Deterrence and Containment During Cold War - Essay Example

The policies of deterrence and containment are the most talked about subjects in international politics. It should be noted that the era of the cold war was greatly dependent upon deterrence (Wison 1962).

Considering Containment during the cold war, it can be said the United States had to implement the policy of containment to make sure that communism does not spread among other countries. The implementation of the policy of containment and deterrence was followed by the United States during the cold war due to the threat of being threatened by communism (Hunter 1998).

It should be noted that adherence of the United States with the theory of containment during the cold war allowed intervention activities in Vietnam. A similar instance was noted in Central America and Grenada. This shows the effectiveness of the key elements and theories as practically implemented. This is the key element that led to the implementation of these policies during the cold war (Ray 2004).

The United States noticed that the influence of European counterparts was increasing with every passing day. The United States was actually being pushed to defeat and the Vietnam havoc was basically because of communism's spread. Thus, the policy of containment was implemented to contain communism to their respective origin country (Gladdis 2005).

The policy of containment is also refereed as the foreign policy of the United States with other countries that were noted as potential to harm the United States. However, the cost involved throughout this foreign implication was relatively high. There was a risk of military attack by other activities despite undertaking deterrence (Ray 2004).

The cost was high in terms of finance as the capital of the European Union and the United States were used to buy arms to compete with the forces in order to stay stabilized. The cost of humanity is another aspect that should be noted. However, it has been noted that the implication of the policies allowed the Unites States to get away with the risk of being attacked by the military of other countries but it cost almost the sole capital of the United States (Gladdis 2005).

Thus, through the analysis of the above discussion, it could be said that the policies of deterrence and containment led the United States through the intervention activities during the cold war. The process of deterrence as a threat to other countries for any military action to halt their non-peaceful activities proved effective for the United States. But the cost was relatively higher than the accomplishment made. The sole capital of the United States was used to buy arms which drastically pushed their economic situation towards an inverse form.