US Foreign Policy during the Cold War - Essay Example

US Foreign Policy during the Cold War Order No.208932 March 2008 US Foreign Policy during the Cold War The Cold War was the period between the mid-1940s and the early 1990s when there were conflicts and tremendous competition between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies. It was known as the Cold War as there was no direct military confrontation or battle between the two countries. After World War II US felt threatened by the expansionist policy of the Soviet Union. The rivalry between the two super powers and extended to many areas like ideology, military coalitions, espionage, nuclear arms race, proxy wars and massive defense spending. Although the countries were allies against the Nazis they differed on how to reconstruct the world after the war. Communists with the help of the Red Army came to power in Eastern Europe. The Russian occupied areas in Germany and Austria was sealed off by army patrols, and Turkey and Greece were threatened. It was then that Sir Winston Churchill (1946) in his famous speech at Fulton warned of the threat that lay behind the Communist “iron curtain.” The United States took the lead from here and brought together the West with the Truman Doctrine (1947), which sanctioned immediate aid to Turkey and Greece. The advisors of Truman felt that the Soviet Union was trying to weaken US in the wake of post-war confusion, uncertain economy and shortages. Thus began the Cold War. Many other reasons have been cited for the start of the Cold War. According to Bill Vann (2001) "The driving force behind the Cold War was US imperialism’s striving for world dominance. Notwithstanding its Stalinist degeneration, the USSR was a significant obstacle to the hegemonic aspirations of the American ruling elite. Washington was compelled to take into account the danger that its military interventions could meet with a Soviet reaction." The foreign policies followed during the Cold War have always been a subject of debate and many books have been written on them. One such book is the Ugly American, authored by William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick (1958) and set in the 1950s. The book exposes the incompetence of those who shape foreign policy. The novel struck a chord in many Americans who felt that the US was not following the right kind of foreign policies and that the Soviet Union might just get an upper hand in the Cold War. Several foreign policies were formulated and launched during the Cold War. One such policy was the European Recovery Program, known as the Marshall Plan. This plan, the details of which were announced by George Marshall (1947), was meant to restore prosperity and thereby help in the growth of the European Union. George Kennan was the chief architect of the "Containment" policy wherein he called for the "containment of Russian expansive tendencies". He also believed that the poor economy of a country put pressure on that country to adopt communism. According to Kennan, politics and economics were directly related. Healthy economies would cause the death of communism. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (1954), leader of State Departments Foreign Services formulated the policy of "massive retaliation" as a response to the threat of nuclear attacks during the Cold War. He believed that military superiority alone could defeat communism. In January 1954, Dulles declared that the Americans would deal with aggression "at places and with means of our own choosing." "Brinkmanship" was another of his proposals. He wanted the United States to push the Soviet Union to the brink of war so that it would collapse under pressure. US laid great emphasis on the policy of "containment" and in the name of "containment" of communism, forged alliances with Western Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East and thus the Cold War spread outside Europe. During this period there were many crises like the Berlin Blockade, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet Afghan War. That the US did not adopt proper policies during this time is pointed out in Ugly American. The novel shows how the US is losing its fight against Communism in Southeast Asia as a result of its failure to understand the local culture and also to some extent its arrogance. The authors argue that Communists have been successful because they like the hero of the novel, Homer Atkins, are able to understand the needs of the local people and provide genuine help and assistance. The confrontations in Europe led to the United States and 11 other nations to sign the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO).This was a reversal of the US traditional policy of avoiding permanent alliances. In 1950, President Truman approved NSC 68, a Nation Security strategy to further weaken Soviet power and influence. NSC 68 written under direction of National Security Advisor Paul Nitze was a combination of all the three earlier three proposals: the main features of the policy were to assist Europe and other under-developed areas to recover from a poor economy and devise a new economy (mixture of Marshall Plan and Containment) and purchase, build a stock of strategic materials and take a string military stance (Dulles). US further overthrew leftist regimes and established pro-US dictatorships. For instance in Iran, they backed the Shah in overthrowing the regime of Mossadegh. The American oil companies thought that Mossadegh’s populist reforms