The end of the Cold War marked the conclusion of a great geopolitical and ideological struggle between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The manner in which the war ended was historically unusual and unlike any other before it. The bipolar nature of the international system - which had defined the war - ended peacefully. Furthermore, unlike after previous wars, the international system - or, at least, the main pillars of that system - were not overturned. In fact, as I will argue in this essay, the world system that the United States of America created after the Second World War remained in place throughout the 1990s. In other words, the end of the Cold War only served to consolidate and expand the core principles of this system …show more content…
When the Cold War ended, the logic of the American system was extended to the larger global system. The system aimed to encourage globalisation, integration and democratisation. The founding of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are evidence of the attempt to normalise these concepts internationally. Moreover, the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the reaffirmation of American alliances in East Asia also served to consolidate the post-war liberal international system. Nuclear weapons ensured stability within this expanding system by making war between the major states unlikely. Few observers expected the end of the Cold War to facilitate the continuation and expansion of a pre-existing international system. Perhaps this explains, in part, why Hobsbawm (1994) describes the international landscape of the 1990s as 'unclear ' and akin to 'global …show more content…
After the sudden conclusion of the Cold War, this international order led by the United States survived and provided the organisational logic of the post-Cold War system. International liberalism was escalating rapidly. Democracy and markets flourished throughout the world, globalisation was acknowledged as a progressive historical force, whilst the incidence of ideological and nationalist sentiment fell. Existing institutions were strengthened and new ones, such as the European Union, were founded. Newly market-oriented developing countries - or 'emerging markets ' - became increasingly incorporated into the
1. Identification and evaluation of sources This investigation, examining certain events of the Cold War, will answer the question: To what extent did President Ronald Reagan’s actions aid in the end of the Cold War? The Cold War was a war between the United States and the Soviet Union that took place from 1947 to 1991. During that time several United States presidents took office, one of the last being Ronald Reagan whose actions have been argued to have been more influential than the rest and impactful toward the downfall of the ongoing war with the Soviet Union.
During the 1950’s, Australia had experienced its very own cold war drama, which came to be known as the Petrov affair. An event shrouded in a veil of secrecy along with a convoluted romanticism that painted a picture of democracy being triumphant over the evils of communism. This affair provides a platform to examine Australia’s cold War Psyche, revealing a level of existing paranoia that was further intensified by these revelations of spy rings infiltrating the annals of the Australian political system. However, the extent of Soviet espionage activities within Australia during this period becomes arguable, when considering that the communist hysteria was being driven by the Menzies government, fervently pushing the ‘Red’s Under the Bed’ wheelbarrow
Post War Document Based Question Historical Context: As World War II came to an end, a new conflict emerged between the United States and the Soviet Union. This conflict, known as the Cold War, affected many regions of the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Task: Using information from the documents and your knowledge of global history, Write the questions that follow each document in Part A.
Post World War II America was one of the most militarily active periods in American history, having been involved in three wars, spanning roughly from 1947 to 1992, in order to stop the spread of communism. Overall, the United States permanently broke its previous isolationist policy in an attempt to promote democracy throughout the world; however, the wars proved to have serious negative effects on America. America was impacted by the military involvement in the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and the Korean War. Shortly after the end of World War II, America and Russia, the two super world powers emerging from the war, divided various parts of Eurasia—namely Germany and Korea—between themselves. Following America’s decision to maintain world
Before Reagan’s election in 1980, the United States and the Soviet Union experienced détente, or a period of relaxed tension. However, Reagan was harsh on the Soviet Union, adopting a harsh anti-communism policy. By doing so, Reagan was able to help end the Cold War and cause the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Reagan saw the Soviet Union as being “prepared to commit any crime, to lie, to cheat”, and that they were “the focus of evil in the modern world” (Kennedy, 690).
The Cold War was a time when The United States not only secured it’s place as an influencer of international affairs, but explored its new standing as a rival to other world leaders. Immediately following World War 2, The USSR and America’s relationship began to dissolve as fundamental differences in basic beliefs for government and military organization became clear, and without a common enemy to unite the two, tension and conflict would separate the superpowers for almost 45 years. The policy of containment, The Truman Doctrine, and NSC-68 would each play a pivotal role in the Unites States stretching its hand of democracy into foreign lands, and using military force against the regimes that began to stand in freedom’s way. Beginning in 1946, the Policy of Containment was proposed by George Kennan in a document now titled, The Long Telegram. He presented his hopes that the United States would attempt to keep communism and regimes within their current borders.
