Soviet Union Pros And Cons

1344 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Capitalism vs communism

"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr.Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”(Ronald Reagan)! During 1941 to 1991, the US and the Soviet Union have always been competing. Some examples include who got to the moon first, boycotting the Olympics and other actions. The USSR was communist and the United States are capitalist, which caused a lot of tension between the two countries. Both countries wanted to be a superpower which caused a lot of problems. They were also making nuclear threats to each other, which is not a good idea. The world would not exist and thrive as it does today if Reagan, …show more content…

After Gorbachev and Reagan met for the first time in person, they developed a relationship that could be best described as a “bromance”. Reagan invited Gorbachev to the US for a tour of New York, and many people on the side of the streets greeted Mr. Gorbachev with respect. Later that year, the leader of the USSR, invited President Reagan to Moscow, Russia. As soon as Mr. President landed and stepped out of his plane, he was greeted with a striking performance of the Russian Military doing their salute to President Reagan as Gorbachev showed him the way off the tarmac(Bret Baier). Gorbachev then showed President Reagan around Moscow, showing its magnificent building structures and people. President Reagan was then asked, “Do you still think you’re in an evil empire Mr. President?” President Reagan then replied with, “No, I was talking about another time, another era.”It is surprising how two very powerful leaders who were making threats on blowing each other up, come together and put an end to their heated conflict they had. They both put everything they had said in the past, and looked at the present and worked together to come to a compromise for both of the

Show More
Related

  • Killing Reagan Book Report

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    As we move into the reelection year, the authors accuse Nancy of ensuring that Reagan hasn’t campaigned for eight months, following a “Rose Garden strategy.” But Reagan has no credible opponent for the 1984 nomination, and Walter Mondale, who will be his Democratic opponent in the general election, has not yet been nominated. So there is no need for a strategy, Rose Garden or otherwise. Of course we get the full chapter and verse on Reagan’s poor performance in his first debate with Mondale; at least we also get the report on the second debate. From there the narrative jumps to the Iran-Contra affair. A few high points — like the Berlin Wall speech in 1987 — are indeed included, but without any perspective on Reagan’s strategy, perseverance with the Soviets on arms control, or success in revitalizing the U.S. economy. Nothing is said about Reagan’s four second-term summits with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Except for a few comments that Reagan deplored Communism, this is a policy-free book, and a book

    Read More

  • Soviet Union Dbq

    678 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The distinct differences in the political systems of the two countries often prevented them from reaching a mutual understanding on key policy issues and even, as in the case of the Cuban missile crisis, brought them to the brink of war” (Library of Congress). The Soviet Union and The United States were complete opposites, The United States was a democracy whereas The Soviet Union was a dictatorship. This only began their differences though, their economies, beliefs, goals, and even their fears, everything about them made them different except for their enemy. The

    Read More

  • Reaganomics: Revitalizing the American Economy

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The 1980 Miracle on Ice

    1321 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1980, it seemed like the United States was not as dominant in the world as it had been before. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union began after World War II. The two nations had joined forces as members of the Allies, but tensions arose after the war. The Americans were very worried about the spread of Soviet communism, and tried to prevent it with a policy of containment, where the United States would protect countries from outside oppression. The Cold War also expanded to include the race between the Soviets and Americans to create atomic weapons. Furthermore, there was a race between the two countries to put the first man in space, which was accomplished by the United States in 1961 (“Cold War History”). The Cold War was a standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union to try to prove their dominance in the world. Each country wanted to have more power and diminish the power of the other. At home, Americans were paranoid with the thought of Soviet spies and communists hiding amongst them, dubbed the “Red Scare.” President Richard Nixon and the Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev signed the Strategic A...

