Cold War: The Relations Between The United States And Russia

Relations between the United States and the Soviet Union have always been complicated. Over the entire 20th century they have been close allies to bitter rivals. The stark differences in each of their political systems prevented the USA and the USSR from maintaining a close political friendship and understanding, and even to the very edge of war.

Despite the unsuccessful past during the Cold War years between the United States and the Soviet Union, President Ronald Reagan and his counterpart the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev during the 1980s should have focused on bright future by reducing the nuclear arms, because having a partnership, friendship and the common goal will move two nations toward success. On 1985, in an effort to improve the international situation, the United States and the Soviet Union have decided to hold a meeting in Switzerland, Geneva. It was a first official meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, to discuss reductions in nuclear weapons and talk about future partnerships. Geneva Summit led on to four further meetings in 1986 Reykjavik, in 1987 in Washington, Moscow in 1988, and the last one in New York Harbour in 1988.

The Cold War was the name given to the time period from 1945 to 1991. After World War II, tensions began between the United States and the Soviet Union. Fighting between the United States and Soviet Union did not happen directly against each other. Instead they fought with arms races, space races, and spying. Both superpowers set aside their differences to defeat Adolf Hitler, even before the war the United States distrusted the Soviet Union. The United States disliked the way the Soviet Union ran government. They believed that the Soviet Union wanted to overthrow the non-communist governments.

The people in power also play a role in what happens and what strategies to use. Currently the crisis between the Unites States and North Korea is starting to resemble the Cold War. Both nations are threatening nuclear attack, although the current political leaders might not think that just threats are enough and could decide to take action. Also many other nations are rising to power politically economically so they are less likely to fall because of economic instability like the Soviets did during the Cold

The Cold War was the state of military and political tension between Western countries, especially the United States, its NATO allies, and the communist nations, particularly the Soviet Union and other satellite states. The war began after World War II had got to an end.

Shortly after the end of World War II in 1945, the Cold War began. This war was between the major powers of the United States and Russia. The Cold War was not a traditional war which involved direct use of military. Instead, this war was an indirect war between the two nations to build the largest atomic weapons. America, a free capitalistic country, main goal was to stop the spread of communism and totalitarian which defined the Soviet Union government. Tensions between America and Russia were already high because of past conflicts between the nations. The Red Scare had occurred in America in the 1920s, evoking fear in the hearts of domestic business leaders who feared an economy controlled by a political workers organization. Many of these

After the Cold War, the United States (US) and Soviet Union remained the top two superpowers. As the Cold War progressed, the ideological battle was often fought in countries that held little physical strategic value. One such country was Vietnam, an Indochina region that was historically under French control. During the 1960’s and 70’s, however, there was also influence by China over Vietnam. The Soviet Union attempted to gain control within third world countries as well. Consequently, since the US adopted a protectionist attitude toward the world, they had no choice but to intervene as well. While this relatively insignificant location was an obscure location for the US to attack, it fit perfectly into the context of the cold war. As an ideological battle for supremacy, the US felt that it was integral to offer relentless support to the anti-communist forces in an effort to undermine the influence of both China and the Soviet Union. Similarly, the Communist presence in the third world was also important to the Soviets throughout the cold war. Despite facing domestic problems and a resilient Northern Vietnamese opponent, the United States and Lyndon b. Johnson persisted in fighting a war of attrition mainly due to strong international political pressure to support democracy and eliminate communism.

