The 24-part BBC 2 series The Cold War, which has now drawn to a close, has been greeted respectfully, even enthusiastically, by critics and academics in Britain. There was a time when academics steered clear of such ventures, fearing for their scholarly reputations. But I am happy to say, as a historical consultant to the series, that most historians now recognise the professionalism of our best documentary makers and the importance of film to the historical record. The combination of archive footage and interviews with participants in the events of the period was considered too traditional by some and the pace too slow by others, but few in Britain have doubted the seriousness of Jeremy Isaacs’s team.
Not so in the US, where the series has been broadcast by CNN. There it has been subjected to withering criticism, mainly from neo-conservative journals such as Commentary. For them, attempts to present the Soviet point of view or draw attention to the less admirable aspects of US conduct is to indulge in “moral equivalence,” suggesting that the two superpowers were equally to blame for the cold war breaking out in the first place and persisting for as long as it did.
This basic charge is made by Jacob Heilbrunn in the New Republic. There are two ways to view the cold war, he claims: either as “a justifiable (if sometimes excessive) American struggle to contain, and ultimately defeat, a monstrous system that was intent on global expansion”; or as “a morally unintelligible contest between two equally dangerous superpowers, whose fear of each other threatened to plunge a world full of innocent bystanders into nuclear holocaust.”
If you are a subscriber, please log in »
This article is available to subscribers only
Subscribing to Prospect is the most reliable and convenient way to receive the magazine every month, and offers the best value.Subscription Types:
Online
An online subscription offers you complete and unlimited access to the entire website, including our searchable archive of every back issue of Prospect, and a PDF edition of each new issue: all this for just £20 per year. Purchase an online subscription »Renewal
Renew an existing subscription »Institutional access
If you are a library, business organisation or any other large institution that needs a multi-user licence, you can obtain institutional access.
Share
Subscribe to post comments
Print
