The evolution of historiographical approaches to the study of the "Cold War" in the academic schools of Russia, the USA, and China.

This author analyzes the historiographical approaches of three major powers (Russia, the USA, China) to the study of the Cold War. The work is relevant due to the increasing global tensions and rising risks of similar processes occurring. The article conducts an analysis of national research historiographical approaches and identifies the processes of their transformation related to the declassification of archives, the evolution of interdisciplinary approaches, and the intensification of the globalization of historical science. It examines scientific paradigms such as traditionalist, revisionist, and post-revisionist, as well as their impact on contemporary research and their integration into national research processes. The author pays special attention to the views of key powers on the causes, periodization, and consequences of the bipolar confrontation. The influence of ideological aspects, such as the transformation of China's foreign policy, on the development of historiographical approaches is also discussed. The primary method used in the research is interdisciplinary approach combined with systemic and comparative-historical methods. A historiographical analysis was employed, and a content analysis of scientific publications on relevant topics was conducted. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the comparative analysis of the historiographical approaches of the three key powers to the Cold War. Important patterns in the development of historiographies were identified, demonstrating the evolution of the perception of international relations from a simple ideological framework to an interdisciplinary and multifactorial one. However, it was found that national characteristics are still a key factor. Thus, Russian historiography tends to focus on the geopolitical factor, American historiography on democracy, and Chinese historiography on regional aspects and the role of China in the bipolar structure of international relations. The article also presents a new classification of methodologies and approaches to the study of the Cold War, including geopolitical, economic, cultural, and ideological. Unlike other works on this topic, the author highlights the role of the Chinese historiographical approach, which, while developing in accordance with national doctrines, also integrates Western research methods. In the future, the work can be used for a more comprehensive study of the historiography of international relations, as well as in the development of research programs and textbooks devoted to the history of the Cold War.