Introduction - what was the Cold War?; the Cold War and international relations theory - realism and the Cold War, pluralist and ideas-based approaches to the Cold War, historical materialist approaches to the Cold War. Part 1 Theory: the politics of the state in the Cold War - realism, the state and the Cold War in international relations theory, reconstructing a politics of the state in the Cold War, conclusion - the real politics of the Cold War; military power and strategic conflict in the Cold War - military power in the Cold War, geopolitical determinants of military power in the Cold War, domestic determinants of military power in the Cold War, social relations of military power in the Cold War, conclusions; social revolution and the Cold War - non-Marxist approaches to social revolution and the Cold War, Marxist approaches to social revolution in the Cold War, social revolution as the dynamic of the Cold War, revolutionary consequences of capitalist development, conclusions - the Cold War as social revolution. Part 2 History: the international relations of the USSR in the Cold War - the international relations of the USSR and social revolution, Cuba, Vietnam, conclusions; the international relations of the United States in the Cold War - the international relations of the United States and social revolution, Cuba, Vietnam, conclusions; conclusion - understanding the Cold War and its end - politics and the state, military power as a currency of politics, capitalism and revolutionary social transformation, the ends of the Cold War.

This work provides a critique of existing understandings of the Cold War prevalent in International Relations, and offers an alternative perspective on the Cold War founded on a historical materialist approach. The author focuses on the relationship between state and society.