World History – Semester 2 v3.0Unit 3 Activity: Task 270 pointsTask 2: Assessing Cold War LeadersThe Cold War was a time of inflamed passions. Nations were engulfed in suspicion and paranoia. It was especiallyimportant for leaders to keep a cool head in trying times. One wrong move could have spelled disaster. As theAmerican diplomat George Kennan observed, “I would plead for cool nerves and a keen eye, and the realization thatone can be wrong without being evil, and that those wrong ones might be ourselves.” In other words, Cold Warleaders needed to acknowledge not only their enemy’s faults and weaknesses, but also their own.However, each Cold War nation also had its fair share of “hard-liners.” Hard-liners advocated for the following policies:●standing up to the enemy●negotiating from a position of strength●using nuclear weapons, if necessaryIn short, they were willing to start another conflict or war to win the international power struggle. There were at leasttwo occasions where one or the other side came very close to using nuclear weapons: the Korean War and the CubanMissile Crisis. There could have been others. Fortunately, negotiation and restraint won the day over the hard-liners.In this activity, you’ll look at some important characteristics that were common to all the Cold War leaders. You willthen write a brief essay about a leader who you think best exemplifies these important characteristics.
