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The members of the Soviet bloc, by contrast, were relatively homogeneous. They modeled their [[politics]] on [[Marxism-Leninism]], the ruthless [[elitism|elitist]] [[dictatorship]], [[atheist ideology]], and [[statist]] [[political]] [[economic]] system championed by [[Moscow]].

The members of the Soviet bloc, by contrast, were relatively homogeneous. They modeled their [[politics]] on [[Marxism-Leninism]], the ruthless [[elitism|elitist]] [[dictatorship]], [[atheist ideology]], and [[statist]] [[political]] [[economic]] system championed by [[Moscow]].

[[Diplomacy]] in the Cold War resembled nothing so much as [[trench warfare]]. Its object was less to [[roll back]] the spheres of influence of the other side than to avoid giving the other a reason to attack it. Despite the efforts of each side to subvert the other, the two blocs remained remarkably stable over the course of their four-decade-long confrontation. Both [[superpower]]s kept garrisons on the territories of those members of their blocs they termed "allies," by which each meant subordinate states they had committed to secure against attack or ideological conversion by the other. Each restrained such "allies" from actions against the other that might [[escalate]] into [[bilateral]] [[war]]fare between them. The end of the Cold War order removed Soviet constraints on countries like [[Iraq]], which then felt free to launch a [[war]] of expansion in [[Arabia]] it would never have dared to risk when subject to Soviet supervision.

[[Diplomacy]] in the Cold War resembled nothing so much as [[trench warfare]]. Its object was less to [[rollback]] the spheres of influence of the other side than to avoid giving the other a reason to attack it. Despite the efforts of each side to subvert the other, the two blocs remained remarkably stable over the course of their four-decade-long confrontation. Both [[superpower]]s kept garrisons on the territories of those members of their blocs they termed "allies," by which each meant subordinate states they had committed to secure against attack or ideological conversion by the other. Each restrained such "allies" from actions against the other that might [[escalate]] into [[bilateral]] [[war]]fare between them. The end of the Cold War order removed Soviet constraints on countries like [[Iraq]], which then felt free to launch a [[war]] of expansion in [[Arabia]] it would never have dared to risk when subject to Soviet supervision.

The greatest shock to the boring stability of the Cold War order was the 1971 – 1979 U.S. enlistment of [[China]] in the [[containment]] of the [[Soviet Union]]. China's shift to the so-called "free world" rebalanced but did not alter the fundamental nature of the world order of the time. This remained defined by adversarial interactions of the [[United States]] and its bloc and the [[Soviet Union]] and its satrapies. Aside from the U.S. entente with China and an earlier shift to neutrality by [[Yugoslavia]], there were few defections from either bloc. Only one — [[Cuba]]'s turn to Soviet protection – catalyzed the near-death experience of a [[nuclear]] standoff between the two superpowers. Deft [[diplomacy]] kept disaster at bay.

The greatest shock to the boring stability of the Cold War order was the 1971 – 1979 U.S. enlistment of [[China]] in the [[containment]] of the [[Soviet Union]]. China's shift to the so-called "free world" rebalanced but did not alter the fundamental nature of the world order of the time. This remained defined by adversarial interactions of the [[United States]] and its bloc and the [[Soviet Union]] and its satrapies. Aside from the U.S. entente with China and an earlier shift to neutrality by [[Yugoslavia]], there were few defections from either bloc. Only one — [[Cuba]]'s turn to Soviet protection – catalyzed the near-death experience of a [[nuclear]] standoff between the two superpowers. Deft [[diplomacy]] kept disaster at bay.

[[Category:International Relations]]

[[Category:International Relations]]