The Third World War-- the Cold War - Essay Example

During the cold war period, the third world suffered more than those two countries. Beginning of the Cold War After the end of the World War II, there was a race between the United States and the Soviet Union to be the superpower in the whole world. This conflict started from 1945 onwards and it lasted for over 45 years till 19911. This is known as the Cold War. The two superpowers tried their best to dominate the world in their own way which suited their interest. As a result, when both these countries confronted each other in any part of the world, there was a sense of tension between them.

This was mainly due to the fact that both of them were aware of each other’s power. However, both the US and the USSR never broke into any kind of a direct war. And since there was no “hot” war between them, it is known as the cold war2. The cold war had impact on more parts of the world than the World War II. There were real wars in many parts of the world due to the cold war. With the use of the nuclear weapons during the World War II, many people had this fear that this might lead to the third world war, which did not happen fortunately.

Otherwise, with the nuclear weapons available to both these nations, they are capable of destroying the whole world, not once but many times. During the Second World War both these countries joined their hands and were able to defeat the Germans. But after this, the quest to become the superpower of the world started between these two nations. Interestingly, they were very much familiar with each other’s power. As a result, none of them did actually break down into a direct state of war. Truman Doctrine and the role of containment On March 12, 1947, the president of the U.S. gave a speech to a joint session of congress.

He addressed the state of global affairs while he did not discuss anything regarding “containment” being a strategic concept3. He pointed towards the economic need of Greece and Turkey. This proposal for economic assistance was termed as “Truman Doctrine”. The Greek government has asked for an urgent help from the U.S., both financially and economically. Greece, being not a rich country was under tremendous economic pressure. As a result of the invasions by the foreign nations they were in a state of bother.

They were in such a condition that they did not have funds for food, cloth and shelter. Same was the case with Turkey, but it was somehow in a better position than Greece4. The main objective of the foreign policy of the U.S. was to create such conditions so that they can be in a state of harmony with other nations. For this reason, the U.S. participated in an immense way in the creation of the United Nations. The main objective of the United Nations was to arrange freedom for all its members5.

It started a new relationship with the Soviet Union and the world. The Truman Doctrine described urgency on the part of the U.S. to help Greece and on the same hand, to stop the spread of communism. With this foreign policy the U.S. was trying to earn the support of their people showing their mercy character towards others. Eventually it was also a way towards making them a leader in front of the world. Great Britain being unable to help out Greece and Turkey, the U.S. had taken this opportunity to look for extending their help to other poor nations with sole motive of acquiring them. U.S.

accomplishments The United States has a very interesting history regarding the invasions it made in the past. There was a