Introduction: The Cold War and Its End

The Cold War (1947–1991) defined the international order for nearly half a century. It was a bipolar confrontation between the United States-led Western bloc and the Soviet Union-led Eastern bloc. The conflict was characterised by ideological rivalry (liberal democracy vs. Marxism-Leninism), nuclear deterrence (Mutually Assured Destruction — MAD), proxy wars across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and an arms race that consumed enormous resources.

Key Milestones of the Cold War

• 1947: Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan — American containment policy begins
• 1949: NATO founded; China's communist revolution (PRC established)
• 1950–53: Korean War — first major proxy conflict
• 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis — closest point to nuclear war
• 1979: Soviet invasion of Afghanistan — beginning of Soviet decline
• 1985: Mikhail Gorbachev introduces Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring)
• 1989: Fall of the Berlin Wall (9 November 1989) — symbolic end of Cold War
• 1991: Dissolution of the USSR — 15 successor states; Russia inherits Soviet seat in UNSC

India's Cold War Position

India was a co-founder of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) with Egypt's Nasser and Yugoslavia's Tito (Bandung Conference, 1955; Belgrade, 1961). India maintained strategic flexibility, obtaining aid and arms from both blocs. However, it tilted toward the Soviet Union after the 1971 India-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation.

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