This paper examines the Cold War in context and argues that the period beween the
launching of Sputnik in 1958 and the Cuban Missile Crisis were the most dangerous years. It looks at how the launching of Sputnik, the Berlin
crises of 1958-9 and 1961 and the U-2 Spy plane incident and Bay of Pigs fiasco fuelled the confrontational nature of Soviet-American relations and increased the possibility of a potentially ruinous conflict. It also shows how the influence of the Kennedy-Khrushchev relationship and the mutual shift in weight of Soviet and American foreign policy from an ideologically based, offensive strategy to one of defence, served only to diminish the chances of a peaceful conciliation.