Professor David Holloway discusses the new leaders of the Soviet Union in the post-Stalin era and how they endeavoured to prevent a nuclear war through peaceful coexistence with the West, while also handling the uncertainties involved in geopolitical strategy and bluffing. The pressures of the reality of nuclear war forced some communist leaders to take a different view of their orthodox, very Stalinist perception of the world's reality, and how nuclear war was eventually avoided.
Dwight Eisenhower's ability to handle uncertainty and bluff his way through challenging situations as a bridge player made him a strategic genius in poker and, later on, in politics. He was eventually succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev, the newly appointed General of the Soviet Union.
Nakita Khrushchev's rise from peasant to leader of the Soviet Union during the time of its nuclear program's development is a fascinating tale that sheds light on the complex power struggles and ideologies of the Communist state.
In this episode, Professor John Holloway discusses the concept of peaceful coexistence and its link to preventing a nuclear war between capitalist and socialist states. He highlights the different approaches of leaders like Khrushchev and Mao, and how their ideologies either contributed or tried to prevent a global thermonuclear war.
Disagreements amongst Communist countries, both geopolitical and ideological, began to create a schism between Communist states, leading to a change in perception for the West about a monolithic bloc taking orders from Moscow.