The balance of power is not only a theory crucial to the study of war and one of the most enduring concepts of international relations, but is often seen as the only reliable strategy in a world of extremely formidable and influential states. The balance of power refers to situations whereby major powers maintain equilibrium through alliances in order to ensure peace.. It is however important to note that it is difficult to explicitly define the balance of power as highlighted by Inis.L.Claude (1962, pp 85) “the trouble with the balance of power is not that it has no meaning but that it has too many meanings”. Despite a variation of interpretations, for the most part they all emphasis the same general principles and belief that states should ally with one another to prompt a world of equal ability and ensure power is distributed fairly in terms of military, economic and political, to preserve peace at an international level. In order for the balance of power to exist in an a chaotic realm, there must be no less than two states that strive for self-preservation. For some, the balance of power can be seen as a crucial factor in the political sphere that has allowed opposing states to cooperate despite any differences in culture, religion, or political ideology, and ultimately contributed to the prevention of war. In cases like the Cold War that will be discussed throughout the essay it is evident that the existence of equilibrium clearly avoided the use of force as both sides
The Cold War was a time when the U.S had many conflicts with the USSR that could have caused multiple problems worldwide. World War II had just ended in 1945. The Cold War Started almost immediately after WWII. The Soviet Union had finished the war with a bad economy and wanted to spread Communism to the world. Due to the Soviet Union wanting the spread of communism it also caused the Korean war had separated Korea into two sides from 1950-1953. (Millett, Allan R.) Then the Space Race that happened made both the U.S and USSR competitive for achievements in space. (Trustees of the Royal Air Force Museum) and the Cuban Missile Crisis that almost caused a nuclear war.(The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica) In 1947 after WWII that involved whole the world, a conflict arose between the U.S and the Soviet Union about world leadership. Many conflicts and compromises have happened in the war for example The Space Race, the Korean War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and SALT.
The Cold War was a significant time for the United States and the Soviet Union, while the rest of the world watched intently. Although no actual war took place, both of these powerful countries did their best to promote their political and ideological ideas while trying to gain some ground in the seemingly never ending arms race. This war was driven by both fear and the strive to become the strongest and most powerful country. During the time of the Cold War, the United States proved to be a strong influence over Canada. Given its location, it was obvious as to which side Canada was on. While Canada believed in the same ideologies as the US, this nation was still reluctant to fully emerge themselves into the hysteria that had been emerging in the US. However, even though Canada had just received world recognition for its contribution during the Second World War, this large yet acutely populated country had much still to prove. During this time, Canada just recently became a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). But while Canada was making huge steps in their peacekeeping and military growth, there were still rumours of espionage circling the country.
The Cold War was a state of economic, diplomatic, and ideological discord among nations without armed conflict. The Cold War was between the United States and the USSR because these were the two major powers after WWII. Basically, the Cold War was a series of proxy wars that had taken place back in time involving surrounding countries. One of the main causes for Cold War was that the Soviet Union was spreading communism and the United States didn’t like that so they were trying to contain communism. However, in the end they failed. Many events took place in other countries. In Korea, Vietnam, Latin America, and China, communism took over; however, before it did, major wars had taken place. The cold war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union worsened the condition of countries involved. The Cold War broke countries into two parts that turned against each other, the United States and the Soviet Union used these countries to fight their war and caused a big disturbance to daily life, and the Communist States fought the Non-Communist States; however, the end results of these wars only caused more damage in these countries.
Skilt took a deep breath, pulled back the arrow in his bow, aimed, and prayed to the great spirit that he would hit his target as he released his breath, and the arrow.
In the year of 1945, one major war ended while another one began. The Cold War began in 1945 just after World War II had ended and last for roughly forty-five years. The war occurred between the United States and the Soviet Union. The war was the attempt by the Allied powers to stop the spread of communism by the Soviet Union. The Allied powers did not want the Soviet Union’s form of government to take over the world. The United States was the only country that had the resources to stand up against the Soviet Union.
The Cold War is unique among war’s to be not a war between states, but a war between ideologies. The United States and other allies defend social democracy capitalism, as the pinnacle of freedom and equality; and the Soviet Union though communism was the pinnacle of equality. These ideologies manifested themselves through the superpowers, which caused the conflict between them. Both the United States, and the Soviet Union are to blame for the outbreak of the Cold War. The United State’s mission to contain communism with the Marshall Plan, personal remarks against Stalin, the creation of NATO, and the use of the atomic bomb in Japan without warning the Soviet’s, their ally in the war. On the other side, Stalin’s remarks on Churchill and Truman, the Berlin blockade, and the breaking of agreements in Poland, escalated the situation from tense to a Cold War.