Do you ever wonder find yourself wondering how we lived in a world without the internet, smartphones, and televisions? This new world of technology that we live in today is do to the globalization “super story”, which enables us to put things in ways we, individually, can comprehend. Thomas Friedman, an American journalist and three time Pulitzer Prize winner, suggest in his article “Globalization: The Super Story”, that the world has shifted from the international Cold War system to the new international system of Globalization. In other words, the world has adapted to a system of integration rather than divide. Overall, I perceived the article to be terrifying convincing, yet, upon further review I discovered to issues and lack of empathy from Friedman 's point of view.
The end of the Second World War brought dramatic changes to the world, including the role of the United States. In an effort to maintain a global position of dominance, the nation engaged in a Cold War with the Soviet Union. While Americans supported a capitalistic model of society, the Soviets supported a Communist one. These two world powers fought to exchange socioeconomic models for alliance and support from third-world countries. The US was frightened by the spread of Communism, especially to their own nation.
The Cold War led to an internationalist approach in the United States’ foreign policy. It allowed the United States to help other countries while curbing Russian influence in the world. The long telegram inspired the idea of containment and fueled tensions between Russia and the United States. “While Kennan believed that the Russians could not be dislodged from control of eastern Europe, his telegram laid the foundation for what became known as the policy of ‘containment,’ according to which the United States committed itself to preventing any further expansion of Soviet power” (Foner 893). The idea of
To examine the Cold War consensus, one must discuss the Cold War. The Cold war was the tension between the United States, standing for capitalism, and the USSR, standing for totalitarianism and socialism, following World War II. Although it was not a physical war between the two superpowers, many proxy wars had came out of it as way to spread or combat communism throughout the Free World. The Free World, as the U.S. came to define it, did not necessarily mean free as countries were being ruled by military regimes and dictatorships, but free from communism(70). During the Cold War, the spread of communism frighted the American People.
Henry Kissinger is a former United States Secretary of State who served under the Nixon and Ford administrations. While his approach to foreign affairs have been controversial to some, regardless of one’s opinion of his policies, one cannot deny that he is one of the most prominent and influential statesmen of the Cold War. After Jimmy Carter took office in 1976, Kissinger left and took on a more consolatory role in foreign affairs. Since then, he has written a few books, the latest being World Order, from which this Wall Street Journal article is adapted. His premise is that the world order forged during the Cold War and its immediate aftermath is starting to fall apart.
All wars affect and impact countries, it leaves an indelible imprint on the people and the nation it touches. Ever since the end of World War II (1939-1945) and The Cold War (1947-1991), it has made changes in the international balance of power leaving the United States of America to be one the countries to be in charge and dominate the world’s political scene. The results and effects of the wars had a profound impact on the U.S and made them take a greater interest in the Middle East, appreciating the strategic value of the region and the benefits it would provide them. Therefore, the Middle East played a very crucial role to the United States. Many events also lead the U.S to expand their security presence in the region, as well as growing
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 was a major event in world history that had far-reaching consequences. It not only affected the countries of the former Soviet Union, but also had a significant impact on global trade and military spending. This essay will explore how the collapse of the Soviet Union affected trade and military spending globally, including its impact on the arms race, the global balance of power, and the economic policies of Western countries. The collapse of the Soviet Union had a significant impact on the arms race and military spending globally. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a massive arms race that consumed huge amounts of resources and drove up military spending around the world.
Globalization, as observed in today’s modern era, is very much profound in our society. It is commonly defined as the increasing incorporation and interdependence of domestic and overseas markets heartrending the world or others say- interconnectedness of states as general. We can view this in all possible aspects not only in the field of economics but also in terms of politics, arts, sciences, technologies, and culture. This let us exist in an epoch ‘when the walls started falling all around the world, and integration, and the backlash to it, went to a whole new level’ as what Friedman says in his book. In the international arena, globalization had undeniably become the soul of every state to maintain its connections to other states as evident but more than that, we can also see individuals being affected by this so called ‘world-changer’.
Globalization, regionalization, international integration are the main trends in international contemporary reality. All countries of the world to a greater or lesser extent, have resorted to international cooperation, creating strong commercial, political and cultural relations. The activities of powerful transnational corporations, integration associations and international organizations lead to the erosion of economic borders and formation of a single world market. United States, are both relatively independent and closely related to the rest of the world. That is why this country fully experiences the impact of globalization processes occurring in the world and actively operates in the market, interacting with other powerful actors of the international arena, in particular with the Russian Federation.