The Cold War: The Lasting Effects Of The Cold War

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A Cold War is not a war involving physical combat, but rather a war of political aggression between various countries involving threats, military build ups, and spying. After World War two, tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union impacted other countries around the world. This conflict eventually became known as the Cold War. During this time, two conflicting political philosophies, communism and capitalism, became global and had long lasting effects on many countries, including Cuba. In general, the Cold War lasted from 1945 to 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed, but Cuba remains negatively impacted until this day. Understanding the international tensions of that time period in history is necessary for understanding how Cuba became so affected by the Cold War. Economic sanctions by the United States caused an embargo on products imported into and exported from Cuba. These embargoes limited Cuba’s ability to provide social services such as education and health care. Cuba was adversely impacted by the Cold War because of international tensions, economic sanctions, and a decrease in …show more content…

The United States found ways to have defective products sent into Cuba which affected the negatively the Cubans (Winkler, 88). Sanctions were put on Cuba’s main export, sugar, which adversely affected Cuba’s economy (Swift). Cuba was dependent on the sugar crop to bring in money, through trading and exports, from other countries. The United States did not allow Cuba to send it sugar so Cuba lost a huge portion of money they usually received from America. The Cold War damaged the economic lives of the Cubans because they were unable to make money from selling and trading. The sanctions hurt the Cuban people by decreasing their access to social

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