This volume examines the origins, causes and early years of the Cold War. Leading scholars show how the conflict evolved from the geopolitical, ideological, economic, and socio-political environment of the two world wars and the interwar period as well as examining how markets, ideas, and cultural interactions affected political discourse, diplomatic events, and strategic thinking. Chapters focus not only on the USA, the USSR, and Great Britain, but also on other critical regions such as Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and East Asia. They deal not only with the most influential statesmen of the era but also address the issues that mattered most to peoples around the globe: food, nutrition, and resource allocation; demography and consumption; ethnicity, race, and religion; science and technology; national autonomy, self-determination, and sovereignty. In so doing, the book illuminates how people worldwide shaped the evolution of the increasingly bipolar conflict, and, in turn, were ensnared by it.

本卷研究了冷战的起源、原因和早期的情况。知名学者展示了冲突是如何从两次世界大战和战时的地缘政治、意识形态、经济和社会政治环境中演变而来的，并研究了市场、思想和文化互动如何影响政治话语、外交事件和战略思维。各章不仅关注美国、苏联和英国，而且还关注其他关键地区，如东欧、巴尔干和东亚。它们不仅涉及那个时代最有影响力的政治家，而且还涉及对全球人民最重要的问题：粮食、营养和资源分配；人口和消费；民族、种族和宗教；科学和技术；民族自治、自决和主权。在这样做的过程中，本书阐明了世界各地的人们如何塑造了日益两极化的冲突的演变，并反过来被它所困。