Conflict Resolution and the Cold War
Media Encounters across the Iron Curtain
Will be published approx. on 22. January 2026
Book
Hardback
328 pages
979-8-7651-2710-0 (ISBN)
Description
While existing publications on the Cold War tend to characterise this period exclusively in terms of conflict or on the basis of irreconcilable ideological differences, this book - through a number of fascinating international case studies - shows that there were also many media-related examples of attempts for reconciliation on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
Scholars of media history, more often than not, have looked at the role of media in times of conflict, war, crises, social and political upheaval. Yet, media such as film, radio and television have also played a decisive role in processes of conflict resolution. As such, media in one way or another affected nation building processes, the fight for civil rights, equality, the reconciliation of former enemies, the democratisation of totalitarian states and peacekeeping missions around the world. This was also true during the Cold War which could be considered the longest-simmering conflict of the 20th century with far-reaching consequences that could be felt to this day.
Arguing that cultural politics were a vital part of the Cold War experience, Conflict Resolution and the Cold War: Media Encounters across the Iron Curtain brings together international scholars with expertise in different media to take a closer look at this often-overlooked role media played in conflict resolution and initiatives for reconciliation. Owing to the very few, if any, opportunities to meet people from the other side of the political divide in person, media often provided an important sphere where the East and the West could learn from one another. Examples include BBC broadcasts, films such as The Charterhouse of Parma (1948), television networks, television programs such as Doctor Who, and Danish journalists returning from exile in London and Stockholm, among others.
Scholars of media history, more often than not, have looked at the role of media in times of conflict, war, crises, social and political upheaval. Yet, media such as film, radio and television have also played a decisive role in processes of conflict resolution. As such, media in one way or another affected nation building processes, the fight for civil rights, equality, the reconciliation of former enemies, the democratisation of totalitarian states and peacekeeping missions around the world. This was also true during the Cold War which could be considered the longest-simmering conflict of the 20th century with far-reaching consequences that could be felt to this day.
Arguing that cultural politics were a vital part of the Cold War experience, Conflict Resolution and the Cold War: Media Encounters across the Iron Curtain brings together international scholars with expertise in different media to take a closer look at this often-overlooked role media played in conflict resolution and initiatives for reconciliation. Owing to the very few, if any, opportunities to meet people from the other side of the political divide in person, media often provided an important sphere where the East and the West could learn from one another. Examples include BBC broadcasts, films such as The Charterhouse of Parma (1948), television networks, television programs such as Doctor Who, and Danish journalists returning from exile in London and Stockholm, among others.
Reviews / Votes
Conflict Resolution and the Cold War: Media Encounters across the Iron Curtain offers a unique perspective on how media played a role in reconciliation during the Cold War. Through engaging international case studies, the book reveals how film, radio and television were not only tools of conflict and propaganda, but also vital platforms for dialogue, peacebuilding and cultural exchange, helping to bridge divides and promote peace. By shedding new light on these complex interactions, the book offers fresh insights into this often-overlooked cultural aspect of Cold War history. It is a must-read for scholars and enthusiasts of media history and Cold War studies. * Rolf Werenskjold, Professor of Media Studies, Volda University College, Norway * This pioneering collection mobilises international scholarship on the longest-running conflict of the 20th century to demonstrate how the function of media stretches far beyond simple representation to form a core part of political and diplomatic processes. Based on original archival sources, the book illustrates how media may become a powerful tool for peace building and reconciliation. While focusing on journalism, cinema and broadcasting, the collection covers both mainstream and traditionally overlooked forms of peripheral media as well considering how these productions reached their (often transnational) audiences. The Cold War has never been more relevant and this book showcases the many lessons media scholars, producers, historians and politicians may learn from it. * Ciara Chambers, Senior Lecturer in Film & Screen Media, University College Cork, Ireland * Drawing on the work of a first-class team of international scholars, this fascinating edited collection locates the media at the centre of Cold War cultural politics. Using an array of approaches and perspectives from across Europe and North America, the role of the media in conflict resolution is explored, analysed and critiqued, resulting in a volume that should be on the shelves of researchers in media studies, politics and history. From Doctor Who to Czech student films and everything in between, this impressive collection provides a fresh and novel perspective on the Cold War. * Jamie Medhurst, Professor of Film and Media, Aberystwyth University, UK *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
1 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
624 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-7651-2710-0 (9798765127100)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Tobias Hochscherf | Gintaras Aleknonis
Conflict Resolution and the Cold War
Media Encounters Across the Iron Curtain
E-Book
12/2025
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic USA
€108.99
Available for download
Tobias Hochscherf | Gintaras Aleknonis
Conflict Resolution and the Cold War
Media Encounters Across the Iron Curtain
E-Book
12/2025
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic USA
€108.99
Available for download
Persons
Tobias Hochscherf is Professor in Film, Radio and Television at the University of Applied Sciences in Kiel, Germany. He is author of The Continental Connection: German-speaking Emigres and British Cinema, 1927-45 (2011) and co-author of Beyond the Boundaries: Contemporary Danish Television Drama (2017).
Gintaras Aleknonis is Partnership Professor at the Faculty of Communication, Vilnius University, Lithuania. He is the author of The New Censorship (2011) and two other books on histories of Lithuanian Radio and Television: Lithuanian Radio: One Day and 80 Years (2006) and Lithuanian Television: The Colours and the Shadows of the Screen (2007).
Gintaras Aleknonis is Partnership Professor at the Faculty of Communication, Vilnius University, Lithuania. He is the author of The New Censorship (2011) and two other books on histories of Lithuanian Radio and Television: Lithuanian Radio: One Day and 80 Years (2006) and Lithuanian Television: The Colours and the Shadows of the Screen (2007).
