Iron Curtain Twitchers

The Cold War is often viewed in absolutist terminology: the United States and the Soviet Union characterized one another in oppositional rhetoric and pejorative propaganda. State-sanctioned communications stressed the inherent dissimilarity between their own citizens and those of their Cold War foe. Such rhetoric exacerbated geopolitical tensions and heightened Cold War paranoia, most notably during the Red Scare and brinkmanship incidents. Government leaders stressed the reactive defensive fore