Final answer:
The Cold War and Korean War greatly influenced the United States' domestic and international politics, leading to the buildup of nuclear arsenals and affecting the nation's strategic military planning. The era also included the Red Scare, Lavender Scare, and the fight against segregation through the Civil Rights Movement.
Step-by-step explanation:
The political climate and major global events that might have influenced the story of a novel written during this time period are best described by the Cold War's impact on domestic and international policies, and the pervasive influence of the Cold War and Korean War. These events created a backdrop of tension and competition between superpowers, which was reflected in the domestic political climate within the United States. Nuclear weapons changed strategic military planning, as nations built up arsenals to deter one another under the concept of mutually assured destruction.
The Cold War prompted fears of communism within the United States, initiating the Red Scare and the Lavender Scare, both of which had a profound effect on various individuals, often violating civil liberties in the name of national security. This era also saw the emergence of African Americans and Mexican Americans confronting segregation, most notably through the Civil Rights Movement and the landmark legal case Brown v. Board of Education, which declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.
A novel written during this time could likely reflect themes of suspicion, social upheaval, and the struggle for equality, as well as the influence of military conflicts on society, such as the shift in the art world, with movements away from realism to abstraction as artists responded to the complex feelings of the era.