Elizabeth Edwards Spalding: How the Cold War Was Won

Breitbart News Daily radio show host Stephen K. Bannon interviewed Elizabeth Edwards Spalding, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College and co-author of the new book, A Brief History of the Cold War.

The book is about the half-century struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States and how America prevailed as the world’s unquestioned role as the leader of the free world. Spalding co-authored the book with Lee Edwards, a renowned historian and fellow of the Heritage Foundation. Spalding said that they wrote the book “to educate this generation, and future generations, about this historic conflict that literally decided what kind of world we live in today.”

Bannon said that the book gives an “epic sense” that the “bad guys were really bad guys. Spalding responded, “That’s true. The Soviets really started the Cold War that the United States ended by winning it. It was a just war on our part on part of the free world.

“If the United States and those in the free world hadn’t done what they did and what we did then the world would be far different,” Spalding continued.

The Cold War really was between good and evil, freedom and tyranny according to Spalding, and many younger people do not understand that today.

Bannon asked Spalding if she saw any connection to between the Cold War conflict and the current power struggle between the United States and China in the South China Sea. She said that while history does not always repeat itself, Americans can draw many lessons from the Cold War conflict. Specifically, the United States needs to have a serious, long-term strategy to approach China.

“China still has a Communist government, there is still a party that controls what it does,” Spalding said.

Spalding and Edwards wrote an op-ed for Breitbart News talking about the details of the book and how Ronald Reagan won the Cold War through his leadership and vision without firing a shot.