Cold War as the Periphery: Global Change in the 1960s and Beyond

Abstract

In his 1972 essay "The Diffusion of Power," Walt Rostow noted the shift in power in the world community away from Washington and Moscow.Particularly concerned with the developing world, he asked a question that has yet to be fully answered: "Are men capable of organizing this fragile global community of diffusing power in reasonably stable and peaceful ways, or will the diffusion of power lead to more violence and disorder than we already know?"

This conference will explore how this "diffusion of power" transformed global politics in the 1960s and beyond. Bringing together graduate students and junior faculty, it will examine the connections between three broad conceptual questions: • How did the political and material terrain of the pan-European world change during this period? • How did actors inside and outside government bureaucracies interpret and value these changes? • How did geopolitical "flashpoints" in the global South rally, reflect, and reconstitute understandings of global power after 1960? Taken together, these points aim to explore the assumptions underlying Rostow's query, as well as investigate the paradoxes of change in the postcolonial era. Space no doubt emerged for the articulation of alternative visions of world order –- visions often rooted in themes of racial justice, national sovereignty, and human rights -– but questions remain over the depth, nature, and permanence of these transformations.