To Run the World

The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power

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To Run the World

By: Sergey Radchenko

Narrated by: Daniel Henning

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About this listen

What would it feel like To Run the World? The Soviet rulers spent the Cold War trying desperately to find out.

In this panoramic new history of the conflict that defined the postwar era, Sergey Radchenko provides an unprecedented deep dive into the psychology of the Kremlin's decision-making. He reveals how the Soviet struggle with the United States and China reflected its irreconcilable ambitions as a self-proclaimed superpower and the leader of global revolution. This tension drove Soviet policies from Stalin's postwar scramble for territory to Khrushchev's reckless overseas adventurism and nuclear brinksmanship, Brezhnev's jockeying for influence in the third world, and Gorbachev's failed attempts to reinvent Moscow's claims to greatness.

Perennial insecurities, delusions of grandeur, and desire for recognition propelled Moscow on a headlong quest for global power, with dire consequences and painful legacies that continue to shape our world.

Political Science

Politics & Government

Russia

Russian & Soviet

World

Soviet Union

Cold War

Stalin

Imperialism

War

Military

Socialism

American Foreign Policy

China

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