Cold War Foreign Policy
"Their [Russia's and America's] starting-point is different, and their courses are not the same; yet each of them seems marked by the will of Heaven to sway the destinies of half the globe," Alexis de Torqueville, late 19th century. De Torqueville's prophecy came true by the 1940s when the two super powers, the United States of America and the Soviet Union, had come head to head, swaying the "destinies of half the globe" and more. (de Torqueville, chapter 18) The United States had recently participated in the second World War resulting in an Allied and American victory. Europe, however, was devastated, economically, politically, and socially. "The United States [stood] at this time at the pinnacle of world power. It [was] a solemn moment for American democracy," former Britain Prime Minister Winston Churchill stated in a speech delivered at Westminster College in 1946. (Churchill, page 1) At that time, American and Russian tensions had evolved into a full-throttle push into the Cold War. The Cold War refers to the tensions that arose between Russia and America that became a strategic and political struggle that developed after World War II. It lasted for 35 years and it was the battle that determined the fate of democracy and
It proposed the maintenance of a strong military stance. A strong military stance was important for two reasons: it guaranteed our national security and it served as an indispensable backdrop to the conduct of the containment policy. (NSC 68: United States Objectives and Programs for National Security, page 3) This encyclopedia provided information on doctrines and other general information dealing with foreign policy. The Cold War provided clarity to United States foreign policy. (Spanier, page 308) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Richardson, Jo, Defining the Post-Cold War National Interest [document on-line]; available from http://www.nationalforum.com; Internet; accessed 09 February 2001 Academic American Encyclopedia: Deluxe Library Edition (United States: Grolier Incorporated, 1993) MES.net, "Containment Through Economics" [document on-line]; available from http://www.mes.net; Internet; accessed 05 February 2001 Before Truman's presidency, Eisenhower had adopted the idea of a rollback to deal with communism. Roll back was the idea that the Soviet Union would withdraw from communism once it pushed them into inevitable debt. However, once out of under Eisenhower's shadow, Truman decided to take a more agressive stance. Laissez-faire politics in foreign affairs had ended. Realists had the upper hand in controlling the United States' foreign policy in the Cold War era. However it was the fusion of the two ideas that truly formed the blue print for that troubled era and for today. Singh, Robert, American Foreign Policy [document on-line]; available from http://www.bbk.ac.uk; Internet; accessed 04 February 2001
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Approximate Word count = 2111
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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