Identity In The Cold War

1036 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Short paragraphs nature of the cold war

Was the Cold War an identity conflict?

INTRODUCTION

Cold War was a controversial war. Unlike previous wars the main actors never really frontally fought each other. By using client states to fight on their behalf, USA and Soviet Union fought for their beliefs and identities.
Identity in IR can many times be related to Nationalism and that is one of the reasons that make the Cold War be related as as ‘Identity Conflict’. The Cold War was in fact an opposition of different cultural, political, power and ideological Identities.
This essay tries to clarify the semantic of the word ‘Identity’, when this word started to have importance between the scholars and in particular why it has a great importance to understand better International Relations. In this essay it will also be reviewed the main protagonists and events related to the Cold War. After the explanations of these important backgrounds the role of …show more content…

If we extend this concept to IR we can see how identities had a major role in the Cold War, in particular if we analyse the ‘Red Scare’

Geopolitical divisions = clash of identities

CONCLUSION

To summarise, it has been noted that identities have a major role in wars

(1) Definition of “identity” from the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press
(2) Fearon, J. What is Identity (as We Now Use the Word)?, unpublished manuscript (Stanford University, 1999)
(3) Burke, A. (2006): Identity/Difference. In M. Griffiths (ed.) Encyclopedia of International Relations and Global Politics. London: Routledge, pp.394-6

--- Notes ---

War is good?

Wars influence nationalism? (And viceversa)
Are wars necessary for nationalism?

Nationalism as an identity

Nationalism --> (human nature = social beings) desire to belong to a community

You get taught your identity (by education, for example inni nazionali)

You construct your identity by excluding

Show More
Related

  • DBQ: Cold War

    1130 Words  | 3 Pages

    A war does not necessarily require physical weapons to fight. From 1947 to 1991, military tension and ideological conflicts held place. Cold War is defined as a state of political hostility existing between countries, characterized by threats, violent propaganda, subversive activities, and other measures short of open warfare, in particular. The causes of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union were the mutual distrust that had taken place in World War II, intense rivalry between the two super powers, and conflicting ideologies. The two superpowers differed in views of political and economic principles and were eager to spread their ideologies to other countries.

    Read More

  • Tyranny In The Cold War

    393 Words  | 1 Pages

    “When the people fear the government, there is tyranny;when the government fears the people,there is liberty” -Thomas Jefferson. The reason why I chose this quote is that the Northern Korean and South Korean civilians were afraid of the government so there was tyranny. Tyranny is cruel and oppressive government or rule.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Self Determination In The Cold War

    1564 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Cold War was a series of global conflicts connected by the common goal of self determination. The global war which spanned from the 1940s to the 1990s was not solely based on the differing ideologies of communism and capitalism, but rather stemmed from the opportunity after World War II to alter the international system. Countries like the USSR, US, and the global south engaged in conflicts in order to defend their self determination. During the Cold War period self determination could be described as having the ability to make independent decisions within the international system, such as by determining its own statehood, government, and treaties. In the first part of the Cold War, ranging

    Read More

  • Ronald Reagan and the End of the Cold War

    1884 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Cold War was a post-World War II struggle between the United States. and its allies and the group of nations led by the Soviet Union. Direct military conflict did not occur between the two superpowers, but intense economic and diplomatic struggles erupted in the country. Different interests led to mutual suspicion and hostility in a rising philosophy. The United States played a major role in the ending of the Cold War.

    Read More

  • The Cold War

    1177 Words  | 3 Pages

    QUESTION 2: The Cold War is an international conflict, a global fight between the United States and the Soviet Union that began in Europe in the wake of World War II but quickly expanded into Asia and the Third World. These international events, however, undoubtedly influenced domestic American politics between 1945 and 1965. How did the international Cold War shape, influence, or change domestic American politics in the first twenty years of the conflict? II. BACKGOUND

    Read More

  • Identity in Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery and Isaac Babel’s My First Goose

    1747 Words  | 4 Pages

    Although the concept of identity is recurrent in our daily lives, it has interpreted in various ways.

