The Cold War, a pivotal chapter in modern history, emerged from the ideological chasm between the United States and Soviet Union following World War II. Rooted in conflicting political, economic, and social ideologies, it became a global standoff by a number of maneuvering, espionage, and proxy conflicts. The United States championed democratic capitalism and individual freedoms, while the Soviet Union upheld communism, centralized by control and collective ownership. This ideological clash led to tensions, marked noticeably by the arms race and development of nuclear arsenals. However, it was the strategic maneuvers and diplomatic procedures during Ronald Reagan’s presidency that played a decisive role in thawing the icy relations between …show more content…
Shortly after, he surprised many by proposing a long-term plan to develop defense against strategic missile attacks, aiming to make nuclear weapons ineffective and outdated. This tactic was known as the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), or “Star Wars,” and it challenged the traditional thinking on arms control, suggesting a departure from previous negotiation approaches. Some critics, however, view this as an oversimplification. While Reagan’s rhetoric branded the Soviet Union as an “evil empire,” this characterization ignored the complexity of geopolitics and instead contributed to a dangerous binary narrative of good versus evil. While Reagan’s actions certainly had an impact, they didn’t solely change the Soviet narrative, and efforts to move beyond containment were confused, counteracted, and ultimately unsuccessful. Nuclear weapons were crucial in prompting both sides to seek common ground, and Reagan’s personal stance against them drove more of the changes than his administration’s tough approach (Deudney/Ikenberry). Some within his administration even supported this stance, but Reagan’s actual policies were actually more nuanced. He understood the limitations of ideological foreign policy and balanced his tough stance with practicality and timing. By investing in missile defense, Reagan signaled to the Soviets that the United States wasn’t content with mere deterrence and sought to gain a …show more content…
He engaged in direct negotiations with Mikhali Gorbachev, one of the leaders of the Soviet Union, to pursue arms control agreements and reduce the risk of nuclear war at the Reykjavik summit in October 1986. Leading up to this meeting, there hadn’t been much progress in arms control talks, and there was tension between intelligence agencies after an incident involving the KGB and the FBI. During negotiations to resolve the tension, Gorbachev suggested a quick summit to address stalled talks over nuclear weapons in Europe. Reagan agreed, but then Gorbachev proposed significant concessions beyond expectations, including large cuts in nuclear weapons and accepting Reagan’s “zero option” for intermediate-range nuclear forces (Gaddis). As an unexpected alignment between Reagan and Gorbachev, this surprised the American side who offered a compromise to eliminate ballistic missiles within a decade in exchange for the right to deploy defenses against remaining threats. Gorbachev then proposed eliminating all nuclear weapons within ten years. Initially, Reagan seemed to agree, but disagreements arose over Gorbachev’s demand to ban testing of strategic defense systems (Gaddis). This led to the summit ending abruptly and without agreement, with all of the proposed agreements seen as hastily made and lacking careful consideration (Deudney/Ikenberry). But while the summit ultimately ended
In Kirby Dick’s influential documentary “The Invisible War,” filmmaker Kirby Dick uses pathos, ethos and logos to gain information and supplementary details to make his point that there is an epidemic of rape in throughout the DOD (Department of Defense) and the fact that military sexual trauma (MST) in the United States military goes unheard, mostly unpunished and needs to be addressed at a higher level.
“People who had incurred the displeasure of the party simply disappeared and were never heard of again.
Truman Capote showcases his very distinct style of writing in his true crime novel, In Cold Blood. Capote intentionally frames ruthless murderer Perry Smith as a relatable, well-intentioned human throughout the whole novel, and employs various rhetorical devices to show us that Perry is not just a stone cold killer. Specifically, Capote uses diction comprised of complex words, interviews conducted by Capote personally in which he interacted with the suspects and their loved ones, and sentence structure that came off as very to the point, in order to illustrate Perry’s dynamic and unique personality, opposed to the one dimensional heartless murderer many made him out to be.
The Cold War was a period of dark and melancholic times when the entire world lived in fear that the boiling pot may spill. The protectionist measures taken by Eisenhower kept the communists in check to suspend the progression of USSR’s radical ambitions and programs. From the suspenseful delirium from the Cold War, the United States often engaged in a dangerous policy of brinksmanship through the mid-1950s. Fortunately, these actions did not lead to a global nuclear disaster as both the US and USSR fully understood what the weapons of mass destruction were capable of.
During the Cold War, the United States engaged in many aggressive policies both at home and abroad, in which to fight communism and the spread of communist ideas. Faced with a new challenge and new global responsibilities, the U.S. needed to retain what it had fought so strongly for in World War II. It needed to contain the communist ideas pouring from the Soviet Union while preventing communist influence at home, without triggering World War III. With the policies of containment, McCarthyism, and brinkmanship, the United States hoped to effectively stop the spread of communism and their newest threat, the Soviet Union. After the war, the United States and the Soviet Union had very different ideas on how to rebuild.
