Essay Example on the Cold War: A Conflict Between Two Superpowers

The Cold War was a conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States (US) that later escalated to other nations across the world as allies of both warring parties joined to offer their support and alliance. The two superpowers spread propaganda against their opponent in a bid to attract more alliances, as well as incorporating the economic and political fronts as the main weapons to fight against the enemy (Davis, 2015). The Cold War began immediately after the Nazis from Germany surrendered towards the end of World War II. At this time, there had been an ongoing alliance between Great Britain and the United, which had had the Soviet Union to feel inferior. This prompted the Soviet Union to approach nations in the eastern part of Europe for alliances.

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The US was against Soviet Union's move to occupy and take control of some or the entire part of Europe because the Soviet Union would spread the communist ideology to Europe, affecting future economic relationships the nation would have with its trade partners (Dunbabin, 2014). The US had entered into an alliance relationship with Great Britain. The Soviet Union occupation in Eastern Europe was because it feared future attacks from the Nazis even though they had retreated back to their country. Consequently, the US and its allies from Europe that were resisting the Soviet Union occupancy formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (Belmonte, 2013). The Soviets responded to this move by exploding an atomic bomb.

The US fought in the Cold War to protect its economic and political interests that were being threatened by the spread of the Soviet Union propaganda. US' main interests were maintaining law and order along its boundaries on the airports and sea lanes, ensuring that the country's access to resources from other parts of the world was not disrupted, ensuring that Americans' wellbeing was maintained, and preventing the possibility of an unruly superpower from taking control of Europe as it would have indirect detrimental effects on America and in other nations in the world (Davis, 2015). It is important to note that the US' decision to take part in the war was determined by the future implications the future negative effects of the Soviet Union's control of Europe would have in the world. Additionally, the US was prepared to fight since it has positioned itself in the world as a nation that had the capability and potential to act.

The US took part in the Cold War to affirm its superpower position in the world. The US controlled part of the economic decisions other nations made in the world through the trade relationships that had been initiated in before, during, and after World Wars I and II (Dunbabin, 2014; Belmonte, 2013). The release of the atomic bomb by the Soviet Union triggered the US' interest in exploring space to indicate that it was still in power. This was despite a successful satellite launch by the Russians into space. The US responded by released its satellite that had been designed by the armies. The competition between the US and Soviet Union on the ground and in space was a display of which superpower had more command and control. Soviet Union appeared to be steps ahead of the US after they sent their first man on space and later on an American send to explore. Before launching into space, both superpowers had earlier demonstrated their prowess in the air by releasing jets and warplanes to display their air supremacy. For instance, the unsuccessful Operation Rolling Thunder had been the US's tactic to showcase its prowess during the war in Vietnam (Belmonte, 2013). Failure to oversee some challenges on the aircrafts management's side had contributed to its failure on both times it had been launched.

The US used a non-violent approach during the Cold War by initiating and sponsoring alliances against the Soviet Union (Wulf, 2015). This approach allows the US to have some form of control over the economic and strategic areas that the Soviet Union depended to strengthen its spread across different countries in the world. For instance, when the US leaders introduced the Marshall Plan, Soviet Union was unable to maintain the close relationship, communication, and influence it had been able to do in the beginning since the United States encouraged nations in the USSR to have an independent way of thinking as opposed to being controlled by the Soviet Union (Davis, 2015). The justification for using a non-violent approach that would enable the leaders from either conflicting side to engage with each other was because the United States' based its actions on the principles and virtues of justice and liberty.

The US maximized an alliance and signing of treaties with other nations approach to ensure that it attracted and retained the attention of nations in the world to offer both direct and indirect support in the conflict it had with the Soviet Union. For instance, in a bid to initiate a political relationship with Guatemala, the US assisted the government to get rid off of left-wing that had been distracting the decisions of the central government (Wulf, 2015). The US also invaded and penetrated the Dominican Republic to prevent its rival, the Soviet Union from penetrating into this region. Getting other nations to support the US during this Cold War period ensured that the supply process of its resources was not affected by the invasion of the Soviet Union, meaning that the country's economy continued to thrive despite the challenges.

Conclusion

In conclusion, America's approach to the war was effective since it helped prevent the communist ideology from being spread in the world. The Soviet Union's invasion and control of Europe would create a leeway for the leaders to slowly penetrate into other nations across the world. This meant that the communist ideology would be considered a global plan if the US had not taken the initiative to prevent the Soviet Union from controlling Europe. Additionally, the US used a shrewd approach to limit the control or spread of the communist ideology by using a non-violent approach, affirming that its main interests were those of the nations of the world.

References

Belmonte, L. A. (2013). Selling the American way: US propaganda and the Cold War. University of Pennsylvania Press.

Davis, L. E. (2015). The Cold War Begins: Soviet-American Conflict Over East Europe (Vol. 1255). Princeton University Press.

Dunbabin, J. P. D. (2014). The Cold War: The great powers and their allies. Routledge.

Wulf, A. J. (2015). US international exhibitions during the Cold War: winning hearts and minds through cultural diplomacy. Rowman & Littlefield.