    Read More

  • The Fall of Communism in Poland

    2919 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Cold War was a conflict between the Communist nations led by the Soviet Union

    Read More

  • The Cold War: The End Of The Cold War

    1509 Words  | 4 Pages

    The end of the Cold War was one of the most unexpected and important events in geopolitics in the 20th century. The end of the Cold War can be defined as the end of the bipolar power struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, which had existed since the end of the World War II. The conclusion of the Cold War can be attributed to Gorbachev’s series of liberalizations in the 1980s, which exposed the underlying economic problems in the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc states that had developed in the 1960s and 70s and prevented the USSR from being able to compete with the US as a superpower. Nevertheless, Reagan’s policies of a renewed offensive against communism, Gorbachev’s rejection of the Brezhnev doctrine and the many nationalities

    Read More

  • Cold War History

    2283 Words  | 5 Pages

    After World War II America and Russia became superpowers. Even thought they fought together against the Nazis they soon became hostile rivals. Between 1945 and

    Read More

  • The Cold War

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many people argue that the USA was the pre-eminent superpower throughout the Cold War and since this time the only true global power. While it is seen that the USA was the pre-eminent superpower during this period the USSR’s power cannot be denied. The Cold War is defined as a battle of ideologies with communism and capitalism battling to become the dominating world view.

    Read More

  • The Cold War and the Ideological Battle

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Cold War was the clash of cultures between the United States and the Soviet Union that coloured many major geopolitical events in the latter half of the twentieth century. This included decolonization and neocolonialism, especially in African states. Kwame Nkrumah noted that neocolonialism is when an imperialist power claims to give independence, but still influences the new state to meet its own goals. Both the U.S. and the USSR were neocolonialist powers, and a prime example of their desires to mold other states was the Congo Crisis, which acted to make decolonization unappealing to states outside Africa. Congo achieved independence on June 30, 1960 under Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Kasavubu, but was wracked by civil war as soldiers protested the remaining Europeans in the army and other positions. Both outside states played a role in the conflict. The Cold War and the ideological battle between the US and USSR played a large role in facilitated the Congo Crisis, which hindered other African states’ move to decolonization.

    Read More

  • The cold war

    2042 Words  | 5 Pages

    In 1945, most of the countries around the world are devastated further to World War II which had stroke the globe for six years. Only the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, also called USSR, seem to be in a stable economic situation despite weighty losses. Both states are considered to be the great winners of the war and this is the beginning of a confrontation between two superpowers but also the confrontation between two distinct ideologies: communism and capitalism.

    Read More

  • The Cold War: A Global War

    1702 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Cold War (1945-1991) was a substantial war that was fought on an. economic, philosophical, cultural, social and political level. This impacted globally and changed the majority of the world’s societies to a. liberated fashion, rather than the archaic and conservative ways. Global war is a war engaged in by all if not most of the principle nations of the world, a prime example of such would be of the two great wars. Therefore the cold war can’t be classified as a global war in terms of the military and actual warfare’s, as the two superpowers (Soviet Union and USA) fought indirectly with each other, however to an extent the cold war can be said it’s a global war in terms of its politics and economics. The The effects of the Cold War were definitely felt globally and had an aftermath.

    Read More

  • Criticism of Huntington's Clash of Civilizations Theory

    683 Words  | 2 Pages

    Generally culture and self-identities are the first and by far one of the most important aspects that people consider in their lives as they bring meaning to them. People seek to know who they are, where they are coming from and also where they are going. However Huntington said that the very same cultural identities are the primary source of conflict within civilisations. He further says that within people’s journeys of seeking their cultural identities they encounter new but often old identities. In other words they are then marching under new but old flags which then eventually lead to war with their new but old enemies (Huntington, 1996).

    Read More

  • The Cold War: A Short Story

    625 Words  | 2 Pages

    Once, there was a girl, her name was Robin, and she lived in Canada deep in the woods.

    Read More

More about Identity In The Cold War

Open Document