Research Paper on Cold War: A Historical Analysis of its Causes and Effects

Introduction

History has shaped and continues to develop the world today. Cold War is one of the historical periods that have shaped and still influences the events of the present world. Cold War occurred from the year 1947 and ended in 1991. It took place after the Second World War and entailed a struggle between superpowers including the United States and the Soviet Union as well as the respective allies. Politics, economic and propaganda were the leading causes of the Cold War, and the involved parties used limited weapons as part of their resources. It was a long battle for supremacy between the United States and the Soviet Union. Even though the Cold War happened in the United States (U.S.), its legacy is still experienced today in different parts of the world. The purpose of this essay is to use a recent news story and analyze how the Cold War legacy shapes the events in the given article.

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The Chosen Recent News Story

The recent news story about the non-Western world for the analysis is Myers, Steven, and Horton Chris. "As Taiwan Loses Influence, China Gains Ground in Race With U.S." New York Times, 2019. Myers and Horton explain the democratic relationships that the Kiribati nations are forming with Beijing. The Pacific island country has established diplomatic relations with Beijing, and this has weakened Taiwan's influence. American officials are involved in the formation of democratic relationships of Kiribati and Beijing. The authors want to show how China is working to gain power and compete with the U.S., the world's superpower.

How the Legacy of the Cold War Shapes the Events of the News Story

The legacy of the Cold War impacts on the topic of the news story since Taiwan is an ally of the United States. The Cold War legacy of supremacy between superpowers influences the subject of the news story by showing how one nation is losing its sovereignty while the other is gaining. Taiwan is losing influence, while China is gaining world powers. Various themes of the Cold War are evident in the chosen article, including interaction with superpowers, communism aggression, ideological conflict and foreign interventions.

Regarding the cooperation with superpowers, the U.S. dominated the strategic waters where the Solomon Islands lie during the Cold War (Myers and Horton). China is using the Solomon Islands to achieve its geopolitical ambitions. China's effort to dominate the Island is seen bearing fruits as the U.S. is losing its allies within the region. Beijing and Washington seem to scramble for an efficient regional strategy. Furthermore, China and Taiwan compete for their influence with the U.S., whereby China is gaining momentum and ahead of Taiwan. The struggle for supremacy evident in the Cold War legacy is present in the Myers and Horton news. The historical force shapes the world today, whereby nations are competing for superiority over one another. China's efforts to become the world superpower over the U.S. emanates in the news story from Beijing to dominate the Solomon Island under the leadership of Xi Jinping. The Solomon Islands was a strategic place for America during the Cold War.

Communism aggression of the U.S. during the Cold War is evident in the events in the news story. For instance, American officials are highly involved in the Pacific island nation idea to establish diplomatic relations with Beijing. The American leaders such as the Secretary of the State Mike Pompeo visited the South Pacific in August and made intense lobbying for Kiribati to develop diplomatic associations with Beijing (Myers and Horton). Muccio, the Ambassador in Korea, wrote to the Secretary of the state in June 1950 describing the communist aggression of the United States in Korea (State Government of Korea 130). Muccio noted that American advisors influenced the Korean Military in coping with an emergency quickly. Such efforts by American advisors during the Cold war are growing in different parts of the world day by day. In the news story, American public opinion provided by the Secretary of the State Mike Pompeo is of significance when addressing the issue of democratic relations of Kiribati and Beijing. It shows that the U.S. involvement in diminishing Taiwan influence is of importance to the Cold War and even today to help the Chinese Communists win over their competitors.

Ideological Conflict

The news story presents an ideological conflict between China and the U.S. efforts are to help China in gaining supremacy over Taiwan. However, China's attention to winning the dominance is not only to defeat the influence of Taiwan but also to achieve its global ambitions. Myers and Horton state that Beijing risks a backlash in Taiwan and its relationship with the United States. The current situation is that there are strained trade wars between China and America, and this raises the suspicion of China's intention in its international ambitions. Similar ideological conflicts between competing nations during the Cold War were evident and seem to permeate today in China's effort to become the world's superpower.

In the Selected Works of Mao-Tse-tung, such ideological conflicts existed between the Soviet Union and the imperialist powers during the Cold War. To gain from the winning party, China had to choose a stand and support one side. Such a trend continues until today in China as it becomes impossible for Beijing to avoid leaning on both sides of the ideology. It is either China focuses on achieving democracy and becoming the world's superpower or remaining under the influence of the U.S. and its doctrines. It is not possible to be neutral when it comes to revolutionary efforts for Beijing. Fighting an imperialist power by China has not started today but in 1940 during the Cold War. In Myers and Horton text, China continues to fight America through trade wars and its efforts to achieve global ambitions. Beijing's goal is to dominate the Pacific through developments and Chinese investments in the Solomon Islands. For instance, China has made threats to deplete the pristine rainforests of the Pacific nation in Kiribati. As such, the efforts of Taiwan and the U.S. will be defeated to occupy and invest in the Solomon Islands.

Foreign interventions of other countries supporting the Soviet Union and the U.S. during the Cold War are evident today in other parts of the world. Countries such as China are gaining foreign support to achieve their international goals and dominance in the Pacific. Myers and Hortnon's news story shows that other countries have aligned themselves with Beijing. They are giving monetary support for China to make investments in the Solomon Islands, including gold-mining. Tse-tung commented on the achievement of the new democracy in China by stating that countries formed alliances during the Cold War to defeat their competitors. For instance, Russia and China formed partnerships to dominate Asia and Europe, respectively. Such alliances are still operating today for China's effort to achieve supremacy over Taiwan. International support for China is unstoppable to severe the ties of the U.S. with Taiwan. In an email written by the senior advisor of Asia Bonnie Glaser, the effort to lure away more Taiwan allies was a way of China retaliating for the previous sales of arms (Myers and Horton). Such support will bring development and investment opportunities for China in the Pacific nation, Kiribati.

Conclusion

The Cold War legacy still exists in the world today. Myers and Horton's article expresses various ways through which the Cold War legacy is evident in the news story. Cold War themes such as interaction with superpowers, ideological conflict, foreign intervention and communism aggression are present in the news story. Such historical forces have shaped the world today as Myers and Horton describe the efforts of China to severe the ties of Taiwan with the U.S., achieve its global ambitions and dominate the Pacific. Based on the events described in the news story, it is evident that the Cold War has a lasting impact on the rest of the world.

Works Cited

Myers, Steven, and Horton Chris. "As Taiwan Loses Influence, China Gains Ground in Race With U.S." New York Times, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/world/asia/taiwan-kiribati-china.html

State Government of Korea. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1950, Korea, Volume VII. Historical Documents. 1950. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1950v07/d66

Tse-tung, Mao. On New Democracy. Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung. 1940. https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-2/mswv2_26.html