...The Cold War The Cold War, often dated from 1947 to 1991, was a sustained state of political and military tension between powers in the Western Bloc, dominated by the United States with NATO among its allies, and powers in the Eastern Bloc, dominated by the Soviet Union along with the Warsaw Pact. Role of USSR and USA to the conflicts in the Cold War The Cold War began after World War II. The main enemies were the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War got its name because both sides were afraid of fighting each other directly. In a "hot war," nuclear weapons might destroy everything. So, instead, both sides fought each other indirectly. They supported opposing sides in conflicts in different parts of the world. They also used words as weapons. They threatened and denounced each other. Or they tried to make each other look foolish. Over the years, leaders on both sides changed. Yet the Cold War continued. It was the major force in world politics for most of the second half of the twentieth century. The Cold War world was separated into three groups. The United States led the West, including countries with democratic political systems. The Soviet Union led the East. This including countries with communist political systems. The non-aligned group included countries that did not want to be tied to either the West or the East. Harry Truman was the first American president to fight the Cold War. He used several policies. One was the Truman Doctrine. This was a plan...
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...Politics 223 2014 International Relations International event 24316563 E.S Zulu 13.07.2014 Introduction International relation is a fast moving subject of study; it came too recognised as academic discipline. Despite adjective international, the field is concerned with much more than relations between or amongst state. Other actors such as international organisation, Multination Corporation, and terrorist groups are now all of what could more correctively be termed world politics. Different perspectives on the international relations naturally generate debates. In 1930’s realist and idealist argued over the nature of the international politics and the possibility of the peaceful change and the Marxist critics (Paul and Mark, 1987:1-3). International Relations According to Johari (2009:1-39) the international relations are the study of the political and social interaction of state, non-state and individuals. In the recent years the increasing interaction among these actors, coupled with advances in informational technology and the spread of human rights, have raised many new questions for international relations scholars, practitioners, and students. International relations as a discipline is chiefly concerned with what state do on the world stage and in turn, how their actions affect other states, correspondingly states are a common unit of analysis in theories of international relation, many analysis focus on states and their interactions to explain observed patterns...
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...DeVry University "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." Albert Einstein The Cold War probably one of the most memorable wars to date because of the lack of actual fighting. The Cold War last from 1946 to 1991 when it was finally ended. It was a battle of power with no actual war between the USA and USSR. Yes, there were wars of democracy against communism in such countries of Korean and Vietnam but it wasn’t direct fighting of the two super powers. The Cold War can teach the current world leaders such a significant amount of knowledge. On how such wars are futile and honestly useless because it solves nothing and only frightens the whole world in fear of a nuclear war. The Cold War was started right after World War II when the Allies in World War II alliance fell apart. The reason this powerful alliance fell apart is simple. Stalin believed that the delay of D-Day was Britain and the USA’s attempt to weaken the Soviet Union, along with the fact that Stalin and Churchill argued over how much control Stalin would get over the countries of Eastern Europe. These factors contributed to the start of the Cold War right after World War II. The Cold War was not really a war like previous wars it was a threat from both sides of nuclear war. Both sides had nukes and both were willing to use them in the event of an attack. The Cold War was a war of words and nothing more really. Both sides had ideas and...
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...Cold War Ideology and Policies Robert Quesada Axia College University of Phoenix HIS/212 July 11, 2010 After World War II, the two new super powers were the United States and the Soviet Union, both becoming mortal enemies. This power was not so equal though, as the United States had a booming economy and much of the Soviet Union lay in ruins. It was evident that the United States and the Soviet Union were in a struggle for power, which became known as the Cold War. The United States held control of the oil fields in the Middle East, along with the French and British, making a strong presence in the Middle East. With all this tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union the cold war was in full escalation. Stalin’s announcement that the Soviet Union would take all measure to preserve its national security and that a war was inevitable. He also announced a five year plan for economic development. The Americans took this as a threat and said his speech was a warlike pronouncement. President Truman stated “he was tired of babying the Soviets”. It was determined that the Soviets were a threat to not only the United States, but many European countries. This prompted a plan to apply diplomatic, economic, military counter pressure and blocking rising aggression. After a sever winter in Europe and the post war depression, Great Britain decided it could no longer support Greece and Turkey. Without this aid these two countries could fall victim to the Soviets. President...
