Effects Of The Cold War Essay

Cold War Legacies

What were the main effects of the Cold War on the world and humanity?

The cold war stemmed from a deep rivalry between superpowers America and the Soviet Union. Escalated by a lack of trust from each party and threats of nuclear warfare the cold war affected the security of the whole world and humanity. The main effects of the cold war are often seen as ‘legacies’ left by the war, and are most evident in international systems, politics, economics, warfare, and the failure of human rights.

The cold war resulted in a change of international systems. The period during the Cold War, 1945-1989, was known as a period of bipolarity, however after the Cold War the world moved to the current system of unipolarity. During the

The establishment of the united nations was meant to emphasis the protection of human rights following the horror of WW2. However, its lack of action and power during the Cold War made it a complete failure. “human rights were paid little more than lip service in the international arena. The UN effectively turned a blind eye to human rights violations in both the East and the West.” After the Cold War humanity no longer accepted that nothing could be done to prevent Stalin’s ‘purges’ or the discrimination against African American’s in the US. Most importantly, the Berlin wall is made significant for more than showing the divide of ideologies, it also represented the oppression of human rights. People were torn apart from their families, kidnapped and taken to labor camps, and even sold for money to West Germany. Andres Apelt, a historian says “"Between 1964 and 1989 some 33,755 political prisoners and 250,000 of their relatives were sold to West Germany, for a sum totaling 3.5bn Deutschmarks" Suffice to say, the Cold War affected how people viewed organizations meant to fight for their rights and their belief in a fair world. Governments around the world would probably do little to stop their violence when seeing such an organization fail to exert its