How did the Cold War shape research on totalitarianism and Sovietology?

The Cold War fundamentally shaped research on totalitarianism and the development of Sovietology by framing them as central components of the ideological struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union.12

The Study of Totalitarianism

During the Cold War, the concept of totalitarianism became a critical framework for analyzing regimes that sought total control over individual life through state institutions, coercion, and the imposition of an official ideology. Scholars such as Hannah Arendt utilized this lens to examine how regimes—including the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin and Nazi Germany—arose from social alienation and crises. This research was deeply influenced by the geopolitical climate, as Western scholars sought to understand and categorize the nature of the Soviet state and its satellite regimes in Eastern Europe.34

The Rise of Sovietology

Sovietology emerged as a specialized field in the mid-1950s, dedicated to analyzing the policies and practices of the Soviet government. This research was often driven by the need to navigate the "nuclear stalemate" and the intense competition for global influence between the two superpowers. While political science expanded its scope to include developing nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America due to Cold War pressures, Sovietology remained focused on the internal dynamics of the Soviet system, often operating under the constraints of limited access to information within the Eastern bloc.512