Cold War Returns for the World - Literature review Example

COLD WAR POLICIES FOR THEIR CURRENT AND HISTORICAL REPERCUSSIONS ON AMERICA Introduction For a long time, historians have found it difficult reaching consensus on the particular dates the Cold War is said to have begun. However, many have been of the opinion that the war may have taken place between 1947 and 1991. The end of the Second World War was good news for all people across the world, after many nations had suffered heavy losses of people and property. Many of the countries that had participated in the Second World War, especially those from the West and the East were actively involved in the Cold War. The reason why the war was described and named “cold” stemmed from the fact that it was not large-scale. Additionally, it was also because the war did not involve direct fighting between the parties involved inasmuch as there were rampant regional wars that pitied countries like Vietnam, Afghanistan and Korea; these were referred to as proxy wars (Pons and Federico 2005). Several studies have been undertaken in trying to understand the causes of the Cold War and its effects on the socioeconomic environment of the countries that took part in the war. This paper examines some of the policies that describe the Cold War period, focusing on the historical and current repercussions of the war. The Period of Cold War As noted, Cold War refers to the name that describes the kind of relationship that existed primarily between the USSR and the United States of America immediately after the end of WWII. AfterWW1, the Cold War is said to have become a dormant theme in many of the international affairs for several decades, resulting in several crises that happened after, some of them included the formation of the Berlin Wall in Germany, the Missile Crisis of Cuba, Vietnam and Hungary among many others (McNeill and Corinna 2010). For many countries, a common cause of worry was the increase in the growth of weapons aimed at mass destruction. Many of them thought that the emergence of a third world was almost near, something that was assumed to be very lethal than the former two. The Cold War led to the splitting of the momentary wartime alliance that was against the Nazi Germany, something that left the US and the USSR being the two major world superpowers with intense political and economic differences. The USSR was a Marxist-Leninist single-party state with the US being an established capitalist state that had free elections. These different stands I the governance practices among the two nations would later cause a class of diverse ideology and beliefs – communism and capitalism (Brands 2010). Each of these beliefs also had their common religions convictions that were established on grounds of establishment of a global power struggle in which both sides were looking for an opportunity to dominate and exploit every single chance for expanding its influence in the world. It is important to realise that in 1995, the USSR was the present-day Russia, which comprised of Georgia and Ukraine among other countries that have become independent. These countries had remained part of the USSR until after the collapse of the union (Craig and Fredrik 2009). Logic often dictates that the USSR and USA fought as allies at the time of the Second World War. One would think that after the war, the two countries would remain the biggest friends but that notion never came to be since their friendship was mere illusory. Cold War policies and their repercussions on America The Cold War is said to have had a great influence on several aspects of the American society for a greater part of the 20th C. According to Mazov and Mazov (2010), the influence of this war escalated because of the kind of antagonistic values that existed between the US, which was a symbol of democracy and capitalism and the USSR which represented authoritarianism and communism. The fact these two nations were global superpowers by the end of the war meant that the world was going to witness an international conflict, although not involving any direct war between them. The Cold War was very different compared to other kinds of wars in that it involved a lot of propaganda war just like the case of military engagements. The Vietnam and Korean War were perfect examples of the US’s military intervention that was aimed at stopping the expansion of the communism policies. However, these wars failed to have the decades-long impact on the US foreign and domestic policies that the political, economic and cultural battles that the Cold War had. The cultural battles that characterized the superpowers had greater impacts on the lives of most civilians in the US compared to that of the Cold War. Being a tool of propaganda, the government decided to use various national security groups and agencies in encouraging Hollywood to develop several anticommunist movies. In this regard, the film scripts were to be changed in such a way that the portrayed the better aspects of the US with its political and social system. This development produced many movies that were essential in sparking the patriotism wave of the US while raising a lot of suspicion for the communist movement. The sentiments against communism increased to an extent that they went out of control, making it unable for the Hollywood producers to handle. It was suspected that there were communists in the Hollywood, who were thought to have made their way after the propaganda raised by the movies that were being produced by Hollywood. Inasmuch as some communists were described as being heavily rooted, many lives are said to have been ruined basing on the weak evidences that had been gathered, several unsubstantial accusations as well as the people’s refusal to participate in answering questions and hearings. The anticommunist fervors and sentiments trickled down, posing impacts on the local civilians for instance, South California’s Better American League collected names of about two million subversives in the entire region. Many of the people that were got were later blacklisted and others fired with a lot of violation of their civil rights basing on the claims that were collected. Warfare and society The world history is composed of several themes that are a source of interest among many historians. Of all these themes, war is one of the most dominant that attracts a lot of studies from diverse perspectives. The traditional history about military examines the stories of the armies and their strategies, tactics and approaches towards handling diverse aspects of the society’s peace initiatives. According to Hopkins (2011), historians often explain that war plays a key role in shaping a society and state. For instance, historians that have studied about war and its effects in the society have developed various social, economic and cultural methodologies that have been critical in shaping societies. The historians often take time examining the different non-combatant experiences while exploring the different military regimes. Many societies