Cold War: the problems of writing and understanding history.

Most often writing history is proving to be one of the most challenging endeavors facing posterity . This difficult task represents not the failure of exploiting the qualities of distinguished men willing to study past and present events in to shed light on the eventualities of the future , but rather the imminent existence of subjectivity , which places each event in a different perspective . This point of view is determined by numerous factors , among which the width of the historian 's perspective , the cultural , theoretical and social background that molded his scientific approach , his

use of theories and ideologies in explaining the events he places under analysis as well as the overall image on the matter at hand . All these considered , it is fair to say that in general , a number of different opinions and views are created around a rather similar historical event , and this pluralism of ideas gives history a multidimensional and interpretative focus

These theoretical aspects have been clearly systematized especially by Jane Tompkins who pointed out a series of weaknesses and at the same time limits in historical approaches of major events that shaped the past . Her study is based on her attempt to create a complete and at the same time unitary image of the first encounter between the Indians and the Europeans . In the process she managed to underline the limits of the historical accounts of the events , limits that can be applied to a certain extend in various other cases . Similarly , Patricia Limerick , in Haunted America , as she discusses the implications and patterns of war , she points out certain aspects of the Modoc War , which represents a good example for underlining some patterns , which characterize the evolution , development , and finish of an armed conflict . Through their general approach in determining the role played by subjectivity and the personal point of view of the historians , both Tompkins and Limerick offer a schematic framework for analysis of other conflicts and their historical representation

One such example is the approach given by historians and scholars to the Cold War era . Indeed , it is considered to be one of the most turbulent and uncertain periods in world history , but at the same time it marks a time when technology , the freedom of expression , and the start of globalization managed to avoid a world clash between ideologies and superpowers . Moreover , this era has truly defining for the evolution of the study of international relations , a trend that marked both the emergence of the new line of though t and analysis and the directions of history writing

Seeing that the academic scene was dominated by scholars rather than by historians , it can be said that the controversies of the Cold War era focus not on the actual historical data and on the work of the historians in its traditional way , but rather on the interpretation scholars gave these unquestionable facts . This can very well be explained by the existence of an immense network of information gathering system that served both...