The legacy of the Cold War continues to influence world affairs today. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the post-Cold War world is widely considered unipolar, with the United States as the sole remaining superpower. The Cold War defined the political role of the United States in the post–World War II world: by 1989 the U.S. held military alliances with 50 countries, and had 1.5 million troops posted abroad in 117 countries. The Cold War also institutionalized a global commitment to huge, permanent peacetime military-industrial complexes and large-scale military funding of science. Following the Cold War, Russia cut military spending dramatically, and the adjustment was wrenching, as the military-industrial sector had previously employed one of every five Soviet adults and its dismantling left hundreds of millions throughout the former Soviet Union unemployed. After Russia embarked on capitalist economic reforms in the 1990s, it …show more content…
Financial obligations included those necessary to avoid further dislocations while the change took place from a wartime footing to a peacetime environment. National military establishments and alliances had to be reconfigured. Highly dependent institutional frameworks were to be restructured, and new obligations were acquired by nations that were once bystanders to the East-West confrontation. In the wake of the Cold War, freed or newly-founded nations inherited expenses, commitments, and resources for which they were not prepared. The successor states also found themselves with contemporary national-security burdens and substantial environmental contamination legacies, all to be financed while new or revised civilian economies had to be instituted. Since the superpowers carried much of the confrontational burden, both Russia and the United States ended up with substantial economic
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
After World War II, only two world superpowers remained: the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The contradictory political regimes of the democratic United States and the communist Soviet Union were believed to be mutually exclusive which increased bitterness between them. Inevitably, the apparent tension between the two superpowers led to the Cold War which lasted about 45 years. It was war without bloodshed or battle, instead it was a metaphorical war where the U.S and the Soviet Union increased their weapons and fought for political influence, one always wanting to excel or maintain within the range of the other. The United States’ desperate need to contain the communist political ideology from spreading any further and meet the Soviet Union’s increased development of nuclear weapons led to the their involvement in the Cold War. The impact the Cold War had on life during the 1950’s and 1960’s can be measured through the creation of the House Un-American
Brands' purpose for writing this book was to inform the reader of actions taken before, during, and after the Cold War. After World War II, the United States and Russia were the only two remaining world powers. Each had a conflicting method of government, which ultimately led to the Cold War. The two superpowers were at the center of attention for the better part of
After the end of World War II on September 2, 1945, a new era called the Cold War began. The Cold War was a non-violent state of political and military tension between the democratic and capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union: two of the biggest powers of the world at the time. However, they were drastically different in both economy and politics, allowing rivalry to build up. They both wanted to become the most powerful nation of the world, and both feared that the other nation would rise up to become the most powerful nation of the world.
The United States developed into a world super power following World War II. Many of the Allies were deeply affected by the war financially and were struggling, thus leaving a vacuum that needed to be filled. The United States was thrust into the position of “policing” and assisting nations around the world. The Cold War was in many ways a psychological illusion however there were many factors that led to this illusion which were well founded. The Cold War stemmed from a multitude of factors, the difficult war against Nazi’s and Japan, Stalin behaviors were not trustworthy, Berlin blockade, Poland puppet government, the fall of China, the build up of arms and the birth nuclear weapons all fed fear-based anti-communist policies. In
As the biggest most tragic war known as WWII came to an end, many nations were relieved and happy. However, the happiness of these nations did not last long because a new conflict started emerging the cold war. It was tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. They both had different perspectives on the type of government. The United States believed in a democratic government while the Soviet Union believed in a communist government. This affected many nations around the world. Two nations that had a huge impact on the cold war were Europe and Asia.
As World War II came to a close, a new conflict arose among the two superpowers, Soviet Union and the United States. This conflict, known as the Cold War, affected nearly every country in the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Countries was divided between communist and non-communist countries, which caused tension, political unrest, and monetary difficulties. The Cold War was a war of words and thoughts and it was the timeframe after World War II that led to political and military tensions between democratic United States and communist Soviet Union.
The origins of the Cold War can be traced to the end of World War II. The global devastation wreaked upon several European nations during this martial conflict left only two superpowers in the world the United States and Russia. In many ways, these two countries although allied together during the Cold War were ideologically opposed to one another, for the simple fact that Russia was communist and the U.S. favored a capitalist economic system. This divergent ideology was responsible for the polarization of many of the other countries left in the world, as Russia (and its surrounding territories which became the Soviet Union) attempted to extend its Iron Curtain to gain communist allies, and the United States attempted to impede these measures by keeping as much of the free world capitalist as it possibly could. The fostering of nuclear weapons on the part of both sides which initially began towards the end of World War II (Smith 39), and several armed and near-armed conflicts (such as the Korean War, Vietnam, and the Cuban Missile Crisis) provided the political background for the struggle between these two superpowers regarding the spread of Communism.
The Cold War peaked the interest of the entire globe. Each threat, policy and action that took place had ramifications far more reaching then ever imaginable. The world sat on edge because it feared its own destruction, after the introduction of nuclear warfare at the close of World War II, another World War could result in the Earth’s demise. This fear ran through the hearts and minds of citizens of both the United States and the Soviet Union, but it is the citizens elsewhere that had to pay the consequences for these fears. The “race” to become the premier superpower of the world between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. did not always remain as subsided as many like to believe. Many regions of the world were held accountable
Following the end of World War Two (WWII), the United States as well as much of the western world was thrust into the escalating crisis which came to be known as the Cold War. As this new threat emerged looming over the United States and its NATO
The time period between 1945 and 1991 is considered to be the era of the Cold War. The Cold War, known as the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, each known during this time as the "super powers". This conflict consisted of the differing attitudes on the ideological, political, and military interests of these two states and their allies, exte nded around the globe. A common political debate covers the issue of who, if anyone won the Cold War. Many believe the United States won the Cold War since (it) had resulted in the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union. While others are to believe the United States had not won it as much as the Soviet Union had lost it since they feel Reagan did not end the Cold War, but that
After World War II, the USSR and United States engaged in an unprecedented conflict called the Cold War. Despite the armaments being produced, this war was not directly fought with thousands of soldiers or massive weapons. An enormous rise in tensions created a competition between the two countries for diplomatic, economic, cultural, and military dominance. Of course, nothing was official until President Harry Truman and Winston Churchill worked together to form a partnership of anti Soviet aggression. The Truman Doctrine and Iron Curtain Speech officially started the Cold War, initiated worldwide indirect fighting, and ended the United States’ well-established policy of isolationism.
The Cold War was an adverse rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. Beginning after the Second World War, the Cold War lasted from about 1946 until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The war was considered "cold" only in that the United States and USSR never physically fought each other in a direct military battle, but both superpowers threatened each other with nuclear obliteration and participated frequently in proxy wars by supporting allied nations in numerous "hot" wars in places like Korean, Vietnam, and Angola. During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union were temporary allies, only setting aside their differences to defeat a common enemy, the Nazi party.
(Mearsheimer 1990,"Why We Will Soon Miss The Cold War"). This factor was now no longer present, although some scholars argue that this era is characterised by unipolarism (i.e. US hegemony), rather than multipolarism. From wars between states to wars withinstates The vast majority of conflicts before and during the Cold War were between states. In the post-Cold War period the number of interstate wars decreased, and new threats occurred, such as ethnic conflicts, rise of nationalism, global threats to the environment and terrorism.
After World War II, continuing tensions between the United States of America and primarily, the Soviet Union caused the Cold War. The Cold War lasted from 1945 to 1991, the Cold War is defined as a bitter, typically non-military conflict between the two superpowers, the Soviet Union and America. The Soviet Union and the United States had contrasting views about most things, including political systems, economic systems and societal values. At the end of the Cold War, the U.S was declared victorious but they outcomes were anything but successful. If aspects like the least amount of casualties and who has the most money dictate victory, is it really victory? In fact, millions died due to the cold war and many were harmfully affected on both sides and these outcomes could have easily been avoided if instead of concluding that war was the only option, the two superpowers could promote peace rather than emphasizing on differing values. Lessons that should be learned from the Cold War are that ideological differences are not sufficient enough to declare war and that taking over nations does not make a country stronger or better.