    Read More

  • Jimmy Carter In The Cold War

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    His extreme effectiveness feeds from decision-making ability that turned the country away from the negative and instable foreign policy of Carter and back to support winning the Cold War and promoting the strength of the US. In the 1970s, because Carter allowed Communism to gain military and territorial advantages, and failed to impose American hegemon and his own power as President. Reagan took office in 1981, “he was determined to rebuild that power, regain for the United States the capability to wage war successfully against the Soviets, to act with impunity against Soviet Third World clients, and to regain its status as the world’s dominant military force.” Reagan handled the Iran hostage Crisis within the hour of assuming the Presidency. Simultaneously, doing what was necessary to free Americans, and to use his power as President to go outside the constitution and congress and secure funding for the Contras to overthrown the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and restore the nation to a pro-American government. Unlike Carter Reagan wanted to make it clear he only cared about protecting American security, and that human rights could be an after

    Read More

  • Ronald Reagan and the End of the Cold War

    1884 Words  | 4 Pages

    He used his glasnost (openness to public debate) policy and perestroika. restructuring to help the Russian economy. Both leaders wanted a "margin of safety". Reagan took a tough stand. against Russia and its allies.

    Read More

  • Cold War

    1240 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1992, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and U.S. President George Bush formally declared that their countries did not regard each other as potential enemies (Walker). These events marked the end of the Cold War and of communist threat as we know it.

    Read More

  • Ronald Reagan

    1139 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ronald Reagan came to the Presidency without any major political qualifications, but his victory in the Cold War was no lucky outcome. Dinesh D'Souza’s new book, Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader, just published by the Free Press, looks at how Reagan helped end the Cold War. Ten years ago Ronald Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate and said, “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and East...

    Read More

  • Ronald Reagan's Role in Ending the Cold War

    1096 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...isputes, but Reagan refused to concede the right of the United States to intervene militarily if it deemed necessary. Despite this disagreement, Gorbachev and Reagan reached many agreements on issues regarding disarmament and sent a message to the world that the two biggest conflicting powers had ended their near-40 year dispute.

    Read More

  • The Causes of the Cold War - Post-Revisionist

    3007 Words  | 7 Pages

    "When a power vacuum separates great powers, as one did the United States and the Soviet Union at the end of World War II, they are unlikely to fill it without bumping up against and bruising each other" (Gaddis). This 'bumping' and 'bruising' caused the tensions and hostilities that surfaced in the years following WWII.

    Read More

  • Soviet Union Pros And Cons

    850 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the 20th century, the USSR or Soviet Union was a hard place to live in. Between the scare tactics to get votes all the way to the incredible nuclear militarization of the USSR, it was hard for soviet workers to keep up with harsh taxes while making such low income; and don't forget, if you make Stalin angry you were a walking dead man. Although the Soviets had these issues, there were good parts of their lives such as, their ballet programs and the continuous awe of the space program. The questions still stands, what should the Unites States high school textbooks emphasize the most about 20th century Russia. Well, their are good things about the barbaric empire, but unfortunately, the bad things are what need to be emphasized.

    Read More

  • The Sputnik Satellite

    3967 Words  | 8 Pages

    At the same time, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were involved in the Cold War. They were competing against one another, constantly trying to show that their country (and therefore their form of government and ideals) was the better choice. They were competing for influence over the rest of the world. Eventually the USSR and Communism lost, but far more important results came out of this competition instead.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Cold War

    1027 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wars are tragic but beneficial; the Cold War was very beneficial because a plethora of technological advancements evolved from it, improving the economy, health, weapons, and warfare. The Cold War promoted an arms race between the Eastern Bloc and powers in the Western Bloc. The arms race created an environment where the technological advancements were the leading cause of competition between countries. Its widely believed that the Cold War was a negative event but the positive side of the Cold War is that technological advancements came from it changing history, improving the economy, creating new jobs and weapons, and also improving health.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of The Cold War

    1522 Words  | 4 Pages

    The order of the international system during the Cold War was generally viewed as having two major superpowers, known as a bipolar system. The two “poles” during the Cold War era were the United States and the USSR or Soviet Union (now known as Russia) and they emerged after World War II. At the end of the Cold War, it became apparent that the United States was the only major superpower in the world, it was more of a unipolar system. In today’s world, we are currently seeing the re-emergence of Russia as a nation with power as well as China quickly becoming a superpower. Other countries have also risen to a position of economic power such as India, Brazil, and Japan.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Communism

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many people think that communism is inherently evil. However, communism has had a long history and only until recently has it been overrun by dictatorships. Not all forms of communism are bad, and capitalism is not much better. The first examples of communism were in early prehistoric communities.

    Read More

More about Soviet Union Pros And Cons

Open Document