The Cold War stands apart from history's other great-power rivalries in the importance of psychology—propaganda, mind games, perceptions, and intuition. The Cold War was not only a geopolitical competition but a struggle to shape public images, beliefs, and perceptions around the world.
In this massive narrative history of the Cold War, Martin Sixsmith uses psychology to illuminate various aspects of the U.S.-Soviet rivalry from 1947 to 1991, with an epilogue on Russia's grievances after the Cold War ended. Instead of relying on a single psychological approach, Sixsmith makes eclectic use of psychological theories ranging from the writings of Sigmund Freud to the behavioral economics research of Daniel Kahneman, depending on what fits the subject at hand. Among the cognitive approaches Sixsmith uses are intuitive decisions, schema theory, heuristics, and confirmation bias. He does not “over-psychologize” history and is careful to take account of material factors and relative power, but he...