The Relations between USA and Russia - Research Paper Example

The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy Andre Smith Victor Aikhionbare POL 300 April 29, A presidential doctrine refers to an ideological platform usedby any American president in advancing policies toward certain countries or regions. The main objective is for the president to achieve some foreign policy favourable to the United States of America. President Harry S. Truman’s doctrine of 1947 was particularly aimed at containing the rise of communism just as was his words, “Contain the Expansion of Communism, Presumable Everywhere.” In this paper I will be evaluating about the Truman doctrine relative to the relations between USA and Russia before and post Cold War. A number of events took place during the cold war both regionally and globally catalysing the formation and adoption of the Truman doctrine. Russia sponsored communism was on the rise and influencing the entire Europe. Hungary’s democratic government was overthrown by the communist party in 1947 attracting strong condemnation by President Truman. In 1948 again the communist party with the support of Russia used force to grab power in Czechoslovakia. The attempted Berlin blockade would have also significantly affected the course of events had it succeeded. The Russian threat became particularly significant in 1949 when Russia deployed its tool to influence the entire Europe. Russia also went on to explode its nuclear bomb nullifying America’s lead. The Korean escalated the tensions between the two rival super powers. It became apparent that to restore confidence in Europe, economic assistance, rearmament of West Germany and military aid were necessary measures. The President thus sought Congress’s approval of $ 400 million towards aiding turkey and Greece both in terms of military and economically (Merrill, 20006). The relationship between the United States and the USSR was unhealthy during the cold war. Russia’s aggression and expansion of its communist influence into Eastern Europe after the defeat of Germany was not taken well by the United States and other Western democracies. The US dominated the politics and economics of Western Europe and therefore was very threatened by Russia’s influence in the East. The two powers differed on ideology & politics and were competing for internal influence along the different lines. The competition lasted between 1947 and 1991 when the Soviet Union officially collapsed. The spreading communism ideology supported by Russia saw communist parties overthrow democratically elected governments in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Russia’s detonation of its first atomic weapon and its influence in the Korean War signalled a real communist threat prompting the formation of President Truman’s Doctrine as a counter measure. Today the US and Russia assume a bilateral relationship. The two countries have continued to agree on pursuit of bilateral agenda such as joint anti-terrorism efforts. However, the relationship has been strained on a number of issues. Disagreements emerged in the presidencies of George Bush Jr and Vladimir Putin with Russia increasingly asserting its influence in international politics while the US taking a more unilateral position on foreign policy post September 11. The two presidents however enjoyed cordial relations on a personal level. The US withdrew itself from the infamous Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the goal of pursuing the planned missile defence agenda. The move was termed as a mistake by Putin who later conspicuously opposed Bush’s attack on Iraq. The relations strained in 2008 following Russia’s invasion of Georgia. The US stood with Georgia through humanitarian and military assistance. Military cooperation between Russia and Venezuela the same year also heightened the tensions (Gaddis, 1974). On the Syrian uprising, whereas the US preferred sanctions and pressure on Assad to quit, Russia declined to support the move. The year 2009 saw a tremendous turn of tone with Obama and Medvedev releasing a joint statement during the G20 summit in London in which they promised a fresh start of their relations. They jointly urged Iran to quit the nuclear weapon plan and welcome foreign arm inspectors. The two countries agreed in the year 2010 to cut down on their nuclear weapon stocks in the New START Treaty. The comeback of Putin in 2012 again worsened the relations; President Obama’s signing of the Magnitsky Act imposing restrictions on Russian human rights violators was countered by a bill barring US citizens from adopting Russian children. In 2013 Russia granted asylum to Edward Snowden who was wanted in the US further straining the relations. As at 2014 the relations had significantly deteriorated especially due to crisis in Ukraine and Civil war in Syria prompting observers to term it as having assumed an adversarial course or sparked another cold war. Mutual trade and investments between the two nations are now increasingly being restricted (Tanner and Keyton, 2015). One effect of the doctrine was to assert the military superiority of the US and ultimately deter the expansive motives of Russia. America’s goal was to attain geopolitical cooperation and free market in the world. The aggression by Russia would have caused a 3rd world war and disturbed the newly found world peace. The Truman doctrine effectively managed to aver this situation. Another effect of the doctrine was the defeat of the spread of communism as a political ideology; had Russia managed to woe major nations of the Europe to its side, America would have lost on ideology and suffered a security threat. The doctrine effectively saw America’s ideology triumph and Russia deterred from destabilizing world peace. The ultimate effect was that Russia’s expansionary ambitious were sufficiently contained, the Eastern Europe region stabilized through military & economic aid and the US ideologies of capitalism & democratic governments ruled (Merrill, 22006). Harry Truman’s doctrines succeeded to a large extend in changing the aggressive behavior of Russia. Firstly, the Soviet insurrection in Greece was brought to a halt. Secondly, through technical and economic support extended between the years 1948 and 1952, the problem of balance of payments in Europe was eased further to stabilizing the region. Economic aid influenced the removal of trade restrictions in the European region hence helping achieve a stronger economic integration. The initiatives by Truman sparked off a strong economic recovery in the European continent whilst killing the influence of local communist parties. Even though the Truman initiatives received some criticism, the doctrine effectively ended the spread of communism as well as Russia’s expansionary agenda. In the end, Russia and its ally nations had to collapse as a result of their economic failures and miscalculations References. 1. Gaddis, J. L. (1974). Was the Truman Doctrine a Real Turning Point? Foreign Affairs. An American Quarterly Review. 52:2. pp.386- 402 2. Jari Tanner and David Keyton. (2015). U.S., Russian War Games Rekindle Cold War Tensions. The Huffington Post. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/09/us-russia-war-games_n_7032390.html 3. Kennan, G.F (1987). Containment Then and Now. Foreign Affairs, Council on Foreign Relations. 65:4 4. Merrill, D. (2006). The Truman Doctrine: Containing Communism and Modernity Presidential Studies Quarterly. 36 (1). Presidential Doctrines. 27-37. available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27552744 5. Michael R. Gordon. (2014). U.S. Says Russia Tested Missile, Despite Treaty. The New York Times. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/30/world/europe/us-says-russia-tested- missile-despite-treaty.html?_r=0 Read More