Abstract
This essay analyses the strategic logic of the two Cold War 'empires', the United States and the Soviet Union, from the Yalta partition of the world to the late-1980s rapprochement. The author traces the doctrine of mutual nuclear deterrence - the arms race and the resulting 'balance of terror' - through which each superpower sought to make any aggression suicidal while avoiding direct confrontation. He then examines the breakdown of this equilibrium, driven by the spiralling cost of armament, the destabilising prospect of the American Strategic Defense Initiative ('Star Wars'), and Gorbachev's policies of perestroika and glasnost, which reduced the arsenals and loosened Soviet control over Eastern Europe. The article closes with a critical geopolitical reflection: whether through rivalry or detente, the great powers have repeatedly used smaller states to settle their quarrels, and superpower entente threatens to marginalise the Third World and, in particular, the Arab nation and the Palestinian cause.
Recommended Citation
Ghomari, Mohamed
(1990)
"The Strategy of Empires,"
Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management): Vol. 9:
Iss.
2, Article 14.
https://doi.org/10.66499/2665-7112.1642
Available at:
https://scholarhub.univh2c.ma/remadeg/vol9/iss2/14
DOI
10.66499/2665-7112.1642