How the Cold War Was Really Won: The Effects of the Antinuclear Movements of the 1980s
A comparative study of peace movements of the early 1980s in the US, Germany, & New Zealand focuses on how their impact on foreign policy issues was influenced by interrelationships between domestic & international factors to explore the broader issue of the policy influence of movements. Relevant literature is reviewed, & mechanisms that heighten a social movement's impact on a nation's foreign policy are outlined. It is shown that, while peace movement members helped to win an important national election in New Zealand & lose one in Germany, they were a minor electoral threat in the US. However, the peace movement played an important role in ending the Cold War & preventing sustained aggressive security policies by changing political alliances & promoting policy alternatives. International constraints on the outcomes of peace movements on domestic foreign policy are discussed. These three cases reveal many different ways that protest movements can impact both foreign & domestic policy, including short-term effects & long-term changes in the political culture. J. Lindroth