Nuke Proliferation
USA:1 Russia:0
"I cannot but think . . . that the future growth of Russia . . . is not a little overrated. Without a civilizing of the hordes nominally extending the Russian domination over so many latitudes and longitudes, they will add little to her real force, if they do not detract from it; and in the event of their civilizing, and consequent increase, the overgrown empire, as in so many preceding instances, must fall into separate and independent states"
Former President James Madison had enough clairvoyance, in 1821, to predict the downfall of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991. At that moment, the Soviet Union's fifteen members became a commonwealth of separate nations; each filled with self-determination to succeed with their newfound autonomy. The dissolve of the Soviet Union effectively ended the cold war and gave the United States the victory, but new problems arose from both Russia and the non-Russian republics. At the same time the United States was thrust from a bipolar international system, into what seemed to be a unipolar one, the new Soviet Republics were thrust into a nightmare of economic breakdown, rampant crime, and even civil war. As Kenneth Waltz says, "In international politics, overwhelming power repels and leads other states to balance against it." With this quote and the distress of the Soviet Republics in mind, the new hegemony that the United States was experiencing would be short lived. A new crisis emerged from the Soviet Republics that threatened the security of the United States. Robert J. Art argues that one of the main objectives for the United States is to protect the homeland from destruction, and the prime threat to this objective is the spread of n...
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... "A Defensible Defense America's Grand Strategy After the Cold War," p. 91.
"The Start Process," http://www.ucsusa.org/arms/start.html 11/22/99.
"The Start Process," http://www.ucsusa.org/arms/start.html 11/22/99.
See Ted Hopf, "Managing Soviet Disintegration, A Demand for Behavioral Rights."
See Ted Hopf, "Managing Soviet Disintegration, A Demand for Behavioral Rights."
Walter LaFeber, America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945-1996, 8th edition, p. 363.
"A De-Alerting Primer," http://www.ucsusa.org/arms/primer.html 11/23/99
Bruce Blair, "De-alerting Strategic Nuclear Forces," Deep Cuts, June 25, 1997 draft.
"Controlling Nuclear Weapons and Materials in Russia: The Nunn-Lugar Programs," http://www.ucsusa.org/arms/nunn.lugar.html 11/23/99.
"Nunn-Lugar's Unfinished Agenda," http://www.armscontrol.org/ACT/oct97/nunnoct.htm 11/23/99
One of the biggest fears of the American people is that the concept of communism contrasts drastically from the concept of capitalism, which the United States was essentially founded upon. The United States, as the public believed, was not a land of perfect communal equality, but rather a land of equal opportunity. However, what made communism so dangerous can be succinctly described by Eisenhower who compared the spread of communism as the domino effect. As his secretary of state, Dulles, put it, the propagation of communism “would constitute a threat to the sovereignty and independence” of America (Doc B). In addition, the Cold War also planted the seeds of rational fear of a global nuclear war. As Russia caught up to the United States in terms of technological advancements, they successfully developed the atomic bomb as well as the hydrogen bomb, which caused Americans to believe that the USSR would use these weapons of mass destruction to forcefully extend their ideologies to the USA. In fact, Americans were so frantic about a potential nuclear disaster that it...
The United States and The Soviet Union were originally joined together by the want to defeat The Nazi army, in 1941-1945. The alliance remained, and strengthened, among the two until the end of World War II. At the end of World War II, a rupture between the two occurred. The differences began earlier, but there was a straw that broke the camels back. The reason The United States and The Soviet Union’s alliance did not work out is because The Soviet Union and The United States were complete opposites, The Soviet Union proved to be faulty, and they were never truly allies.
With the coinciding of a revolution on the brink of eruption and the impacts of the First World War beginning to take hold of Russia, considered analysis of the factors that may have contributed to the fall of the Romanov Dynasty is imperative, as a combination of several factors were evidently lethal. With the final collapse of the 300 year old Romanov Dynasty in 1917, as well as the fall of Nicholas II, a key reality was apparent; the impact that WWI had on autocratic obliteration was undeniable. However, reflection of Russia’s critical decisions prior to the war is essential in the assessment of the cause of the fall of the Romanov Dynasty. No war is fought without the struggle for resources, and with Russia still rapidly lagging behind in the international industrialisation race by the turn of the 20th century, the stage was set for social unrest and uprising against its already uncoordinated and temporarily displaced government. With inconceivable demands for soldiers, cavalry and warfare paraphernalia, Russia stood little chance in the face of the great powers of World War One.
Through this we are able to see the importance of Vladimir’s transition to Christianity because the writers of the Chronicle portray the act of moving from paganism to Christianity as one of divine will rather than desires of the flesh. This justification of conversion allows the reader to understand the importance of statewide adaptation in the world of Christian Slavs. To further our understanding of the deep rooted awe felt towards Vladimir’s Christianization of Russia, the Chronicle allows the reader specific examples of divine miracles which illustrate the admiration Slavs felt towards the conversion of Russia. When Vladimir attacks the Greek city of Kherson, he and his armies are unsuccessful and become exhausted by the constant charge on the cities walls. Relief finally comes in the form of a man set on aiding the ever-persistent Vladimir.
Though the book has no footnotes, it was researched methodically through documents and the work of other scholars. It is very detailed and specific for such a short book. The information about the foreign policy of Russia under Catherine’s rule, and her various wars and military maneuvers, helped explain some of the issues Russian is currently undergoing today in Crimea, the Ukraine and with Turkey. The central theme of reform was also examined in depth, and given the time in which she ruled, and the size of the country, it astonishes me the undertaking Catherine had in front of her. It could take 18 months for an imperial order to reach the far eastern side of Russia, then 18 more months for a reply to get back to her at the
During the Cold War, the United States engaged in many aggressive policies both at home and abroad, in which to fight communism and the spread of communist ideas. Faced with a new challenge and new global responsibilities, the U.S. needed to retain what it had fought so strongly for in World War II. It needed to contain the communist ideas pouring from the Soviet Union while preventing communist influence at home, without triggering World War III. With the policies of containment, McCarthyism, and brinkmanship, the United States hoped to effectively stop the spread of communism and their newest threat, the Soviet Union. After the war, the United States and the Soviet Union had very different ideas on how to rebuild.
