Post-Cold War Period Causes of Conflict

1721 Words4 Pages

Post-Cold War Period Causes of Conflict

The end of the Cold War meant that the ideological conflict of

dominance between East (Soviet Union and Eastern Europe) and West (USA

and Western Europe) was over. Contrary to the expectations that world

would be much safer in the post-Cold War, United States and Soviet

Union were faced with new security issues that they did not know how

to deal with.

The objective of this essay is to show that with all these changes

that occurred with the end of the Cold War, causes of the conflict

indeed altered from the classic ones. First the end of the Cold War

and the changes in the world order that followed will be outlined.

Secondly, the increase in wars within states and the question of

whether today's conflicts are, in fact, new, will be discussed.

Finally this essay will argue that there is a new type of threat:

worldwide terrorism, and it will look at what measures are being taken

to tackle this problem.

The end of bipolarism

The democratic countries (USA and Western Europe), enjoyed 50 years of

peace and economic development, because of the measures they took

after the World War II, not to repeat the same mistakes that initiated

the previous wars. They developed a democratic-political culture,

which emphasised respect for human rights, rule of law, civil society,

and independent media. However, apart from 1953, 1956 and 1968, the

eastern bloc enjoyed peace and relative stability as well. The

military power of both the super powers made US and Soviet leaders

very reluctant to start a war. This was clearly illustrated by the

Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

The end of the Cold War end...

... middle of paper ...

... Soon Miss The Cold War (August)

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/foreign/mearsh.htm

Muldoon, J. (1999) The Challenges of Multilateral Diplomacy in 1999,

United Nations Association of USA, (February),

http://www.iwa.org/Publications/Lectures/muldoon.html

Pfetsch, F.R & Ch. Rohloff, Ch. (2001) Global Change, Conflicts and

Conflict Research 'New Data

On Armed Conflict' at the 42nd Annual ISA Convention, Chicago, IL

20-24 (February)

http://www.uni-duisburg.de/Institute/INEF/Intra/debate_Rohloff_Pfetsch.htm

Sens, A G. (2000) Canada on the Security Council :International

Security in the 21 Century:

Challenges facing UN,

http://www.unac.org/en/link_learn/canada/security/21_century.asp.

Snow, D. (1991) The Shape of the Future, The Post-Cold War World;

M.E.Sharpe,

Armonk, New York and London.

Open Document