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...essay on cold war ‘Account for the phenomenon, known as the cold war, which dominated world politics between 1945 - 1989. Evaluate the extent to which the principal nations involved fought proxy wars as a substitute for armed conflict with each other. In this essay I will discuss the extent to which the principal nations, mainly the USA and the Soviet Union fought proxy wars as a substitute for armed conflict with each other during the Cold War between 1945 – 1989. As the Second World War ended in 1945 with the victory of the allies, a new war was launched. It was a battle predominantly between the USA and the Soviet Union, between two conflicting ideologies: America’s capitalism versus and the Soviet Union’s communism. Ranging from two of the most devastating wars; the Korean War (1950) and the Vietnam war in the 60s, to the smaller conflicts in the Middle East and Africa in terms of the scale of the battle, every corner of the globe was involved in the Cold War. (Dunbabin 1994) The USA and the Soviet Union were the sole super powers at the end of the Second World War. There are a number of views regarding why the Cold war was unavoidable, and one of the reasons is that both countries were expansionist. The USA in particular was afraid of the Soviet sphere of influence over Europe in particular, believing that it needed to be contained. (Mowry, 1962) But on the part of the Soviet Union, it was also afraid of the USA’s power and its ideology which it believed to...
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...day forward. From the end of World War I until the United States involvement in World War II the United States held a position of non-intervention in foreign affairs. Even as World War II raged on in Europe, the United States held off sending American combat solders until December 7, 1941, the day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The very next day the United States declared war on Japan and changed how its non-intervention policies for good. With Nazi Germany, Japan and the rest of the Axis powers defeated, World War II came to a close in 1945. From the rubble emerged the United States, by far the world’s greatest super power. The United States had the world’s most powerful military, accounted for half the world’s manufacturing and possessed the world’s only atomic bomb. They now had the opportunity to give the world Roosevelt’s four freedoms. Knowing that for their capitalistic government to continue to succeed and grow there needed to be a global economic reconstruction. Simply put, capitalism requires free trade to grow and the other countries of the world were in economic turmoil and in no position to freely trade. Establishing the United Nations, World Bank and enacting the Marshall Plan, which gave billions of dollars to finance the economic recovery of Europe, helped revived the economies of Europe, Asia and Africa. The only country standing in the way was the Soviet Union. Emerging as the other super power of the post-World War II world, they...
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...After World War II tension between the two super powers of the time, The Soviet Union and the United States increased. Many believed a third war would break out and the world as we know it would have possibly been destroyed or at least most of it due to the nuclear warfare. The soviets could not handle the fact that the United States had nuclear weapons thus making the soviets envious and them wanting to be superior to the United. On the other hand the United States wanted the world to be peaceful or at least have no communism in the world, seeing that the two superpowers in the world did not agree nor get along the race to prove to the world which super power was superior began, starting the Cold War. During the Cold War there where...
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...the Cold War? The forty-five years from the dropping of the atom bombs to the end of the Soviet Union, can be seen as the era of the new conflict between two major states: United States of America (USA) and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). According to Hobsbawm, ‘cold war’ was the constant confrontation of the two super powers which emerged from the Second World War. At that time the entire generation was under constant fear of global nuclear battles. It was widely believed that it could break out at any moment. (Hobsbawm, 1994) The consequences of the ‘power vacuum’ in central Europe, created by the defeat of Germany, gave rise to these two super powers (Dunbabin, 1994). The world was divided into two parts. The USSR controlled the zone occupied by her Red Army or other communist armed forces. On the other hand, USA exercised control and dominance over the rest of the capitalist world as well as the western hemisphere and the oceans. (Hobsbawm, 1994) It is rather very difficult to argue that a particular country like the USA has won the cold war completely. Cold war gave birth to lots of problems in the world. During the cold war period, various events occurred subsequently. So the whole period was a combination of different issues and various factors related to it. Yet, evaluating the climax and the aftermath situation of the cold war, it can be argued that USA and its allies have succeeded to a great extent. On the other hand, as a consequence of the cold war...
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...Everett Smith The United States economy was greatly stimulated by the War of 1812, even more so than World War I. The depression was brought to an end and new industrial buildings were built all over the United States. Spared by the physical destruction of the war, the US economy dominated the world economy. After about four years of military buildup, the US had also become the leading military power. The position of the United States as world leader was more obvious now than ever. Economically, the war effected American society as many workers were frozen in their jobs and could not join the armed services. The ones that lost their jobs were the poor souls that ended up being drafted into the war. Those working made a lot of money from the overtime and premium pays but had no place to spend any of it, due to the rationing that came in stages during the war. Many food supplies were rationed, like butler, meats, etc., as well as, gas tires and clothing. Most all Industries had been converted to military goods, making consumer goods extremely hard to come by. Many War Bond rallies were held in order to stem inflation all the many excess dollars and too few goods would have caused inflation rises. In effect, the American population financed World War II by purchase of what we know today as “savings bonds”. All major industries had to expand to fulfill war requirements, Ford Motor, GM, Chrysler, etc, 1 These...
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...people in foreign soils, expatriation, and international education. Nevertheless, the U.S foreign policy has been a subject of heated controversy for decades now. The U.S foreign policy has taken numerous approaches to major issues across the world especially the ones that have the capacity to directly impact on its people. After the American Revolution, America is believed to have employed a non-intervention approach to global issues. This implies that America did not involve its forces in issues affecting the international community. Historical review reveals that the First World War did not affect the U.S foreign policy significantly. After the 1st World War, America embarked on activities geared towards increasing its supremacy and military might. By the Second World War, American military strength had increased tremendously positioning the country as a super power. The status of a super power meant that the America could no longer brush off issues affecting the...