Content
List of Illustrations
List of Pictures and Tables
Abbreviations
List of Contributors
Acknowledgements
Between Antagonism and Accord: Media and the Cold War - An Introduction
Gintaras Aleknonis (Muthesius Academy of Arts, Germany and Vilnius University, Lithuania) and Tobias Hochscherf (Kiel University of Applied Sciences and the University, Germany)
PART I: EARLY ENCOUNTERS
1. Doors to the Free World: Former Danish Journalists-in-Exile in the Proto-Cold War
Emil Eiby Seidenfaden (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
2. The Next Most Important British Personage in Moscow? The BBC and Soviet Union during the Early Decades of the Cold War
James Rodgers (City,University of London, UK)
3. Local Media, Paradiplomacy and Conflict Resolution: The Journal of the Society of Friends of Coventry and (West) German-British Relations, 1947-49
Christoph Laucht (Swansea University, UK)
4. Film Adaptation in the Cold War: The Charterhouse of Parma (1948)
Tadas Bugnevicius (Yale University, USA)
PART II: COLD WAR NARRATIVES AND STABILISING TRANSFORMATIONS
5. Revisions. NS-Regime, Second World War and Holocaust in West-German Documentaries of the Cold War Era
Thomas Weber (University of Hamburg, Germany)
6. When the Cold War Went on Holiday: A Look Behind the Iron Curtain in Richard Thorpe's The Golden Head (1964)
Balazs Varga (Eoetvoes Lorand University, Hungary)
7. 'A film about something else'. Dissemination of Czech Student Films at the Turn of the 1970s and 1980s
Tereza Czesany Dvorakova (Charles University, Czech Republic)
8. Transnational Television Flow in East Europe in Times of Conflict
Yulia Yurtaeva-Martens (Film University Babelsberg, Germany) & Lothar Mikos (Film University Babelsberg, Germany)
9. Time and Conflict Resolution in Space: Politics and Geopolitics in Classic Doctor Who
(1963-89)
James Chapman (University of Leicester, UK)
PART III: LATE DETANTE POLICY, CRITICAL REFLECTIONS AND CULTURAL EXCHANGES
10. Spacebridges to Peace: Satellite Television Links, Citizen Diplomacy and US-Soviet Conflict Resolution in the 1980s.
Nicholas J. Cull (University of Southern California, USA)
11. Semi-legal and Legal Local TV Programmes in the GDR and Unified Germany (1989- 1995): Motives of Early Post-Cold War TV Makers in Saxony
Ruediger Steinmetz (Leipzig University, Germany) and Judith Kretzschmar (Leipzig University, Germany)
12. Transformation of the Communist Media and its Anti-Communist Rhetoric During the Period of Social Revival: A Survival Strategy
Andrius Vaisnys (Vilnius University, Lithuania)
Bibliography
Index
List of Pictures and Tables
Abbreviations
List of Contributors
Acknowledgements
Between Antagonism and Accord: Media and the Cold War - An Introduction
Gintaras Aleknonis (Muthesius Academy of Arts, Germany and Vilnius University, Lithuania) and Tobias Hochscherf (Kiel University of Applied Sciences and the University, Germany)
PART I: EARLY ENCOUNTERS
1. Doors to the Free World: Former Danish Journalists-in-Exile in the Proto-Cold War
Emil Eiby Seidenfaden (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
2. The Next Most Important British Personage in Moscow? The BBC and Soviet Union during the Early Decades of the Cold War
James Rodgers (City,University of London, UK)
3. Local Media, Paradiplomacy and Conflict Resolution: The Journal of the Society of Friends of Coventry and (West) German-British Relations, 1947-49
Christoph Laucht (Swansea University, UK)
4. Film Adaptation in the Cold War: The Charterhouse of Parma (1948)
Tadas Bugnevicius (Yale University, USA)
PART II: COLD WAR NARRATIVES AND STABILISING TRANSFORMATIONS
5. Revisions. NS-Regime, Second World War and Holocaust in West-German Documentaries of the Cold War Era
Thomas Weber (University of Hamburg, Germany)
6. When the Cold War Went on Holiday: A Look Behind the Iron Curtain in Richard Thorpe's The Golden Head (1964)
Balazs Varga (Eoetvoes Lorand University, Hungary)
7. 'A film about something else'. Dissemination of Czech Student Films at the Turn of the 1970s and 1980s
Tereza Czesany Dvorakova (Charles University, Czech Republic)
8. Transnational Television Flow in East Europe in Times of Conflict
Yulia Yurtaeva-Martens (Film University Babelsberg, Germany) & Lothar Mikos (Film University Babelsberg, Germany)
9. Time and Conflict Resolution in Space: Politics and Geopolitics in Classic Doctor Who
(1963-89)
James Chapman (University of Leicester, UK)
PART III: LATE DETANTE POLICY, CRITICAL REFLECTIONS AND CULTURAL EXCHANGES
10. Spacebridges to Peace: Satellite Television Links, Citizen Diplomacy and US-Soviet Conflict Resolution in the 1980s.
Nicholas J. Cull (University of Southern California, USA)
11. Semi-legal and Legal Local TV Programmes in the GDR and Unified Germany (1989- 1995): Motives of Early Post-Cold War TV Makers in Saxony
Ruediger Steinmetz (Leipzig University, Germany) and Judith Kretzschmar (Leipzig University, Germany)
12. Transformation of the Communist Media and its Anti-Communist Rhetoric During the Period of Social Revival: A Survival Strategy
Andrius Vaisnys (Vilnius University, Lithuania)
Bibliography
Index