Cold War Essay

The Cold War—a 45-year-long rivalry between the US and USSR—was one of the most intense parts of US history. Tensions were extremely tight; one mistake in foreign policy could cost the US their freedom. Though US evasion of communism is evidence alone that US foreign policy was successful, there were other ways in which US foreign policy achieved its goals. Reagan’s pristine combination of two vastly different foreign policies as well as Truman’s containment policy proves that the United States’ foreign policy during the Cold War was successful. Looking at the Berlin Airlift, the Marshall Plan, and the Truman Doctrine can affirm the success of Harry Truman’s foreign policy of Containment during the Cold War. One instance in which Truman’s policy succeeded was during the Berlin Airlift. After World War II, the US, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union split up Berlin, each occupying roughly a quarter of it. In 1948, the US, Britain, and France wanted to combine their zones. To prevent this, the USSR cut off all supply lines to Western Berlin. In order to deliver the necessary food and supplies to Western Berlin, American and British planes flew to Western Berlin and delivered food to the people there. After almost a year of this, the Soviets lifted the blockade. Some critics might argue that a land invasion of the land in between Western Berlin and Western Germany would have been more effective. However, this would spark conflict between the United States and the