would pose a threat to their profits. In US-backed regimes rebels were tortured, jailed or murdered. All these acts were justified in the name of containment of the communists. For the next four decades successive American Governments sponsored wars, interventions and repression in many other countries that included Nicaragua and El Salvador Some of the confrontations during the Cold War almost resulted in wars but were somehow deterred. The Cold War came to an end in the 1980s after Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachevs thrashed out issues with the US President Ronald Reagan in the now famous summit conferences. As for the impact the Cold War had on America it can be said that the policy of containment drastically effected U. S. economy, the rights of American citizens, US diplomacy, NASA and the space program. It also compelled America to use force and espionage to manipulate the governments of weaker nations. The benefits gained from the foreign policy were often spoiled by awkward political events. The policy of Containment was accused of being misused. The policymakers used this to justify non-peaceful interventions. However Containment did stabilize international commerce in the US and promoted national security. The idea of isolationism was very popular amongst politicians at that time.. But because of this policy the United States adopted an internationalist policy In retrospect it can be said that the Cold War policy was a very aggressive and hostile reaction to the increasing threat of uprising in the colonial countries. Most of the conflicts in this era were fought in oppressed countries like Korea and Vietnam and thousands of American soldiers and local people lost their lives. This aspect has been well depicted in Ugly American As Jacqueline Parker, a writer and a teacher, rightly says "By exposing the ineptitude of those who shape foreign policy, Lederer and Burdick point out the way costly mistakes are made--costly in terms of United Sates influence in the world, even more costly in terms of the fate of the citizens whose lives and well-being are at stake." The title of the book Ugly American actually refers to the hero of the book, Homer Atkins. According to Rod Propst (2001) "Homer Atkins, the hero of the book is actually physically ugly. His strength lies in his ability to both understand and reach out to locals and to assist in solving their problems, while representing the U.S. in an exemplary manner. The locals with whom he works dont notice the ugly nose and ugly hands; they see Atkins as a God-send, the antithesis of the ugly American." Even today after forty years of publication of the book Ugly American, the phrase "ugly American" is used to exemplify Americas inept and heavy-handed foreign policy. As Bryan Aubrey (2006) says "The Ugly American is not only an indictment of the ineffectiveness of U.S. policy in Southeast Asia, it is also a wake-up call to Americans to rediscover their own best qualities and values." This is evident in what the authors say in the "Factual Epilogue," of the book: "We have so lost sight of our own past that we are trying to sell guns and money alone, instead of remembering that is was the quest for the dignity of freedom that was responsible for our way of life." Bryan also has pointed out that when the writers in their conclusion write, "All over Asia we have found that the basic American ethic is revered and honored and imitated when possible," it sends a very clear message that as long as Americans remain true to themselves and their values, they have nothing to fear from communist aggression; they will surely prevail." The writers also say in their epilogue "What we need is a small force of well-trained, well-chosen, hard-working, and dedicated professionals. They must be willing to risk their comforts and in some lands their health ... They must go equipped to apply a positive policy promulgated by a clear-thinking government. They must speak the language of the land of their assignment, and they must be more expert in its problems than are the natives." These words today are as important and relevant to the present foreign policy makers as they were when they were written. References 1. Bryan Aubrey, Critical Essay on The Ugly American, in Novels for Students, Thomson Gale, 2006. 2. Churchill Vincent 1946, Speech at Fulton Retrieved from site http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/02/documents/churchill/ 3. Dulles John Foster (1954) Retrieved from http://law.jrank.org/pages/6318/Dulles-John-Foster.html 4. Kennan George, 1947, Foreign Affairs Magazine, Retrieved from website: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAkennan.htm 5. Marshall George, 1947, Details of plan retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/document/10/0,3343,en_2649_201185_1876938_1_1_1_1,00.html 6. NSC 68: United States Objectives and Programs for National Security, page 4. 7.Parker Jacqueline, Teachers Guide, Retrieved from the site http://www.chs.d211.org/socialstudies/The%20Ugly%20American.htm 8. Propst Rod, 2001, in Foreign Area Officer Association Journal, web site: http://www.faoa.org/journal/uglyamer.html 9. Truman doctrine: en.wikipedia.org 10. Vann Bill, 2001, US propagandists invoke the Cold War in World Socialist Web Site Retrieved from http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/oct2001/cold-o30.shtml 11. William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick, Ugly American, W. W. Norton & Company (1999) Read More