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Realism In The Proxy War

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The Cold War is a term used to describe the relationship between the USA and the USSR (Soviet Union) after the World War II. It is the period of time from 1947 to 1991 when ideologies of USA and USSR – which are capitalism and communism – clashed against each other. Also, both sides aimed for the hegemony position and power expansion. The dissolution of the Soviet Union marked the end of the Cold War, precisely on December 26th, 1991.
The defeat of Soviet Union left the USA as a single hegemony of the world, making it the only super power country with no rival to be fight against for the title. It can be understood why there is no more direct conflict between the great powers. Although there was no direct war between the USA and the Soviet Union, “proxy wars” have been happening since then. Proxy war is a conflict which happen because it is incited by major powers without them actually engaged in it. In this case, either the USA and the Soviet Union assist their allies on fighting the …show more content…
Constructivism assumes that states’ identities is depends history, culture, social, and politic. Those identities which are linked with norms, cultures, and institutions, are the base of choices and actions. Therefore, states’ preferences and actions are also based on the identity of the state (Hopf, 1998). Since constructivists view state's identities not only socially constructed, but also historically, and the U.S. are tight on the nuclear arms race with Russia, the Chernobyl accident is suitable to be inserted for an instance. It is a historic event that affects the decision-making process of Russia. Russian nuclear physicist Evgeny Velikhovt said that the Chernobyl accident gives Russia a clear image of how a nuclear war would be like and put forward the thoughts to ease the nuclear arms race with the United States (Gardels,

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