The Cold War: Experience Still Fresh in the Minds of Many

For this reason, the experience of this time was one that affected the lives - in some way or other - of many more persons that just those within the United States and the Soviet Union. Given widespread fears of nuclear annihilation, paranoia of Capitalist or Communist infiltration and espionage, and the quantifiable effects of the Cold War on the lives of those living within the Superpower nations as well as their proxy states, it is not at all unfair to speak of a "Cold War Culture" that influenced the lives of countless millions throughout the World. Thus, the reality of the pervasiveness of the Cold War was woven into the very fabric of the literature, culture and certainly the politics of an entire generation of people throughout the globe.

Given the polarities that grew out of this time period, there is within certain intellectual and political circles the question whether or not the Cold War is indeed now merely an historical relic. In any case, with the opening of the former Eastern Bloc, voluminous amounts of information are now available for the consumption of posterity. Perhaps now, with the various memories of the Cold War experience still fresh in the minds of many and the documentation of much of this time now accessible, we can come to a greater understanding of this time period. In so doing, we may find that its lingering impact on the World can also be more fully understood.