The Soviet Union’s most important goal was national security. National security is defined as the protection of a nation from those who want to do it harm, by its government. During the twentieth century when the cold war was at its most tense point, the Soviet Union’s most important goal was national security. It was more important then peace with the United States because if peace with the U.S. meant a decrease in the Soviet Union’s national security than they were open for attack from any other country that wanted to attack them. By keeping the Soviet Union’s national security strong they kept other countries in fear of them, thus creating a fear inspired peace. By focusing on national security tension was created but it also scared both sides into avoiding war at all costs. If the U.S. were to see weakness in the Soviet Union’s national security than the U.S. would have probably been tempted to test the waters and ...
In his book Cold War: The American Crusade against World Communism, James Warren discusses the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, its causes, its consequences, and its future. Warren also analyzes why the United States was so afraid of communism and how this fear controlled both U.S. domestic and foreign policy. In George Washington’s Farewell Address, he warned future leaders to avoid foreign entanglements. However, the United States strayed away from this policy in 1941 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. From then on, the United States realized that with its great power came great responsibility. The U.S. felt the responsibility to develop a strategy to combat the spread of world communism, which was viewed as the “Red menace.” The U.S. believed that communism would spread from the Soviet Union, across all of Europe; the U.S. understood that the spread of communism would not be very difficult because the destruction caused by World War II left many nations vulnerable to communism. Also, the Soviet Union had a highly-trained army, a ruthless leader, and a nation committed to Marxist-Leninism, which was a belief that human progress is the destruction of Western democracy and capitalism. The Cold War was a military, diplomatic, economic, and scientific struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States. The rivalry between these two nations also affected places such as Korea, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Malaya, and Vietnam. The Cold War controlled many of the crises that occurred the last half of the 20th century. The major conflict of course was the threat of nuclear weapons. Thomas Larson wrote that “the vulnerability to weapons that could destroy entire countries...heightened fears and antagonisms and made th...
“If... many influential people have failed to understand, or have just forgotten, what we were up against in the Cold War and how we overcame it, they are not going to be capable of securing, let alone enlarging, the gains that liberty has made.” The Cold War was a dispute between two of the most powerful nations, the Soviet Union and the United States, during the 1950’s and the 1960’s. The Cold War originated from both the United States and the Soviet Union establishing and protecting it’s own spheres of interest around the globe. To add, the United States during the time of the Cold War noticed that the Soviets were spreading their communist beliefs across the world, so they had to find a way stop the spread of this feared ideology. During
The Soviet Union’s collapse at the end of the Cold War left the United States without its major global rival. Now alone at the top, the United States’ strategic imperatives have shifted remarkably. The shift has been significant enough to prompt fundamental questions about the international order and whether this new “unipolar moment” will last. Indeed, since 1989, political scientists have clamored to define the United States’ status relative to the rest of the world. Indispensable nation? Sole super...
In 1945 the United States saw the Soviet Union as its principal ally. By 1947, it saw the Soviet Union as its principal opponent. The United States misunderstood the Soviet regime. .Despite much pretence, national security had not been a major concern of US planners and elected officials. historical records reveal this clearly. Few serious analysts took issue with George Kennan's position that "it is not Russian military power which is threatening us, it is Russian political power" ; or with President Eisenhower's consistent view that the Russians intended no military conquest of Western Europe and that the major role of NATO was to "convey a feeling of confidence to exposed populations, which was suposed to make them sturdier, politically, in their opposition to Communist inroads."
The time period between 1945 and 1991 is considered to be the era of the Cold War. The Cold War, known as the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, each known during this time as the “super powers”. This conflict consisted of the differing attitudes on the ideological, political, and military interests of these two states and their allies, exte nded around the globe. A common political debate covers the issue of who, if anyone won the Cold War. Many believe the United States won the Cold War since (it) had resulted in the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union. While others are to believe the United States had not won it as much as the Soviet Union had lost it since they feel Reagan did not end the Cold War, but that he prolonged it (Baylis & Smith, 2001.) This has lead me to believe that there is no winner, only losers of the cold war. The cold war for the Soviet Union was to ensure security, block out capitalism, gain power, and improve their economy. While, on the other hand the United States just wanted to stop the spread of communism, which they felt, would spread rapidly throughout the world if they did not put an end to it soon. Both the United States and the Soviet Union wanted to avoid WWIII in the process of trying to achieve their goals.
The Cold War was a time of great tension all over the world. From 1945 to 1989, the United States was the leader and nuclear power and was competing with the Soviet Union to create huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons. However, even though the Cold War ended, nuclear weapons are still a threat. Countries around the world strive to create nuclear power, and they do not promise to use it for peaceful purposes. Some examples of the struggles caused by nuclear weapons include the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Iran’s recent nuclear weapon program. Surely, nuclear weapons have created conflict all over the world since the Cold War era.
After their defeat in the Crimean war (1853-1856), Russia’s leaders realized they were falling behind much of Europe in terms of modernisation and industrialisation. Alexander II took control of the empire and made the first steps towards radically improving the country’s infrastructure. Transcontinental railways were built and the government strengthened Russia’s economy by promoting industrialisation with the construction of factory complexes throughout...
The nuclear arms race was a competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War.(Nuclear Arms Race, Wikipedia)