American History – The Cold War. (Purposes, causes, results, etc)

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American History-The Cold War
Introduction
After the Second World War ended the Soviet Union and the United States of America emerged to be the two superpowers. These two superpowers left the second world and started preparing themselves for future war by manufacturing weapons since rebuilding Europe at that moment seemed to be an impossible thing. This process of preparing for war by the two superpowers is what was called the cold war. The cold war brought about the development of international relations. The cold was not only a struggle between the USSR and the US but it was a global conflict that affected the several countries. In this excerpt, I will examine the purpose, the causes, and the effects of the cold war.
The Purpose of the Cold War
Since after the end of the Second World War there was tension among states. The cold war was used to adopt policies that were aimed at strengthening the allied countries as they weakened others. The cold war was a verbal war that was fought mainly through, radio, magazines, newspapers, and several other propaganda methods (LaFeber 20).
Causes of the Cold War
The cold war was caused by several factors, some of the causes included: the difference between the United States of America and the Soviet Russia. The USA was against the communist ideology that was used by the Soviet Russia (Dodds 204). On the other hand, the Soviet Union did not want to be dominated by the United States of America.
The second cause of the cold war was the arms race between Russia and the United States.

At the end of World War II the Soviet Russia strengthened its military, and this was viewed to be a threat by the Western Countries. As a result, the United States started manufacturing deadly weapons such as the hydrogen bomb, the atomic bomb, and several others.
Another major cause of the cold war was the ideological differences between the two superpowers. While the United States of America advocated for the Capitalist ideology, the Soviet Russia advocated for the Communist ideology. This propaganda further contributed to the start of the cold war. Also, the declaration that was made by the Soviet Russia further accelerated the cold war. The Soviet Russia had highlighted the concept of communism in the mass-media, and this caused the revolution of labor (Buzan 12). But on the other hand, the United States assisted the capitalists against the concept of Communism and this further contributed to the growth of the cold war.
The nuclear program of the United States was another cause of the Cold War. After the United States had hit Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the Soviet Union feared for their existence and as a result, they followed the same path with an aim of combating the United States of America.
The results of the Cold War
The cold war had several consequences that were felt globally. The cold war resulted in a fear psychosis that made the countries that were involved to involve themselves in a mad race of manufacturing dangerous weapons. Also, several alliances such as SEATO, ANZUS, WARSAW PACT and the NATO were created with an aim of preparing countries in case war emerged (Buzan 14). These alliances increased the world tension.
The cold war made the United Nations Organization not to be effective since either of the superpowers was against anything that was proposed by the opponent. Some of the examples where the two superpowers differed are in the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Korean Crisis, and the Vietnam War. Also, the cold war created a world war. Several countries from Africa, Latin America, and Asia kept away from the military alliances that were formed by the two superpowers (Dodds 210). Therefore, the cold war brought about nonalignment movements.
A lot of money was used in the armament production; as a result, the cold war hindered the economic progress of these countries. Money that could have been used in the economic development of these countries was directed in either buying or manufacturing arms. The living standards of people did not improve since the government of the two superpowers mainly concentrated on strengthening the military their countries. The cold war also weakened unity in the whole world since the world was divided into two groups. Also, there was the creation of an atmosphere of disbelief among countries; several of these countries kept questioning their safety under America or Russia. The cold war further interfered with the world peace. There was an atmospheric disturbance from the alliances and the counter-alliances that were formed (LaFeber 30). Despite the fact that the United States of America and Russia were superpowers they were not able to establish peace in the world.
Conclusion
The cold war was caused by the competition of the two superpowers who aimed at strengthening their military. During the cold war, countries spent a lot of money in manufacturing dangerous weapons that could be used against their enemies during war.
Works Cited
Buzan, Barry. People, states & fear: an agenda for international security studies in the post-cold war era. ECPR Press, 2008.
Dodds, Klaus. “Cold war geopolitics.” A companion to political geography(2003): 204-218.
LaFeber, Walter. America, Russia and the cold war 1945-2006. McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2008.