Cold War example essay topic

In August 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima an Nagasaki, bringing World War II to a close. Some 150,000 people died during the initial blasts on the two cities, and many more died from radiation sickness later. The bombing of Hiroshima was the first use of atomic weapons the world had never seen. The detonation set off a decades-long nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union; the Cold War.

It cost both countries billions of dollars, created a global atmosphere of fear and mistrust, and eventually led to the downfall of the Soviet Union. Not to mention the lives that could have been saved putting the money to better use in programs for the poor, hungry, sick, etc. With the official fall of the Soviet Union in 1990 the Cold War had come to an end, and so did much of the worlds concern about nuclear weapons. For most of the Cold War the two super powers maintained relatively stable countries, and exercised restraint and caution when it came to the use of their large arsenals against one another. Plus the two countries were massive and were an ocean apart. Today, the world faces new threats to its stability.

More and more nations are becoming nuclear or are working on it. The states and regions acquiring these technologies are becoming less and less stable. These two things combined have become a major concern for many of the worlds nations. Countries like N. Korea, India, Pakistan, Israel (suspected have possessing undeclared weapons), and many rogue nations like Iran and Iraq, under the leadership of Hussein, that the United States fears because they act outside of international law.

In the case of Iraq and Iran, much of the technology is received from China and N. Korea, and much of that originates from the former Soviet Union, which has experienced major security problems since its dissolution. Politicians and citizens alike during the early 1970's viewed dtente as the first step towards ending the Cold War. This agreement to a cooling off of East-West tensions, initiated by U.S. President Nixon and Soviet Premier Brezhnev, gave hope for the first time that the two superpowers could coexist. In addition to political acknowledgement of each others spheres of influence, dtente consisted of armaments limitations and reductions agreements starting with SALT in 1972. Moreover, economic ties began to formulate during this era as the USSR allowed Eastern European markets to be opened to Western imports. However, the Cold War was a long way from being over.

Despite the apparent truths between the superpowers, a combination of several factors prolonged the Cold War. First, as long as the ideologies behind the two governments continued to exist as they were, the Cold War could never come to a close. More important than any other factor, either the U.S. or the USSR had to change their tenets and practices before the Cold War could come to a close. Both still sought to spread their influence around the globe, despite any agreements made in respect for each others spheres of influence. As long as the two superpowers continued in their competition for influence worldwide, the Cold War would continue to wage on.

Therefore, it seems as if that from the beginning a misunderstanding existed between the U.S. and the USSR over dtente. The U.S. believed that dtente prevented the USSR from challenging it outside its own spheres of influence. The U.S. conceded recognition of Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe and in turn expected the USSR to respect U.S. predominance in areas such as the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The Soviets, however, saw dtente as only a relaxation in relations with the U.S. (Keylor) The USSR saw competition for influence, particularly in the Third World, as an acceptable and necessary part of Soviet foreign policy and well within the provisions of dtente.

The Soviets felt justified in this approach since the U.S. had been preventing them from peacekeeping and expansion into the Middle East. As a result, regional conflicts continued to hamper the relationship between the superpowers. The Arab-Israeli conflict served to demonstrate just how volatile dtente really was. The two superpowers continued to arm and support their clients in the region, viewing the complex tangle of rivalries there through the lenses of the Cold War. (Keylor, p. 396) Aside from regional conflicts, another factor that rekindled the hatred between the superpowers was the renewal of the arms race in the late 1970's. USSR testing of a Mired missile and deployment of a new long-range bomber, the Backfire, raised concerns amongst U.S. leaders about their nations national security.

(Keylor, p. 385) Armaments tensions further heated when Soviet and American delegates failed to reach an agreement at the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) talks. At the end of 1983, the Soviet delegates waked out of the INF talks and the United States began to deploy the Pershing and cruise missiles at the designated European sites. (Keylor, p. 386-387) As both sides continued their conventional, nuclear, and strategic arms build up, it further divided them in their quest for non-proliferation. The situation that formed in Asia and the Pacific Rim after WWII was basically a battle between the West (America, capitalism) and the East (USSR, communism). The war created two super-powers in Russia and the USA.

Russia immediately began to convert all their territory gained into communist puppet governments. This caused disagreement between the US and the USSR. The US then tried to suppress the spread of communism. This started the Cold War.

When other countries turned to communism, the US would try to stop it. The situation in Asia and the Pacific Rim during the Cold War caused many political, economic, and social changes. The political changes that occurred usually involved communism. Many countries had revolutions that introduced communism. The Peoples Republic of China was taken over by Mao Zedong, and they became communist. Chain Kai-shek moved to Taiwan and started the Republic of China.

This move toward communism was one of many. Other countries to change to communistic ways were Vietnam, which caused a war that the US got involved in, Korea, which also caused a war that the US got involved in. In South Asia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh all undertook political reforms as well. India was becoming too close with the Soviets, so Pakistan let the US cut ties between India and the USSR through Pakistan.

Bangladesh, who has not had a stable government in ages, went through yet another attempt to salvage their government. This time they tried military rule. The economic changes that these countries went through were very similar. All of the countries that went to communism changed their economy totally. A lot of the time, the countries that changed to communism spent so much money on military, that they had none to spend on the people. So all of the promised goods they couldnt afford.