Middle East And Russia Case Study

Although the Soviet Union and the United States fought together during World War II against the Axis Powers, the relationship between the two grew bitter going into the 1950’s Cold War. The Cold War left a dominant impact on the U.S. and American living throughout the 20th century. The fall out between the U.S. and the Soviet Union created various issues that United States dealt with (Suddath). The United States was a capitalistic country, while the Soviet Union, also known as the USSR, was lead by a strong communist influence. The expansion of Soviets into Eastern Europe fueled most of the fear the U.S. had of Russia, that they would attempt to influence many more countries.

After World War 2, faith in the United States government was at an all time high. A brief, superficial, and weak understanding of the history on the aftermath of World War 2 leads the reader to understand that not only did the United States help defeat the evil Nazis, the fascist Italians, and the imperial Japanese. In the wake of World War 2, the United States of America ended up cementing itself as a world power – if not the world power, usurping the empty throne previously held by Great Britain and subsequently sharing it with the Soviet Union. Yet as is typical, there can never be two champions. There can never be two reigning super victors – one of the two powers had to lose. So began the conflict that never was, the cold war – a global chess match of attrition. Neither the USSR nor the USA would outright engage in conflicts with one another, but in the thirst and pursuit for more influence and power, they continually opposed each other through pawn states on a global scale for approximately 44 years. This type of warfare was known as ‘proxy’ warfare, and though the dates specifically for the Cold War are not known, the common dates for the war range from 1947 to 1991. With this understanding, it can also be inferred that it was not just a war for power, it was a war of ideologies.

After U.S. had an isolationist foreign policy for a long time, U.S. has shifted its power from isolationism to the internationalism. In international relations, united states is the dominate force, which has the biggest military arsenal in the world. However, the position on how the United States should deal with terror is not only relay on the preeminent power that American security has. It also depends on the policymaker. According to James N. Rosenau, the foreign policy can be influenced by five potential resources(Michael Cox &Doug Stokes p6). There are external government, social environments, government structure, bureaucratic roles and personalities of individuals. The directions in U.S. foreign policy moves differently because

The United States and the Soviet Union had fought together as allies against Nazi Germany during World War II. When the war had ended, the Soviet Union had maintained a large presence in much of Eastern and Central Europe. Communist governments, allied with the Soviet Union, were soon established within this region. Winston Churchill, who had served as British Prime Minister during World War II, had warned that an “iron curtain” divided Western and Eastern Europe. He was fearful communism would spread through war-torn Europe. The United States and the Soviet Union were now engaged in a new period of conflict, later known as the Cold War. The United States had provided assistance to Europe in an effort to contain Soviet

In present day, the U.S. nuclear weapons and DCA (dual capable aircraft), which is used to deliver the weapons, are currently deployed in five European countries (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Turkey). In order to maintain the credibility of its assurance and deterrence, the U.S. should not withdraw its own DCA (dual capable aircraft) and its nuclear weapons from Europe. In the past years, Russia became significantly more aggressive politically and militarily. The annexation of Crimea and the “upgrades of its nuclear and conventional capabilities” are a few examples of Russian’s aggression. Sustaining the DCA and nuclear weapons is a visible demonstration of the U.S. commitment to the security of the transatlantic region and its allies.

After World War II, the United States and Soviet Russia became the world's leading superpowers. Not to mention, they were also sworn enemies. The aftermath of the war left the United States with a "booming economy, a massive military establishment, and the atomic bomb" (Davidson 749). In contrast, Soviet Russia was left in ruins. Nevertheless, Russia fought for control among Germany and Japan, who had lost their power. In the United States, people feared the rise of communism. As told by the Truman Administration, Soviet Russia would threaten national security with their struggle for power with the U.S. So saying, it was duty of the United States to stop the spread of communism.

The end of the cold war obligated the United States once again to face the old problems which weren’t based on containment of communism. Like in the aftermath of World War 2 when America’s influence in the world was expanded, the end of the Cold War did much of the same. The problem’s the Soviet Union once had of controlling and influencing smaller countries under its thumb, now were inherited by the last super power standing, which at the time was the United States. Debate began to rise on what path America should take next on foreign policy, should the U.S commit itself to small problems or hold back its fire until a greater threat emerged?

