Postwar Geopolitics and Cold War Dynamics

📋 Course Outline

1. Geopolitics and power
2. Yalta and Potsdam conferences
3. Marshall Plan and Soviet response
4. Division of Germany and Berlin blockade
5. China’s rise and civil war
6. NSC-68 and Cold War rearmament
7. Stalin’s death and decolonization
8. Arab-Israeli wars and peace
9. 9/11 and Al Qaeda

📖 1. Geopolitics and power

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Geopolitics : Geopolitics is the scholarly study of how geographical conditions shape international relations and guide political interactions.
• Power : Power is the capacity to act in a specific way or to influence others and the course of events.
• Distribution of power : Distribution of power describes how power is allocated across states, shaping the structure of world order and likely outcomes.
• Soft power : Soft power is the ability to influence other countries through attraction, diplomacy, and coercion rather than only force.

📝 Essential Points