The major factor that led to the true end of the Cold War was the ongoing personal and diplomatic relationship between Presidents George H. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev. This resulted in the reduction of the Russian military and favorable arms agreements. Key indicators of the substance behind this relationship were the Soviet troop withdrawals from Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, and Hungary (lifting the Hungarian/Austrian “Iron Curtain” along the border). Subsequently the opening of the Berl...
One day, in the early 60s the US Government discovered that the Soviet Union had a nuclear missile on the island of Cuba. So, the US government asked the Soviets to get rid of them. It was a bold thing to do because anything could have happened. Things between the US and the Soviets were already tense because of the cold war. For fourteen days, tension grew between the nations. Not knowing if this missile aimed and ready to fire at the US. Kennedy decided to give this speech the “Cuban Missile Crisis Address”. The address was used was to announce there will be a naval blockade on Cuba until the crisis is solved. This address was very effective because Kennedy did not say he was going to start
7. In the opening passage, Capote describes the town of Holcomb where four murders take place. In at least two paragraphs, analyze how Capote uses at least two rhetorical strategies to convey the tone of the novel and its setting.
Reagan rose into power after years of turmoil and the American pride was dipping. About a decade before he became president, the war in Viet-Nam was winding down and the troops were returning home to negative demonstrations towards their duty. Then, during the Carter years, America transitioned into a détente policy, which meant that the United States would try to ease the tensions with the Soviet Union by not expanding the military, but not doing anything to acting ease the tension. The idea behind this became known as MAD, mutually assured destruction, (Hannaford) which meant that both the United States and Soviet Union would maintain and even number of nuclear weapons so that if one would fire, the other would be able to fire back equally. Reagan completely disagreed with this philosophy and created a whole new policy when he became president. The foreign policy he established was to create the Reagan Doctrine. According to a speech by Peter Hannaford, the Reagan Doctrine was that America would support democratic movements in any Communist country until that country could enjoy the fruits of freedom (Hannaford). This meant that the United States would help any country who wanted to leave the influence of the Soviet Union and create their own democracy. Also, to counter the Soviet Union and end the Cold War, a race between the United State and Soviet Union to create the best technology and become the world powerhouse, Reagan increased military spending. Ronald Reagan knew that the Soviet Union was unable to keep up the United States in military spending and still having enough funds to fund their own economy to keep it stable. Reagan used this knowledge to convince Congress to increase military budget to build up technology, causing the Soviets decide on what to do. The United States had the funds to continue, but the Soviet Union could not keep up. The breaking point
The political ideologies of the USA and of the Soviet Union were of profound significance in the development of the Cold War. Problems between the two power nations arose when America refused to accept the Soviet Union in the international community. The relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union was filled with mutual distrust and hostility. Many historians believe the cold war was “inevitable” between a democratic, capitalist nation and a communist Union. Winston Churchill called the cold war “The balance of terror” (1). Cold war anxieties began to build up with America and the Soviet Union advancing in the arms race for world dominance and supremacy. America feared the spread of Communism
During the late 1940's and the 1950's, the Cold War became increasingly tense. Each side accused the other of wanting to rule the world (Walker 388). Each side believed its political and economic systems were better than the other's. Each strengthened its armed forces. Both sides viewed the Cold War as a dispute between right and wron...
With this book, a major element of American history was analyzed. The Cold War is rampant with American foreign policy and influential in shaping the modern world. Strategies of Containment outlines American policy from the end of World War II until present day. Gaddis outlines the policies of presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, including policies influenced by others such as George Kennan, John Dulles, and Henry Kissinger. The author, John Lewis Gaddis has written many books on the Cold War and is an avid researcher in the field.
In the minds of many Americans Ronald Reagan is the president that ended the Cold War, but is this view accurate? They claim Reagan's unprecedented military spending forced the Soviets to crumble. However, many critics of the president's outspending theory claim that the Russian economy would have imploded without such spending, and a military buildup of that kind did nothing but delay peace. Although, Reagan's willingness to negotiate was a clear factor in ending the Cold War, his aggressive arms race may have done more to forestall peace than abet it. The ascendance of Mikhail Gorbachev to power, the stagnating economy of Russia, and the personal friendship forged between Gorbachev and Reagan were the clear factors that contributed to the war's end.
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
This essay agrees with this statement to a large extent. The Cold War (1947-1991), was a rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR), fueled by tensions amidst the two superpowers, post World War II (WW2). Both superpowers were cautious of each other and viewed their conflict through ideological lenses, with the US promoting democracy and capitalism, and the USSR advocating communism. This essay asserts that the US was the most blatant aggressor during the Cold War, threatening the USSR, and the USSR mostly reacted to policies made by the US for the sake of Soviet security.