Containment: The American Way

The Cold War had a significant impact on American foreign policy, changing it substantially in both attitudes to social and economic factors. The heavy influence of a difference in political standing between the Soviet Union and the United States, in conjunction with the high tensions that followed in the post war period, set the foundations for American foreign policy to adapt and change to better suit the developing political agender of the time. Socially, the two sides were heavily split, with the Soviet Union seeking communist support and allies whilst the US sought to counter their progress in a similar manner. Economically these relations with foreign countries that either joined the eastern or western blocs helped to further the

During the cold war, the United States engaged in many aggressive policies both at home and abroad, in which to fight communism and the spread of communist ideas. Faced with a new challenge and new global responsibilities the U.S. needed to retain what it had fought so strongly for in World War II. It needed to contain the communist ideas pouring from the Soviet Union while preventing communist influence at home, without triggering World War III. With the policies of containment, McCarthyism, and brinkmanship, the United States hoped to effectively stop the spread of communism and their newest threat, the Soviet Union.

Throughout the mid to late twentieth century the United States was extremely concerned with their foreign policy due to mishaps that surfaced as a result of lazy administration when dealing with communism. As an example, one mishap was how the Truman Administration dealt with China after the KMT surfaced following WWII. Instead of immediately defending the People’s Republic of China, the United States stayed mostly secluded and independent and let China slip into the favor of the KMT. This was an example of the United States’ being too moderate in their foreign policy. However, on the other hand, there were examples where the United States was too aggressive in their foreign policy. An example of this was how the US chose to dealt with North

Communism has resulted in a poor quality of life, poor economy, and oppression of its people. In order to retain power, communist countries have needed to remove civil dissent and would result in imprisonment or murder of its citizens (Williams). In fact, more than sixty five million people were murdered by the USSR, nearly thirty five million were murdered by Communist China, and a number of Southeast Asian and Eastern European countries account for ninety seven million murders (Williams). The U.S which was founded on capitalism and free markets, protection of private property, and protection of individual rights has developed policies to oppose the spread of worldwide communism (Hughes). Consequently, the U.S has engaged directly in military

A war of iron curtains, iced words, and constant fear; the cold war. After world war two the world was split into three sides. The Soviet Union and China became Communist. They entered into a cold war with the U.S, Canada and Australia who were fearful of this new governmental system. Africa and South America where the only major countries to remain neutral. The US used several ways of trying to contain Capitalism. Among these the best examples are protecting countries they considered ‘free’ from communist treats, Aiding needy countries to ensure they didn’t turn to communism, and the threat of missiles.

Imagine if you lived in a place where you had no freedom and was ruled by a terrible man named Joseph Stalin. That is what it was like in many countries until America’s policy of containment. The United States made a policy of containment because they didn’t like the idea of communism. Communism is where you have no freedoms and you were under the rule of a dictator. The three main reasons for how did the US contain communism are: the Berlin airlift, Korean war, and finally the missile blockade in Cuba.

Since the U.S. was founded (July 4th 1776) the U.S. has been at war constantly. Although this may not be believable to some readers, the U.S. has been at war for 93% of its existence (222 out of the 239 years). Out of the many wars the U.S. has been a part of, the Cold War had the potential to be the most dangerous. Even though The Soviet Union and the U.S. were a part of an alliance in World War II, recently after this war ended the U.S. and the Soviets were not on good terms. The U.S. believed in following the political and economic system of capitalism, the Soviets strongly believed in communism. While the United States was content with the Soviets believing in communism, what the U.S. did not find acceptable was the Soviets attempt to spread communism. The real question is, how can the U.S. stop these countries, when they had such straight forward leaders? To bribe countries in Eastern Europe to not dive into communism, the U.S. created the Truman Doctrine and the

Following World War Two, the two legitimate world powers were the United States and the Soviet Union. With the Soviet Union under a communistic government and the United States being a nation founded in Capitalism, tensions between the two nations rose, resulting in the Cold War. Against the wishes of the United States, small countries in East Asia began to turn communist. Fear that one country turning would have a chain reaction turning many more, the United States turned to a policy of ‘containment’. This policy was tested in the Korean War and would be again tested in the Vietnam War. Starting as a War with the communist North Vietnam against South Vietnam and the French,

The role of America at the end of World War II was where the origins of policing the world originate. America had been engaged in a very costly war in terms of dollars as well as lives. But, despite the expense the United States came out of World War II better than any other nation that was involved. The Second World War was a battle between the Allied and Axis Powers. The Allied Powers consisted of the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, China, and France. This war was seen as the fight against Nazi Germany, and therefore resulted in a majority of the battles fought on German and Russian soil. The aftermath left the Soviet Union in bad shape. Close to twenty million Russians

American foreign policy has gone through many changes during our 200 years as an independent nation; our position as a global power has obligated us to participate in world affairs, even when public opinion has been unsupportive. After World War 2 we were only rivaled by the Soviet Union as a superpower; our policy at the time was to establish a righteous world order while simultaneously protecting that order against threats that could tear it down (i.e.: communism). After the end of the cold war the U.S was indecisive on what type of foreign policy to establish for itself, since American diplomacy before the end of the Cold War was centered on fighting the spread of communism. The answer to this question came within the academic article I

other countries to adopt communism. The United States was on a mission to stop communism from spreading. The most distressing part of this conflict is that both countries had nuclear weapons all over the world backing their words. (Vandenberg 518)

After WWII, the threat of the spread of communism was on the minds of many democratic powers. When tensions rose between the United States and the Soviets, a policy of containment was enacted and can be defined as, “A United States policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. A component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge communist influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, and Vietnam”(Boundless.com).

The United States and the Soviet Union were involved in Cold War, after World War II, that is, between the year 1945 and 1990 when it ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union. This war was unique because it was no combative. In the absence of direct confrontation and fighting between the two sides, Proxy wars took over, which meant that they supported the regional wars fought by their respective allies. Consequently, the United States throughout its different regimes sought to face out communism from its government, which was an economic, social and political ideology for the Soviets, contrary to capitalism, which the Americans subscribed to. In view of that, discussed below will be, the effects of both the Cold War and the fight against communism on the Americans, as well as cases of Proxy wars witnessed in the surrogate countries.

Over the 20th century contention over capitalism and communism took a strong hold on foreign affairs. From the American experience in the Cold War, lessons regarding ideology and the inclination to dominate as a world power may be formed. Future American foreign relations between Russia and North Korea can be inferred when considering American actions throughout The Cold War and The Vietnam War, such as the Truman Doctrine and the U.S. aid to South Vietnamese soldiers.

This rivalry created a precarious situation for the world, and “From the end of World War II until the fall of communism in the late 1980s, the Cold War rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States dominated international relations” (Thompson 38). The people of the United States supported the Cold War, but were also heightened to the fact that the conflict meant increased military tension between the two countries. In addition to the Cold War conflict with just the Soviet Union, all communist countries became part of the United States’ campaign of domination. Eventually, Cuba took a front seat in this conflict.