Post-Cold War Period Causes of Conflict
The end of the Cold War meant that the ideological conflict of
dominance between East (Soviet Union and Eastern Europe) and West (USA
and Western Europe) was over. Contrary to the expectations that world
would be much safer in the post-Cold War, United States and Soviet
Union were faced with new security issues that they did not know how
to deal with.
The objective of this essay is to show that with all these changes
that occurred with the end of the Cold War, causes of the conflict
indeed altered from the classic ones. First the end of the Cold War
and the changes in the world order that followed will be outlined.
Secondly, the increase in wars within states and the question of
whether today's conflicts are, in fact, new, will be discussed.
Finally this essay will argue that there is a new type of threat:
worldwide terrorism, and it will look at what measures are being taken
to tackle this problem.
The end of bipolarism
The democratic countries (USA and Western Europe), enjoyed 50 years of
peace and economic development, because of the measures they took
after the World War II, not to repeat the same mistakes that initiated
the previous wars. They developed a democratic-political culture,
which emphasised respect for human rights, rule of law, civil society,
and independent media. However, apart from 1953, 1956 and 1968, the
eastern bloc enjoyed peace and relative stability as well. The
military power of both the super powers made US and Soviet leaders
very reluctant to start a war. This was clearly illustrated by the
Cuban missile crisis in 1962.
The end of the Cold War end...
... middle of paper ...
... Soon Miss The Cold War (August)
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/foreign/mearsh.htm
Muldoon, J. (1999) The Challenges of Multilateral Diplomacy in 1999,
United Nations Association of USA, (February),
http://www.iwa.org/Publications/Lectures/muldoon.html
Pfetsch, F.R & Ch. Rohloff, Ch. (2001) Global Change, Conflicts and
Conflict Research 'New Data
On Armed Conflict' at the 42nd Annual ISA Convention, Chicago, IL
20-24 (February)
http://www.uni-duisburg.de/Institute/INEF/Intra/debate_Rohloff_Pfetsch.htm
Sens, A G. (2000) Canada on the Security Council :International
Security in the 21 Century:
Challenges facing UN,
http://www.unac.org/en/link_learn/canada/security/21_century.asp.
Snow, D. (1991) The Shape of the Future, The Post-Cold War World;
M.E.Sharpe,
Armonk, New York and London.
The major factor that led to the true end of the Cold War was the ongoing personal and diplomatic relationship between Presidents George H. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev. This resulted in the reduction of the Russian military and favorable arms agreements. Key indicators of the substance behind this relationship were the Soviet troop withdrawals from Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, and Hungary (lifting the Hungarian/Austrian “Iron Curtain” along the border). Subsequently the opening of the Berl...
The Cold War in 1945 to 1953 brought about a period of tension and hostility due to the feud between the United States and the Soviet Union. The period began with the end of the Second World War. The situation acquired the title for there was no physical active war between the two rivals. The probability of the tension got to be the fear of the then rise in nuclear ammunition. Things began to roll when a US based U2 sky plane got to take photos of some USSR intermediate ballistic missiles with the capability of transporting nuclear heads.
Isaacs J (2008). ‘Cold War: For Forty-five Years the World Held its Breath’. Published by Abacus, 2008.
Gaddis, John Lewis. We Now Know: Rethinking the Cold War: Dividing the World. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1997. Publishing.
During the late 1940's and the 1950's, the Cold War became increasingly tense. Each side accused the other of wanting to rule the world (Walker 388). Each side believed its political and economic systems were better than the other's. Each strengthened its armed forces. Both sides viewed the Cold War as a dispute between right and wron...
From the time of the Spanish American war until the beginning of the Cold War the United States went from relative isolation to increased global involvement because of 1 utopian thinking, 2 business expansion, and 3 changes in foreign policy. The consequences on American society of that greater involvement were 4 America’s development into an “international police power”.
Hammond, Thomas, Editor. Witnesses to the Origins of the Cold War. University of Washington Press. Seattle, 1982.
Outline of Essay About the Origins of the Cold War OUTLINE: Introduction- 1. Definition of ‘Cold War’ and the Powers involved 2. Perceived definition of ‘start of Cold War’ 3. Iron Curtain Speech, Truman Doctrine and Berlin Blockade as significant events that caused strife between both powers, but which triggering off the start of the Cold War Body- 1. Iron Curtain Speech (1946) - A warning of Soviet influence beyond the acknowledged Eastern Europe - Churchill’s belief that the idea of a balance in power does not appeal to the Soviets - Wants Western democracies to stand together in prevention of further
characterized international relations and dominated the foreign policies of Europe. It affected all of Europe and determined lasting alliances. The Cold War was caused by the social climate and tension in Europe at the end of World War II and by the increasing power struggles between the Soviet Union. Economic separation between the Soviets and the west also heightened tensions, along with the threat of nuclear war.
Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signified, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold but not clothed." There was never a war that this idea can be more correct applied to than the Cold War. According to noted author and Cold War historian Walter Lippman, the Cold War can be defined as a state of tension between states, which behave with great distrust and hostility towards each other, but do not resort to violence. The Cold War encompasses a period from the end of the Second World War (WWII), in 1945, to the fall of the Soviet Union, in 1989. It also encompassed the Korean and Vietnam Wars and other armed conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, that, essentially, were not wars for people but instead for territories and ideologies. "Nevertheless, like its predecessors, the Cold War has been a worldwide power contest in which one expanding power has threatened to make itself predominant, and in which other powers have banded together in a defensive coalition to frustrate it---as was the case before 1815, as was the case in 1914-1918 as was the case from 1939-1945" (Halle 9). From this power contest, the Cold War erupted.
The purpose of this essay is to inform on the similarities and differences between systemic and domestic causes of war. According to World Politics by Jeffry Frieden, David Lake, and Kenneth Schultz, systemic causes deal with states that are unitary actors and their interactions with one another. It can deal with a state’s position within international organizations and also their relationships with other states. In contract, domestic causes of war pertain specifically to what goes on internally and factors within a state that may lead to war. Wars that occur between two or more states due to systemic and domestic causes are referred to as interstate wars.
Mingst, K. (2011). Essentials of international relations. (5th ed., p. 70-1). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company
Whenever world politics is mentioned, the state that appears to be at the apex of affairs is the United States of America, although some will argue that it isn’t. It is paramount we know that the international system is shaped by certain defining events that has lead to some significant changes, particularly those connected with different chapters of violence. Certainly, the world wars of the twentieth century and the more recent war on terror must be included as defining moments. The warning of brute force on a potentially large scale also highlights the vigorousness of the cold war period, which dominated world politics within an interval of four decades. The practice of international relations (IR) was introduced out of a need to discuss the causes of war and the different conditions for calm in the wake of the first world war, and it is relevant we know that this has remained a crucial focus ever since. However, violence is not the only factor capable of causing interruption in the international system. Economic elements also have a remarkable impact. The great depression that happened in the 1920s, and the global financial crises of the contemporary period can be used as examples. Another concurrent problem concerns the environment, with the human climate being one among different number of important concerns for the continuing future of humankind and the planet in general.
Opalisime After World War II there was a strong anti-communist movement in America for decades prior to the 1950s. Nuclear weapons also sent a shot at distrust and fear between America and Russia. Information about nuclear weapons is very limited to the public. There are some facts, details, and reasons on why this war happened, the effects of the Cold War, and how society reacted to the War. It began in the 1945-1948 timeframe and ended in 1989, having been a dispute over the division of Europe.
The causes of ethnic conflict cannot be generalised to fit all incidents, as the conflicts in Sri