often try to avoid warfare because of its effects, those that are defeated end up bowing to the pressure of the dominant side. All in all, the wars often cause serious harm to social infrastructure, with a lot of money having to be set aside for the redevelopment aspects that can set the society to be left behind in development. Therefore, in the contemporary world, a lot of efforts are often invested in ensuring that war does not erupt in societies, but instead, better mechanisms can be developed and adopted in ensuring that communities and countries remain safe. Shifting relationship between warfare and society due to the Cold War America’s participation in the Cold War is said to have been critical in the shift of relationship between the society and warfare. America had the main aim of asserting its dominance in the world as a superpower capitalist state, engaging different countries in ensuring that they did not adopt communist policies. The influence of the US was great, forcing many countries in other continents (Arnold and Roberta 2012). The US engaged different countries in ensuring that they did not engage in war while learning about democracy and involvement of capitalist views and perspectives in their governance. This development raised a different approach towards warfare and society. The Cold War itself was not composed of direct war between countries. Therefore, many societies have learnt that societies can still create and exert their dominance in without necessarily having to fight and destroy their infrastructure. The US helped other countries develop democratic systems of governance, giving them economic aid and other resources that they used in developing their economies. Global repercussions of the Cold War As noted from the foregone discussion, the antagonists at the centre of the Cold War were the Soviet Union and the US. However, the effects of this war ended up affected almost every country in the world. Some of the countries that ended up in serious conflicts and internal wars included Afghanistan, Korea and Vietnam (Arnold and Roberta 2012). In each of these countries, the indigenous communities were fully involved in fighting the non-communist indigenous. What extended the wars was the fact that each of the sides received a lot of support from countries that supported their stance. Therefore, these countries became seriously affected by the wars including massive killing of people, destruction of social and economic infrastructure among others. While some countries suffered heavily from the Cold War effects, in others, the effect was positive. The USSR and the US started supporting those countries that supported their views (Harper 2011). In this perspective, they offered various forms of economic aid to aid in their growth while persuading those countries to support their perspectives. In this case, it is clear that some countries had many positive benefits from the war in terms of their economic infrastructure. Therefore, it is important to point out that in terms of effects; all countries in the world were affected in many ways underpinning the fact that the war was instrumental in shaping the international order. However, it is important to note that all countries of the world were worried that there was a possibility of nuclear break-out between the two countries, something that would have had a massive blow to the world. Another important factor that emanated from the Cold War was relative peace which was prevalent during that time. The USSR and the US stopped several fights that would have broken out among many countries because it was in their best interest to do so (Dower 2010). In this regard, one can easily observe that the Cold War had various positive and negative impacts on different countries in the world. Existing arguments on the Cold War Currently, many historians rely on existing journals to study and understand the Cold War and its effects on the social and economic dimensions of countries. Many of them examine the different perspectives that have been developed by other researchers on the same. Inasmuch as this is a good approach, it has often yielded conflicting perspectives because different researchers often have diverse approaches towards identifying key issues and factors on the Cold War and its effects. It is important that people develop the habit of finding some information from people that either participated in the Cold War or have reliable information that can aid research on cold. Inasmuch as studying the journals from other researchers is important, it may not amount to collection of reliable evidence that can explain important aspects of the Cold War. According to Masuda (2014), the works of these different historians should be applauded because it helps in shaping the society’s development from the war period to a future that is deemed full of developmental agenda. From this understanding, people can trace their development from the past and decide on the kind of future that they want to have. Wax (2008) explains that the future of any society relies on a perfect understanding of their past, which underpins the need for research such on aspects as the Cold War among others. Lastly but not least, the Cold War era can be described as being vital towards the growth and development of the world peace, which is a key agenda among international conferences and meetings. The US has risen to become a superpower as well as Russia, inasmuch as the two countries dominated the world headlines as far as the Cold War was concerned. Many countries have also managed to create and consolidate their economic and social systems without necessarily having to engage in Cold War or other kinds of conflicts. Notes Arnold, James R and Roberta Wiener. 2012. Cold War: the essential reference guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Brands, Hal. 2010. Latin Americas Cold War. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Craig, Campbell and Fredrik Logevall. 2009. Americas Cold War the politics of insecurity. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Dower, John W. 2010. Cultures of war: Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, 9-11, Iraq. New York: W.W. Norton. Harper, John Lamberton. 2011. The Cold War. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hopkins, Michael F. 2011. The Cold War. London: Thames & Hudson. Masuda, Hajimu. 2014. Cold War crucible: the Korean Conflict and the postwar world. Mazov, S. V and S. V. Mazov. 2010. A distant front in the Cold War: the USSR in West Africa and the Congo, 1956-1964. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press McNeill, J. R and Corinna R. Unger. 2010. Environmental Histories of the Cold War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pons, Silvio and Federico Romero. 2005. Reinterpreting the end of the Cold War issues, interpretations, periodizations. London: Frank Cass. Wax, Dustin M. 2008. Anthropology at the dawn of the Cold War the influence of foundations, McCarthyism, and the CIA. London: Pluto Press. Read More