A. The Cold War was underpinned by an understanding which allowed the US to maintain hegemony over the capitalist world and which gave the Soviet Union a regional sphere of influence in Eastern Europe.

B. The bloody upheavals and wars occurred not in Europe, America or Russia, but in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and were either directly or indirectly a response to the experience of Western colonialism.

C. Despite the aggressive rhetoric of this era, the Cold War was a period of relative peace between hostile geopolitical blocs.

D. In retrospect, what was remarkable about the Cold War was the ability of most of the major players to manage their conflict.