Research group of the University of Bremen:
"(Post-) Cold War Europe"
The University of Bremen has created a set of research groups to augment the established high-profile research areas and central research units. These provide an innovative form of cooperation within small and medium-sized groups. They consist of thematically interlinked projects from different academic disciplines with a view to long-term collaboration.
The research group "(Post-) Cold War Europe" examines inter- and transnational communication between countries of the "West" and "East" from a historical as well as social science perspectives. It proceeds from the axiom that a shared semiotic system is the necessary precondition for successful communication. Based on this, the group analyses how diplomacy (broadly understood as intercultural communication) between the social, cultural and political representatives of Western and Eastern countries has been and still is influenced by different semiotic systems (languages, social and political discourses etc.). It examines not only contemporary East-West relations (for example, in the context of NATO and the EU), but also draws historical comparisons to establish large scale changes since the period of the Cold War.
Research Question
(Post-) Cold War Europe
The Dilemmas of Communication between East and West: Beyond the Iron Curtain (1945-2011)
1) Fundamental Research Question
Above all, the research group seeks to answer the fundamental question of how communication across national boundaries has been possible...2) Scope of Research
During the Cold War (1945-1991), the idea that the "First World" was the yardstick for everything in the “Second World” characterised Western relations with the East. Not only the West's state forms, norms and values...
3) Methodology
The research group's shared interdisciplinary methodology and approach is fundamental to its work. All disciplines employ...
4) Research Questions
The projects pursued by the members of this research group will examine the following sets of questions...
5) Sources/Archives
The research group employs conventional methods of data gathering and data base construction from...
6) Goals
The research group aims to expose the underlying "subsurface structures" of the Cold War world by systematically examining interstate communicative relationships. It also seeks to identify...