There have been many conflicts and wars fought over communism and capitalism. One of the longest and intense conflicts was the Cold War. “The Cold War was a nearly 50-year long period of tense relations between the United States and the Communist-ruled Soviet Union. The Cold War began almost immediately after World War II and ended with the 1991 dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics” (Turner, 2001-2014 p.1). The Soviets fought to expand communism and destroy capitalism, but in the end capitalism was one of the reasons the Soviet Union dissolved.
How did conflicting ideas in the Cold War turn the United States into a super power and could the strategies that helped fight them help the US fight terrorism? The Cold War was lasted from 1947 to 1991, which is 45 years in combat agents the Soviet Union. Even though there was no direct combat between the two countries, they both lost millions of dollars and lives. Both sides had their own ideas of how governments should be run; the United States had the idea of a capitalist while Russia had the idea of a communist (“The Cold”). During this time, Russia was spreading its beliefs across Europe by taking over Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic), Austria, and many others (“What”).
The Cold War was an ideologically defensive battle that saw the invisible hand of the American capitalist structure in a fight against the state fist of a Soviet communist regime. The United States and the Soviet Union were the two superpowers of the post-World War II era: each had their own ideological mission (capitalist democracy versus communism), its network of alliances and third world clients, and its deadly arsenal of nuclear weapons. Europe was divided, with massive military forces of the United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies on one side and massive forces of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies on the other. Germany itself was split, divided with three-quarters of the country – and three-quarters of the capital city of Berlin – occupied by the United States, Britain, and France. The remainder, surrounding West Berlin, was occupied by the Soviet Union. In 1961, East Germany built the Berlin Wall separating East from West Berlin. It symbolized the division of Europe by what Winston Churchill had aptly called the “iron curtain.” Although Europe saw this ideologically divisive curtain firsthand, the relations of the United States and the Soviet Union would come to realize the ultimate ostentatious display of Cold War capabilities in the Caribbean island nation of Cuba.
The Cold War lasted from 1947 to 1991. The Cold War was the wars of multiple threats and possible inflation of earth but ended with invasions and hostility from nations across the world. The Soviet Union and the United States and worked together to defeat their enemies in World War two, which ended with the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The atomic bombing had left the hundreds of thousands dead as well as a new fear of the United States power. Since the United States and the Soviet Union had worked together both now contained the atom bomb blue prints, creating hostility between the two great nations. Thus, the deadly “ arms race” had begun. No only was there fear of nuclear warfare but also fear of the development of
The Cold War was an economic, ideological, geopolitical war for supremacy between the United States and the Soviet Union. Both nations would emerge from World War II as superpowers. A superpower is a nation that can control others through the power that it exerts. The problem with having two superpowers is that when they do not cooperate you create an unstable world of competition through economics and ideology. The debate on when the Cold War began continues to this day; some say the war began as early as 1917 during the Bolshevik Revolution. I do believe this revolution is significant, but I do not believe that the revolution can be the start, but more the framework for the ideological struggle that would take place after World War 2. The Cold War did not simply “start” instead the conflict began with a series of events that would make the war inevitable. These events would be the beginning of half a century of ideological, economic, and geopolitical conflict. By analyzing the beginning of the Cold War, how the Cold War stayed cold, and how the war ended, we can effectively understand how the cold war and the fragmentations left by this war have impacted foreign policy and the world in contemporary society.
The December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on the American naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, combined with Adolf Hitler’s declaring war on the United States, propelled America into World War II from 1939-1945. After War World II, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as world powers, and the competition for the restructuring of Europe and the world was on. In the race for economic expansion, Americans loyalty and patriotism was tested influencing an urge to conform. However, the following events such as The Cold War, Containment, Domino Theory, Containments failure, Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Fall of Communism all contributed to the United States emerging as a world leader and a dominant economic power in the second half of the 20th century.
Valeria Bustamante Professor Rogers INR 2002 9 November 2017 World Conflict in the 20th Century (1900-1999) Part 1. Vocabulary 1. Balance of Power System: A theory where states form alliances to offset threats and occurs when the power of several major nations is similar and arrange power in an alliance to provide a balance. For this to work, it requires at least five nations and commitment to maintain the system to function properly and have a common culture system.
The balance of power theory is viewed as critical policy in the handling of international relations. To fully comprehend how the balance
The Balance of Power is a fiercely debated topic within the realm of international relations. Its true definition has been impossible to pin down and how it manifests itself has been argued over by many academics, in addition to this the idea is divided between the schools of thought that it is a force for preserving peace or a force for tension and war. This essay will look to examine the balance of power using retrospective analysis of historical events, focusing on the lead up to and the outbreak of WWI and its conclusion and the Cold war. Through this it can be hoped to find a clearer definition of the balance of power, whether it is really a balance analogous to a set of scales and whether the balance of power is a way of preserving peace and stability or whether it is on the whole, better termed as the balance of war, creating only tension and instability.