The end of the Cold War is now over 25 years ago, and interpretations continue to diverge. Was the period between 1945 and 1989/90 a time of relative security in a largely orderly and comprehensible world, in contrast to the chaotic conditions we see today? This book offers the politically interested reader a look at the key stages of the systemic conflict between communism and capitalism that shaped the second half of the "short" 20th century. The cartoons of the world-famous German-Dutch artist Fritz Behrendt serve as both an entertaining and illustrative source. Behrendt's drawn comments on the popular uprisings in Eastern Europe, the Cuban Missile Crisis, arms buildup and reduction, Vietnam, and Afghanistan, as well as confrontation and détente, present an unvarnished picture of the era of bipolarity.