Example international relations dissertation topic 7:

The Warsaw Pact: A Russian defence mechanism born out of fears for security?

International relations between East and West were dominated in the latter half of the twentieth century by feelings of mistrust. In revisiting this era of international relations, this dissertation focuses on Russian fears of Western imperialism and accordingly assesses the extent to which the creation of the Warsaw Pact should be evaluated not as an example of ‘creeping Russian imperialism’ but rather primarily motivated by the need to safeguard herself ‘against a recovered Germany or Japan or hostile capitalist states’ (Offner, 2002, p. 128). Noting Stalin’s comment at Yalta (1945) that the question of Poland was therefore ‘not only a question of honour, but also one of security’ (cited, Hanhimäki and Westad, 2003, p. 43), this is a dissertation that uses a range of primary and secondary sources to further a revisionist critique.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Hanhimäki, J.M. and Westad, O.A. (eds) (2003). The Cold War: A history in documents and eyewitness accounts. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Offner, A.A. (2002). Another such victory: President Truman and the Cold War, 1945-1953. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
• Gaddis, J.L. (1987). The long peace: Enquiries into the history of the Cold War. Oxford: Oxford University Press.