Should the USSR Be Approached without Suspicion and Mistrust - Essay Example

?Should the USSR be approached without suspicion and mistrust? President Roosevelt, in his final inaugural address, said, “We can gain no lasting peace if we approach [the USSR] with suspicion and mistrust - or with fear” (“Franklin D. Roosevelt”). The suspicion and mistrust for the USSR and the developing as well as the underdeveloped countries has historically caused America to involve herself in a lot of wars at different points in time. American economy has suffered huge losses as a result of these wars whereas the benefits obtained from this involvement have not contributed to the economic prosperity of America. Although this statement was made as part of his final inaugural address on 20 January 1945 in context of the wars America had seen and had been involved in till then, yet the statement holds very important messages and guidance for the American government even in the contemporary political scenario. There was a lot of distrust and suspicion between America, the Soviet Union, its puppet allies, and America’s allies in the Cold War period. This distrust and suspicion persisted mainly because of the long enmity between different forms of government and Communism. The two sides had incompatible goals. The important defining feature of the Cold War was the race of nuclear arms between the two super powers and high levels of espionage. The great cause of concern for the different quarters was the nuclear weapons’ unchecked proliferation. In spite of the fact that there was no direct conflict between the two superpowers, both countries had ongoing proxy wars specifically in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Korea. The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was the toughest moment that ended without being escalated into an intense warfare (Goldman and Stein). As a result of the Cold War, countries around the world were divided into First World countries, Second World countries, and Third World countries. The First World countries comprised America and its allies. The Second World countries included Soviet Union along with its allies whereas the Third World countries had no nuclear programs and were not allied with any of the two superpowers. This was essentially a psychological, political, and economic conflict between the superpowers. From 1947 to 1989, many regional hot wars happened between NATO, the USSR, America, China, and other allies. After the year 1960, China parted ways with the Soviet Union in order to establish its own alliances and to overpower the USSR in its capacity of the communist movement’s leader. During the Cold War, the tension fluctuated as the super powers went through different episodes of heightened conflict as well as of improved relations. The collapse of the overseas empire of the Soviet and the Berlin Wall’s fall marked the end of this tension on 11 November 1989. The Berlin airlift happened in the year 1948 as a result of the joint effort of the British and American air forces in response to the attempt made by Soviet to occupy Berlin entirely into the USSR. Although the airlift of Berlin surfaced as a peaceful solution to the immediate threat posed by Soviet, yet this was not supposedly the outcome. America had about 100 nuclear warheads at the time of Berlin airlift and was capable to deploy all of them. On the other hand, there was just one warhead with the USSR and it also lacked the mechanism of delivery. In addition to that, the USSR was staggered physically as well as economically whereas America was coming off its largest historic boom. “There are those who argued, then and now, that the United States should have used its immense tactical and economic superiority to batter the larger USSR into submission and, thus, avoid the Cold War in its entirety” (Taylor). The western democracies won the Cold War under President Ronald Reagan’s leadership who had the policy of rejecting the detente and relying upon the Rollback instead. Reagan’s decision of increasing the expenditure in military was a very important element and cause of this victory. Reagan decided to pursue an arms race and intervene in Afghanistan. These actions aggravated Soviet economy’s structural weaknesses and became an important cause of early decline of the USSR. In spite of the flaws in the US Constitution of 1787, it did provide a sound foundation where the diverse American society could develop its social structure of democracy. America had a lot of lessons to learn from the wars it has been involved in over the history. One of the most important lessons is that it is not possible to live at peace while being alone. America’s well-being depends to a large extent upon the well-being of other countries that may or may not be geographically very distant from her. The USSR has to be approached without any fear, suspicion, or mistrust in order to attain lasting peace. Presently, the same argument about whether or not to distrust the USSR has surfaced after several decades as a result of the growing tensions between Iran and Israel. In this scenario, Israel is a nuclear power whereas Iran is not. Israel additionally has a firm support of the armed US forces. Iran is currently pursuing a nuclear program and maintains a very powerful military force. Israel strongly favors any action to prevent the development of nuclear weapon by Iran. This has raised many challenges for America. So far, America has strangled Iran with the imposition of economic sanctions and careful monitoring of the ongoing activities in Iran through satellites along with reconnaissance drones. In addition to that, the Obama administration has sent disapproving messages to the political tactics of Israel. This might be because of the hesitation of the American government to indulge in another Iraq-style war which if happens, might expose the already fragile economy of America to more risks and frustrate the people of America who have become intensely war-weary. If America does not intrude into Iran’s attempt to develop a nuclear weapon, chances are that Iran would use its nuclear weapon as a deterrent against Israel. This would be the most peaceful and least bloody option as compared to all options that result from America’s imposed hindrances in the development of nuclear weapon by Iran. It was fundamentally the nuclear weapons that were responsible for the Cold War being cold. In spite of the proxy wars in Afghanistan, Korea, and Vietnam, the loss of life and resources was far lesser than what could happen had there been a direct war between America and the Soviets. In addition to that, the simple fact that Iran is also a nuclear power would raise the support of other nations for a stable Iranian government to ensure the security of the nuclear weapon. This imparts the need for America to let Iran rationally develop its nuclear weapon because there are fair chances that it would be used as a deterrent against Israel rather than for war. Concluding, President Roosevelt was absolutely right in his assertion that lasting peace cannot be attained unless the USSR is approached without mistrust, fear, or suspicion. Evidence for this assertion can be found invariably throughout the history in general and in the events and consequences of the Cold War in particular. This assertion holds true even in the international political scenario of today as America needs to trust Iran and let her develop her nuclear weapon so that it is used as a deterrent against Israel rather than the two nations going at war with each other thus imparting the need for America to intervene with its forces in addition to causing all the bloodshed and loss of lives and resources. Works Cited: “Franklin D. Roosevelt.” N.d. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. . Goldman, Jerry, and Stein, Giel. “The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962.” 2013. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. . Taylor, Jacob. “We Trusted The USSR Back Then, But Can We Trust Iran Now?” The Point News. 11 Oct. 2012. 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