Clarence Mai
Mrs. Chaid
ERWC
12 February, 2014
Peace Through Strength
No matter how oxymoronic it seems, I strongly agree with the phrase “The only way to prepare for peace is to be prepared for war.”I feel that this relates back to the adage that “the best defense is a good offense”. For me, I view the Cold War as proof that the weapons of war can also be used as instruments of peace.
To start off, one of the key ideas behind the tense, yet somewhat stable peace between the Soviet Union and United States during the second half of the 20th century was the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction, or MAD. As both of the world’s superpowers attempted to outstrip each other in a nuclear arms race, it grew increasingly apparent that should one nation attempt to strike the other or its allies with nuclear weapons, the consequences from the secondary strike would cause an unacceptable loss of life and likely the extinction of the human race. Consider the Cuban Missile Crisis, for instance. There were multiple times where all out nuclear war between the East and the West ca...
The Cold War was a period of dark and melancholic times when the entire world lived in fear that the boiling pot may spill. The protectionist measures taken by Eisenhower kept the communists in check to suspend the progression of USSR’s radical ambitions and programs. From the suspenseful delirium from the Cold War, the United States often engaged in a dangerous policy of brinksmanship through the mid-1950s. Fortunately, these actions did not lead to a global nuclear disaster as both the US and USSR fully understood what the weapons of mass destruction were capable of.
War termination and the decision of when to negotiate peace are rarely effectively planned before a war. The Russo-Japanese War is one of a few historical exceptions. The Russo-Japanese War provides three enduring lessons about war termination in a conflict fought for limited aims. First, the most effective war termination plans are created before the war. Second, continued military and political pressure can effectively improve your position to negotiate peace. Third, common interests and compromise are required for durable peace.
War is the means to many ends. The ends of ruthless dictators, of land disputes, and lives – each play its part in the reasoning for war. War is controllable. It can be avoided; however, once it begins, the bat...
...ills and built bomb shelters in preparation for possible nuclear warfare. The U.S. also built up its army and its air force, just to be prepared. Overseas, the U.S. enforced the Eisenhower Doctrine, which was a threat warning communist countries not to attack the Middle East, lest they wanted to begin and all out war. The United States also engaged in an Arms Race with the Soviet Union to see who could build the most powerful and destructive weapons and technologies. Brinkmanship was effective in preventing war because neither the United States or the Soviet Union was really prepared to fight yet another war.
Courageousness may seem to be measured by the people look on the outside. They look brave, heroic, and have some luck. Now, if someone looked on the inside of that person what would they see. Would they see a mentally strong person with high values in what they believe. On the opposition, the person might find out how scared, mean, and vulnerable they are. Courageousness is how little a person's values are affected when opposition and suffering happen in life. Also, doing things that they fear doing to boost their confidence and defeat their fears, this is courage. In A Separate Peace, The character Finny, who is bright and looking like he is brave all the time might seem to be the obvious candidate for being more courageous than Gene. Gene,who has little bravery an is weak. Gene though is actually the more courageous one because of his willingness to fight for his values and stand up in the face of opposition.
...Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) during the Cold War Era. In order to keep the violence from escalating, both sides had to withdraw, and neither side would have an advantage.
Separate Peace Essay In the book, ‘A Separate Peace’, there are many friendships and rivalries. During the school year at Devon, there is a war going on. So everyone's on the edge. Going to a prep school, you can expect that kids will be jealous of each other, and that’s what happened.
American policy was a mess from 1946 through 1950. The Cold War had begun, and there was a lot of conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. American forces were small however, and the defense budget was too small to meet the Soviet threat. American decision makers didn’t think the Soviets were necessarily seeking a war, but almost no one thought the peace would last. There was an overall gloomy outlook, however the Soviets were counting on several years of peace. Even though the Soviets were not actively seeking conflict, they were still using political means to achieve their goals. No one knew how a war might start and there was fear of miscalculation:
“Peace is purchased from strength. It's not purchased from weakness or unilateral retreats,” (Benjamin Netanyahu).
essay written in 1945 to describe the “war” being waged on “economic, political, and propaganda fronts”. It was first used in the U.S. by Bernard Baruch, the Financier, and Presidential Adviser, at a speech in Columbia, South Carolina in 1947. The Cold War was a nuclear stalemate ‘fought’ between the Soviet Union and the United States. Both countries had nuclear weapons to be able to fight each other with, however, it would only take one of these missiles to destroy either country, so if one country fired a missile, the other would fire one as a counter attack right back, this would end up being called “Mutually Assured Destruction”. This ‘war’ that has had
Although both nations acknowledged the role of deterrence in maintaining the status quo, nevertheless both nations attempted to create a stockpile of weapons in excess of the other in order to gain ‘the upper hand”. In this way, deterrence gave a specific shape to the cold war characterized by the term “the arms race”. In 1957 the USSR created the ICBM (Intercontinental ballistic missile) then America also constructed their own ICBM 1959 hereby creating a cycle of the creation of weaponry, or accelerating a nuclear arms race as the term became. The role of deterrence in this case was to create WMD (weapons of mass destruction) to intimidate the opposition until they backed down. However the Soviet Union did not back down, so the nuclear arms race just continued. Classical theorists believe that the US created SNMF (shortage nuclear missiles fighters) with NATO (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization) because they thought the Soviet Union would not have the capability to copy them. This was thought to then slow down the escalation ladder of nuclear weapon and the arms race, because this weaponry would outgun them. Deterrence prevented a hot war during the Cuban Missile crisis – an event that came close to initiating MAD. Therefore, the practice of deterrence was responsible for preventing a hot war, and in doing so created “the arms race” a feature of the Cold War. Furthermore, the need to maintain and expand zones of influence, which could not be achieved by open conflict, led to conflict through proxy wars, yet another feature of the Cold
John Steinbeck wrote one of the great books titled The Grapes of Wrath and changed part of American history. In the novel, he creates a complex array of ideas, characters, and plot. One of the complex ideas Steinbeck creates comprises of the theme of unity between characters. This unity tests the members of the story to bring out their potential and show there exists strength and survival within the organization. Steinbeck demonstrates the theme of unity by the individual parts -- leaders, laws, and places of organization -- in the microcosm chapter seventeen while reflecting the theme into the Joad family chapters.
I am fighting for inner-peace. I know this is a paradox, and I'm rather proud because it is true. Passivity has been a lifelong threat, laziness a constant lure in my search for identity. This world begs me to succumb to existing in the image of someone else, it asks only that I slip silently and blindly into the niche it provides instead of carving my own. I required a long time to work up courage to fight for the serenity I had glimpsed in the woods in summer and in lovingly handled books read late until the early morning. Doubt had established itself in my mind at some early age, when or why I do not know, and I could trust any person or group more than myself. Doubt begat fear, and fear gave birth to obscuring myself from the eyes of the world while I was a child.
Understanding the purposes of war and how it has evolved is one thing; however, understanding how and why it continues in today’s society is another. In today’s society war is a prevalent problem. War has also become a tool for governments to not only help economies prosper but to also allow the promotion of individual self interest of those involved. Although war is effective there are other tools in the tool box that can be implemented. Because of the increases in technology and increasing threat of nuclear weapons something needs to be done to prevent the destruction of nations, states, and lives. War is something that needs to be closely monitored if not kept in check, just like JFK said previously; it will lead to the destruction of us all.