In December of 1991, the Soviet Union separated into fifteen distinctive countries. Its collapse was enthusiastically greeted by the west as a triumph for freedom. This is a victory of democracy over totalitarianism. The US celebrated as its dreadful enemy defeated, thereafter ending the Cold War, which had fought between two superpowers, America and Soviet Union, since the end of World War II. Cory Booker says, “If you look at great human civilizations, from the Roman Empire to the Soviet Union, you will see that most do not fail simply due to external threats but because of internal weakness, corruption, or a failure to manifest the values and ideals they espouse”. In reality, the disintegration of the Soviet Union

The United States watched as the Soviet Union collapsed and separated into 15 separate countries, when the Cold War came to an end in December 1991. The Soviet Union began as a socialist philosophy with the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Mikhail Gorbachev , who was the Soviet Union’s last leader, made every effort to introduce economic reform and policies, but it all ended up failing. The Baltic region began the opposition to the Soviet Government followed by nationalist movements from Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, who were requesting to succeed from the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev finally realized there was no turning back, and he resigned January 1992. It was called Commonwealth of Independent Republics caused the protests and chaos all

The United States’ role in Afghanistan began after the attack on September 11th. The U.S. entered Afghanistan with the clear purpose of retaliating for the attacks against the U.S. and preventing Al Qaeda from having a safe zone in Afghanistan. The degree and nature of US retaliation and further intervention in Afghanistan was governed by an adherence to ideologies developed in response to policies of the Clinton administration (Afghanistan, page 48). One such belief was the administration’s distaste for nation-building. Military operations in the former Yugoslavia and Haiti during the Clinton administration served to solidify the Bush administration’s position on the

The last time that the Soviet flag flew over the Kremlin in Moscow was the Christmas day 1991. At this time, only one of its 15 republics, Georgia remained as a republic of the Soviet Union, the rest had declared their independence from the USSR. The once-mighty Soviet Union had fallen, largely due to the great number of radical reforms that Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev had implemented during his six years as the leader of the USSR. However, Gorbachev was disappointed in the dissolution of his nation and resigned from his job on December 25. It was a peaceful end to a long, terrifying and sometimes bloody epoch in world history.

Throughout the Cold War, the United States aimed to contain communism all over the globe. The Middle East was a strategic location, considering that it contained a huge percentage of Earth’s oil, which was a vital resource, while the Suez Canal was a key feature, due to its geographical location. By diminishing the influence of communism in the Middle East, the United States achieved its objective of spreading its political and economic ideals. American actions in the Middle East predominantly were aligned with U.S. value of capitalism. Despite the fact that, some of these actions in this region such as Operation Ajax and the Suez Crisis, contradicted the value

In the fallout of World War II, decolonization around the world was taking place after colonial rulers had been wasted of any feasible measure to retain them. At the same time, the communist superpower of the USSR began a campaign to set up a buffer zone of satellite states, against their former allies and the emerging North American Treaty Organization (NATO). A feeling of mutual antagonism between the two created a global stalemate, and the only measurable way to demonstrate their power was in small conflicts: such as in Afghanistan for the Communists and Vietnam for the Americans. For the United States, their duel with the Communists led to a strategy to hold Communist sympathies in controllable, isolated areas. The American strategy

For better or worse, the United States, its allies, and the world are in this conflict together. On an overwhelming scale, wars are fought for the protection of a nation’s sovereignty. The ability to self-govern is dependent on a nation’s ability to protect itself from foreign aggressors. Chertoff points out that by the inauguration of President Barak Obama, in 2009, Al Qaeda went from a national-level terrorist organization, to an insurgency with no state sponsor (Chertoff 2009). This, suggests that there has been an increase in America’s ability to protect its borders from the very threat it is at conflict with. The engagement in conflict, however, benefits more than just the nation which initiates the war. During war, new alliances are formed, and old ones are reinforced. The United States is very effective at ensuring the success of our allies, to guarantee future support. The creation of the Civil Affairs branch, of the United States Army, sought to increase international relations by better preparing other countries to support America’s causes, as well as their own. “When our allies acquire U.S. government equipment, it increasingly enhances our interoperability.” (Helfer, Jones, 2011). One area that seems impaired by the GWOT is international security. Since the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, there have been nearly 100 attempted or

Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative was seen as a threat to be countered, and the Soviets started to dedicate more funds toward the military - the US was spending 15-18% of its Gross Domestic Product on the military, In early 1989, Gorbachev announced a military budget of 77.3 billion rubles, but Western authorities estimated the budget to be about twice that. They were bankrupting themselves. But, that is only one side of the