The Cold War

The cold War

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist." -Eisenhower-

The Cold War developed in response to the disruption of the balance of power in Europe, and Soviet expansionism. ThisCold War marked the creation of a bipolar world and the creation of two camps, Communism and Capitalism, each locked in an ideological struggle, in which America saw itself as the progenitor of what was right. In this struggle American Foreign policy developed "Four Pillars" or basic policy in engaging the Soviets. These policies were deterrence, containment through alliance, commitment tointervention, and establishment of the Bretton Woods liberal economic order. These basic policies arose out of the breakup of the WWII Alliance and Stalin closing the Soviet Union to the capitalist world system as well as both core hegemons creating satellite states that affected for a time the geopolitical and geoeconomic concerns among American policymakers and relationship with American business. Thus,these doctrines and polices in the beginning of the Cold War reflected this relationship and would continue to guide American foreign policy throughout the Cold War. The Cold War created the National Security State, and strengthened the office of the President, giving him war powers in some instances over Congress, in terms of limited police actions and military engagements. Some historians saythat the Cold War began with death of Roosevelt. He envisioned a world order run by four policemen, the US, Britain, China and the Soviet Union, all providing collectively for world security. Besides Roosevelt the other key players were Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin. These state leaders maintained an uneasy alliance, through various international Charters and agreements and they sought politicalstability in a matter suited towards their own individual state security aims. However, when Roosevelt died all attempt at cooperation with the Soviets were ended.
The United States could not continue to serve as a model for the rest of the world while remaining apart from the rest of the world. United States did not have to worry much about security because oceans separated them from allother states that could harm them. Churchill wanted to reconstruct the old balance of power in Europe while recognizing America's newfound power, as leading or co-joining that coalition with Britain. Britain wanted desperately to preserve its colonial possessions. Churchill just wanted to survive at all cost, even if it meant relinquishing leadership of the Anglo American, or even if it meantweakening the British Empire. Stalin was a realist who incorporated Marxist Leninist models. “ while relying on the ideology of utopianism to unify his country and monopolize total state control over his populace by nationalizing the limited means of production that existed in the hands of individual entrepreneurs and directing that capital into the hands of a newly created centralized Leninistbureaucracy solely under his control”. Stalin was a key figure in Soviet history, because on the one hand sought to maintain traditional Tsarist Russia foreign policy aims he also incorporated Communism as the official ideology of the State. Stalin envisaged expansion into to Eastern Europe so as to create a security belt from any further threat of future European invasion. At the Yalta conference asWWII was still being waged Stalin gave notice of his intention to occupy Poland in order to prevent further encroachments from the Germans who had previously used the country to launch an invasion into the Soviet Union. The big three tried to reconcile divergent political objectives even as they persuade a common military task. For the most part they failed, and it was in that failure that the...