The simmering conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1989 was the defining phenomenon of the age, affecting not only the country's foreign policy but its politics, society, economy, and culture as well.  In this course, students will examine the most important events, ideas, and personalities of the 44 years from the end of World War II to the end of the Reagan administration. We will address key historical debates on topics including the origins of the Cold War; the development of atomic and nuclear weapons; McCarthyism; the expansion of the Cold War beyond Europe; race relations; the growth of the "imperial presidency," human rights, neoconservatism, and the end of the Cold War. The course will also give detailed attention to Cold War crises—including the Korean War, the Taiwan Strait, Berlin, Cuba, and Vietnam—and their impact on American domestic society. Lectures and discussions will focus on a mix of primary documents and influential interpretative texts.