Most scholarly studies devoted to examining the entire Cold War period focus almost exclusively on Soviet-American relations, thus neglecting other important aspects of the war. In addition to the global contest between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, the history of the Cold War involves a wide range of issues relating to geopolitics, political economy (both international and domestic), and political development in all parts of the world. This international study provides a fresh perspective on the Cold War through an exploration of many of these issues, including: changes in the global distribution of power; advances in warfare technology; shifts in the balance of social and political forces within and among nations; the evolution of the world economy; and the transformation of the Third World. David Painter offers a compact, sophisticated analysis of how all of these factors intersected to produce, prolong and eventually end the Cold War.