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...The cold war took place from 1947 to 1989. The term “Cold War” was first used by an American journalist called Walter Lippman. The reason that this term was used was because the war could not be described in the same way “conventional” war. The term was really used to describe the mistrust that existed between the two superpowers, The USA and The Soviet Union. However it is no argued that the war was just like any others but it was fought over other peoples countries and caused destruction for others rather than the two sates actually "at war” There was a huge amount of mistrust between these two major powers which is strange as they had been allies against Germany in the Second World War which had only ended a few years earlier. This alliance was one of mutual need in order to defeat the Germans and once the war was over a massive rift opened between the two countries because they had radically different views on world politics. This then raises the question of whether either country had any right to try and ‘influence other countries and world politics, which of course many argue they did not. Both countries wanted their politics and views to be adopted throughout the world, mainly simply for defensive purposes. The fact that that this was the main aim of the two major players in the war (and the world) meant almost by definition that the third world would be brought into the “Cold War”. The fact that both countries did not want to fire on each other for fear of total world...
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...National Power,Importance,Elements & Features: Definition: Concept of ‘Power’ in international relations is defined in terms of of state power or national power.National power means the sum of all resources available to a nation in the persuit of national objectives. There are two dimensions of national power- i) The Internal Dimension: Internal power refers the capacity to insulate from outside influence. ii) The External Dimension: External power means the capacity to control or to influence the behavior of others. Importance: National power is the currency of international relations.Each nation seeks to use its power for securing its interests.Infact international relations is a process of struggle for power.The most powerful nation would exert enormous influence in any particular international issue and try to take the situation in its favour. Historically Great Powers have shaped the international order through economic and political power,alliances,colonial hegemonies,wars and aggressiveness and such other methods,in order to perpetuate their influence.Before the second World War,some European states-Britain,France,Spain,Portugal-were considered as great powers as they largely shaped international politics.But the war hit them hard and their powers were reduced.Instead,two other non-European nations-the USA and the USSR-emerged as the two superpowers after the war,and began to exert their influences in international politics and shape the world according...
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...The conclusion of WWII crystallized several aspects of Cold War ideology and greatly changed wartime alliances for generations to come. A world once dominated by European power in countries such as Germany, France, and England, were now shifted to the United States and Soviet Union as the two leading super powers. The struggle between the two countries to illustrate dominance greatly lied in determining whether the Soviet Union’s Communism, or the United States Democracy, would emerge as the stronger government—two completely different governments based on very separate principles and views of society. Alliances in Europe also greatly shifted as Western countries built necessary alliances to counter obvious build up of military strength in the Soviet Union. With the Soviets consistently hostile military action, the United Stated, Canada, Britain, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (Gienapp & Heyman, 2005). The United States and Canada entering into NATO in 1949 is one example of how American Cold War policies and practices influenced international relations. America’s Cold War policies held true in ensuring to assist any and all countries in combating Communism in many way they could, financially and militarily. The overall shift in world powers and the fight between Communism and Democracy led to a shift in global military and government dominance. Alliances changed, policies and practices were greatly influenced and...
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...World War II was the most significant period in the 20th century. It caused the breakdown of the european empires, it cost more money, damaged more property far more than any other war in history. The Cold War was a state influenced by geographical factors after World War II causing striking out for advantage or expansion not only in Europe but all over the world. How is LOTF informed by the politics of the time during which Golding wrote it? Golding wrote LOTF in a noteworthy period of time that our world went through. The Cold War was influenced by World War II, from 1947 to 1991 the world experience the probability of a nuclear war. Why is this event still important today? The Cold War was the first time the world could have been destroyed...
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...How far do you agree with the view that the origins of the Cold war in 1945 and 1946 owed much to ideological differences and little to personalities and conflicting national interests? The three allied powers had been together fighting against hitler but once the Second World War ended problems between the big three started to appear. I believe that these problems which led later on in 1945 were a cause for the leaders personalities and each nation's national interests not due to ideological differences. The personalities of each of the leaders were definitive for the cold war as we can see how some did not want o could negotiate, also national interests was one of the main causes for the Cold war as for example Russia was looking for expansion for protection and USA was looking for Communist containment. However, I do not think that ideological differences was not one of the main reasons for the cold war as if it was one of the main reasons there would have been a war before with the Russians, however, it is true that their different ideologies caused tension to rise. Firstly, ideology was not at all the main role for the cause of the cold war. I believe that it was just a simple cause for the rise of tension between Russia and the West. If different ideologies owed a lot to The Cold war I think that there would have happened a war earlier or a “hot war” would have occurred. On the other hand, we could also say that their ideological differences clashed, suspicion and...
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