display an understanding of the
issues that explain the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet
Union. They should begin by explaining Gorbachev’s ‘new’ thinking and
the reforms he began. This should be followed by a description of the
processes by which Gorbachev encouraged the reforms in Eastern Europe
and reference to the other causal factors producing reformist movements
(including an analysis of why they succeeded). Then you need to explain
the significance of Gorbachev’s reforms in enabling Yeltsin to use his
elections to emerge as a powerful rival to Gorbachev in the Russian
Republic. The final analysis should be of whether, and if so how, the
reformist ideas and Yeltsin’s position in Russia after the failed July 1991
coup were significant in producing the collapse of the Soviet Union later in
the year.

Question 17
Assess the impact of the Obama administration on the conflict in Afghanistan.
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages
141 and 156–157 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as
providing you with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective
learning process to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in
the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 23D and 23E.
Approaching the question
The best answers to this question will simply be able to analyse the impact
of Obama’s decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan and the
means by which he hoped to do it. An examination of the role of drones
will also be helpful and, as in most questions, being able to refer to why
the Obama administration had an impact because of the consequences
of implementing his policies will be useful. The most important part of
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IR1034 World history since 1945

a good answer will be an analysis of how Obama’s decision affected the

specific situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan and how the success or
failure of the war on terror was affected by the decisions of the Obama
administration.

Question 18
Was the 2003 Iraq war a defeat or victory for the US?
Reading for this question
Some initial guidance can be found in the relevant material on pages 151–
157 in the subject guide. This should not be regarded as providing you
with any learning outcomes but as enabling an effective learning process
to begin by reading and analysing what is significant in the following:
Young and Kent (2013), Chapters 24A and 24B.
Anderson, T.H. Bush’s wars. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011) [ISBN
9780199747528].
Approaching the question
In order to answer this question well a clear idea of what the USA
and other members of the international community would regard as
constituting a defeat or victory will be important. In the American case
it will be important to identify what the aims were of the attack on Iraq.
Then it will be important to understand the different phases of the conflict
after the military victory had been gained, without simply describing what
happened. An analysis of what the aims and outcomes were in terms of
the different stages of the conflict is the most significant requirement. The
problems that arose must also be explained in terms of why they occurred
and related to what the USA intended to achieve. This should lead into
an assessment of the economic and human costs, the creation of stability
and democracy, not just in Iraq, but in the surrounding territories and the
damage to or strengthening of the global war on terror.

24