The Cold War from 1950-1980

The Cold War from 1950-1980

The period of 1950 to 1980 saw the Cold War spread from the

traditional playing field of Europe to other parts of the world.

However it is quite clear that the USA and the Soviet Union played

only a marginal role in originating these conflicts-at the most

setting up the basic framework for it to occur. Furthermore, when they

did get involved they each did so to varying degrees. The USA seemed

to be much more motivated and interested in involving themselves,

while the Soviet Union was more apprehensive. Therefore, to say that

both superpowers “were reluctantly drawn into them (the conflicts)” is

not completely true. To illustrate my point I will analyse the Korean

and Vietnam wars.

There is strong evidence to suggest that US entered the Korean War

fairly voluntarily. Firstly, the US was motivated by strong security

interests. They misperceived the North’s invasion to be Soviet

instigated and an attempt to spread communist ideology into Asia. Thus

they felt they had to do something to prevent this spread of communism

from materialising. There were two reasons for this. Firstly, US

feared that if Korea fell to the communist it would be, as then

Secretary of State put it, “a dagger pointed at the heart of Japan”.

Japan was very important to the USA as it was their bastion of

capitalism and democracy in Asia. To lose it, would be a major blow to

the USA and thus they did not wish to risk endangering it. To quote

Mark. S Byrnes:

“The United States saw the move (North Korean invasion) as potentially

damaging to Japan’s security, and the former enemy had become the

centre of American poli...

... middle of paper ...

...jor Developments in

International Politics 1945-1996, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press,

1999.

Byrnes, Mark S. The Truman Years, 1945-53. Pearson, 2000.

Mason, John W. The Cold War, 1945-1991. Routledge, 1999

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[1] Mark S. Byrnes, The Truman Years, 1945-53 (Pearson, 2000), p. 85

[2]Geir Lunstead, East, West, North, South: Major Developments in

International Politics 1945-1996, 2nd edn (London, Oxford University

Press, 1999), p.57

[3] John W. Mason, The Cold War, 1945-199 (London, Routledge, 1999),

p. 34

[4] Geir Lunstead, East, West, North, South: Major Developments in

International Politics 1945-1996, 2nd edn (London, Oxford University

Press, 1999), p. 49

[5] Mark S. Byrnes, The Truman Years, 1945-53 (Pearson, 2000), p. 85