Geir Lundestad was born in 1945. He was professor of history and American Civilization at the University of Tromsø from 1974 to 1990. He has held fellowships at Harvard University (1978-79, 1983) and the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC (1988-89).
Since 1990 Lundestad has been director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute and permanent secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The Committe awards the Nobel Peace Prize. Since 1991 he has also been adjunct professor of international history at the University of Oslo.
Lundestad has written numerous books and articles on the Cold War and on transatlantic relations. His most recent books are The Rise & Decline of the American 'Empire'. Power and its Limits in Comparative Perspective (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012) and, edited, International Relations Since the End of the Cold War. New & Old Dimensions (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).

1 The New World
The Rise and Fall of Great Powers
The World in 1945
The Literature
2 The Cold War in Europe, 1945-1949
Political science and history
Some Old and New Theories about the Cold War
Some Structural Explanations for the Cold War
Who Acted Where?
US Policy
Soviet Policy
The Problem of Germany
Motivating Forces behind US and Soviet Policies
The United States
The Soviet Union
The Literature
3 The Cold War Becomes Global, 1945-1962
The United States, the Soviet Union, and Asia, 1945-1950
The Civil War in China
Other Countries in Asia
Signs of Re-evaluation in the Superpowers' Asian Policies
The Korean War
Changes in US Policy in Asia
The Soviet Union Tries to Play a Global Role
A New Policy in Asia and the Middle East
A New Policy in Africa
The Cold War Reaches Latin America
The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Third World: A Comparison
The Literature
4 Detente Between East and West, 1962-1975
Signs of Detente during the 1950s
The Policy of Detente, 1962-1975
Agreements and Contact between East and West
Reasons for Detente
Detente and Geographic Expansion of the East-West Conflict
Respect for Each Other's Vital Regions
The Grey Zones between East and West
The Middle East, 1967-1975
The Vietnam War
The Literature
5 Renewed Tension Between East and West, 1975-1984
The Soviet Union: A New Globalism
The United States: Reaction to Detente
The Literature
6 The End of the Cold War, 1984-1990
Different Theories about the End of the Cold War
What Happened - and Why?
The Literature
7 Major Powers and Local Conflicts after the Cold War, 1990-2016
The Major Powers in the New World
Hopes for Peace - and the Reality of Local Conflicts
11 September 2001, Afghanistan and Iraq
Barack Obama and the Greater Middle East
The Literature
8 The Arms Race, 1945-2016
Perspective and Motivating Forces
Hiroshima, Atomic Weapons, and Conventional Forces, 1945-1949
The US Turnabout, 1949-1953
New Directions in US and Soviet Defense Policies
The 'New Look'
The 'New Look' in the Soviet Union
Kennedy, McNamara, and Flexible Response
The Soviet Build-up
The US Reaction
The First Phase: Prior to 1973-1974
The Second Phase: The Years up to 1984
Cooperation, Disarmament and Rearmament Once More
The Smaller Nuclear States
The Literature
9 The United States and Western Europe, 1945-2016
Expansion by Invitation, 1945-1950
European Integration, 1945-1973
Explanations for the US Stance
US-European Relations, 1950-1973
Cooperation Prior to 1962
Political and Military Controversy, 1962-1973
Economic Relations, 1962-1973
The United States and Western Europe after 1973: New Tensions
Expansion and Integration of the EC/EU
From the Year of Europe to German Reuni?cation
The US and the EU from Clinton to Donald Trump
The Literature
10 The Soviet Union/Russia and the (formerly) Communist Countries, 1945-2016
Expansion and Conformism, 1945-1953
The Reins are Loosened (1953-1956) and Tightened (1956-1958)
The Revolts in Poland and Hungary in 1956
The Split between the Soviet Union and China
From Cooperation to Armed Struggle
Explanations for the Split
Soviet Relations with Eastern Europe, 1958-1985
Czechoslovakia - 1968
Developments in Poland
The Soviet Union and the Communist Movement Elsewhere
The Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe
The Fall of the Soviet Union
Developments in Russia and Eastern Europe After the Fall of Communism
The Literature
11 The Rise of East Asia
The United States and Japan, 1945-2016
1945-1960: Occupation and US Dominance
1960-1990: Economic Strength and Greater Political Independence
1990-2016: Economic Problems and Political Uncertainty
The Sino-Soviet-US Triangle Since 1972
East Asia in the New World System
The Literature
12 Decolonization
Changes on the International Level
The National Level: Changes within the Colonial Powers
British Policies
French Policies
Belgium and Portugal
Why Different Attitudes?
The Local Level: Independence Movements Grow Stronger
The Three Stages
Economic and Cultural Development
The Influence of International Events
The Nonaligned States in World Politics
The Literature
13 Economic Relations Between North and South, 1945-2016
Aid and Trade, 1945-2013
1945-1955
1955-1964
1964-1981
1981-2000
2000-2016
The Soviet Union and North-South Issues
The Literature
14 Two Theories on Development and Under-development
The Liberalist and the Structuralist Schools
Discussion of Some Issues Central to Economic Development
The North's Development-The South's Under-development?
The Multinational Corporations
Raw Materials and Processed Goods
The Question of Dependence
Population, Gender, Environment
Production of Crude Oil
Why Poverty?
The Literature
15 Globalization and Fragmentation
Globalization
Regionalism
Fragmentation
Why both Globalization and Fragmentation?
East, West, North, South
Superpowers, States and Individuals
The Literature
16 Conclusion: The Future
Old and New Superpowers
What will happen to the International System?
The Literature
Index