Rivalries exist between nations based on political and philosophical differences, the dynamic between the soviets and the United States was tense because of their ability to foil one another in these aspects. Conflicts between the Soviets and the Americans dates back much further than the Second World War . The American foreign policy prior to World War 2 was based upon the theory of isolationism. Communism was one of the main factors in changing the American foreign policy to one that was much more inclusive. The US felt that they could not afford to be isolationists any longer because of the growing fear of the Soviets and the spread of communism . In 1939, the Soviet Union began to invade Poland and other Baltic

The political issues between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 20th century resulted in global complications. Each of the major powers were attempting to spread their respective ideologies to emerging countries all around the world. While there was never any physical fighting, during the Cold War period the US and the USSR were always on the threshold, ready to fight. Nasser, Egypt’s president, was an independent leader who sought to develop Egypt’s economy and country. In order to do this he did not desire the engagement of foreign powers, but these goals required money that he did not have. As a result, he was forced to ally with either the US or USSR. The sole purpose of this alliance would be he could receive more benefits

Rivalries exist in every aspect of the world; they highlight the differences between the philosophical, the operational and the political factors of each party. Similar to any other industries, there are always going to be rivalries; Geopolitics is no different. Rivalries exist between nations but the consequences are obviously dramatically different and far worse and no rivalry in the world could ever be compared to the one between the United States and the Soviet Union that took place in the second half of the 20th century. After World War II, Germany was separated and was ruled by different European countries along with the United States; the eastern part was controlled by the Soviet Union where the Unites States, France and the United Kingdom ruled the Western part. The enormous differences between the States and the Soviet Union created the Cold War, which was a big threat to the well being to the entire world mainly because each party was going toe to toe with one another. It was similar to a game of chess, where they destroy each other piece by piece. During World War II, the U.S. created a nuclear weapon, which was launched on two Japanese cities and later led to the surrender of Japan and the end the war.

Contemporary international relations is a complex field. Understanding events and attempting to make sense of them can be a daunting task. There are, however, tools available, which can assist in providing clarity to these complex issues. The first of these tools is historic knowledge. Without historic background of an issue, it is nearly impossible to understand the events driving that issue in modern times. A second tool, the one which will be the focus of this paper, is international relations theory. Theory can be defined as “a belief, policy, or procedure proposed or followed as the basis of action,” (Merriam-Webster) and can be used “in many cases as a basis of prediction.” (Mingst 56) There are three major theories which we

This article from The Post and Courier discusses the possible emergence of another Cold War with Russia. Concerns regarding the emergence of such a war arose following a meeting that occurred in mid-April between Russia and NATO. During this meeting, Russia reportedly condemned the actions taken by NATO in order to strengthen its defenses in Eastern Europe by stating that they were “a threat to Russia.” Concern has also risen after Russia’s talk regarding the use of nuclear weapons. Additionally, Russia’s significant “improvements” to its military over the past three years have further increased fear regarding their future intentions. Defense Secretary Carter released a statement to the press regarding Russia’s

The decolonization is a process in which colonies becomes independent of the colonizing country. This process can be as violent as peaceful and most of the revolutions emerging from decolonization were lead by a strong nationalism (Collins English Dictionary, 2007). After World War II, most of the European countries did not have enough economic and political stability to sustain to the different revolts taking place in their colonies and to help them to improve social and economic developments. But, it was inconceivable, for economic reasons, for these European countries to let their colonies being independent. Only, USA and the Soviet Union took positions against colonialism. On both sides, decolonization was unavoidable because of their political convictions. Thus, these two superpowers influence the decolonization process to achieve to their common goal: each state should be independent from any other form of power (Beyond empire and nation: Decolonizing societies in Africa and Asia 1930s-1970S, Amsterdam 2012). However, the conflict between USSR and USA during the Cold war affected the decolonization process of many different countries. How did the Cold war between USA and the Soviet Union had an impact on the decolonization process? To answer to this question understanding the role of the two superpowers, during this period in the world, is important. Than, in a second hand, the example of Indo-China’s decolonization will help us to highlight the mains impacts of the

Nuclear Parity as a concept started prevailing in International relations in Cold War era. According to the Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms by US Department of Defense (2005):

This paper will talk about how international relations changed after the cold war in four parts. The first part will be talking about environment. The second part will be talking about religion. The third part is sovereignty. The fourth part will have changes in statehood. The fifth part will talk about gender and then the conclusion.