What do you understand by Cold War? In what ways was it different from an open war?
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Explanation:
Throughout history, the United States has led, embarked in, participated in, and supported several wars. The Cold War and the War on Terror are two among the most recent and striking examples of the U.S. tendency to take action to halt the advance of ideologies or beliefs deemed dangerous for the entire world.
Fearing an uncontrolled spread of the communist ideals, the U.S. engaged in a Cold War against the Soviet Union, whereas, fearing the perilous growth of terrorist groups and attacks, former U.S. President George W. Bush initiated the so-called War on Terror.
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The two wars have few aspects in common:
They both saw the involvement of the United States;
They were both initiated on the ground of conflicting ideologies;
They both turned out longer and deadlier than expected;
In both cases, the aim was to prove the superiority of the American model as well as to affirm the leading role of the United States on a global scale; and
In both cases, the United States’ actions disproportionally affected the targeted countries (in the case of the Cold War, we refer to Korea and Vietnam).
However, the Cold War and the War on Terror differ on substantial levels, such as:
Actors involved;
Historical period;
Causes of the war; and
Outcome of the war.
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Cold War
In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, the United States’ main concern was slowly but relentlessly spreading from the East. The Soviet Union, which had fought alongside the U.S during the war, represented a serious threat to the American supremacy on a global scale. Furthermore, besides fearing the Soviet expansionist tendencies, the United States was alarmed by the power and the appeal of the communist ideology that was sinuously infiltrating Western countries.
Therefore, former U.S. President Henry Truman inaugurated the well-known “containment policy” aimed at protecting and supporting “free people” from the insidious advance of the subjugating power. It is hard to say which “subjugating power” Truman feared the most: while a victory against the rising Soviet Union was a tough but achievable goal, defeating an ideology seemed a much harder task.
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Normally, we believe that the Cold War did not bring about casualties and destruction. In fact, the term “Cold War” itself refers to the mounting tensions between the two superpowers. Such tensions, however, never fully escalated into a direct conflict – which could have been deleterious for the whole world.
The discrepancies between the United States and the Soviet Union seemed to be limited to two main arenas:
The field of nuclear armament; and
The space
As far as the nuclear race is concerned, both Americans and Soviets – blatantly disregarding the detrimental impact of atomic weapons on human lives and on the environment – invested in the development of weapons of mass destruction. Luckily, the nuclear race remained limited to a developmental and testing phase, and no nuclear arm was ever used after the end of World War II. Yet, the creation of the American “Superbomb” and the constant replies of the Soviet counterpart spread fear and uncertainty across the world.
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Americans and Soviets also competed for the primacy in the space. The U.S. replied to the launch of Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile Sputnik with the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and definitely won the space race in 1969 when Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon.
However, affirming that the Cold War did not provoke casualties and that was merely fought on a political and psychological level is not entirely correct. In fact, the United States and the Soviet Union, while never directly militarily confronting each other, supported opposing sides in several international conflicts,
Answer:i don’t care
Explanation: