This is in fact what drove most European wars in the past. By reverting back to that system, Europe placed itself in the path of potential skirmishes as seen in previous generations, "Europe is reverting to a state system that created powerful incentives for aggression in the past," (Mearsheimer "Why We Will Soon Miss the Cold War" 1990:1). Smaller powers, now with a stronger more independent voice, have a greater potential of starting conflicts on their own, both within Europe and outside the region. Without the strong united front against the Easter Soviet powers, the smaller powers within Europe itself are free to break away and potentially start their own troubles elsewhere; "Without a common Soviet threat or an American night watchman, Western European states will do what they did for centuries before the onset of the Col War -- look upon one another with abiding suspicion," (Mearsheimer "Why We Will Soon Miss the Cold War" 1990:1). Yet, fortunately this has not been the case so far in post-war Europe. Years after the end of the Cold War, the European Union has once again replaced a sense of unity and common goal within the multitude of European powers, hopefully keeping the region stable. However, other regions have not been so lucky. One region which has seen great instability since the decline of major European power after the end of the Cold War has been the Middle East. During the Cold War, much of the Middle East was pitted against one side or the other, serving as pawns within the larger struggle that really had little to do with them. In Afghanistan, American forces helped the local government fight off the Soviets and vice versa occurred in Iraq. However, when the Cold War ended, that stable source of protection, arms, and money was no longer...
For instance, Saddam Hussein had continuously relied on the Soviet Union to bail him out of trouble, for the Soviets had great interest in protecting their interests in the oil rich region. However, Saddam "made a major miscalculation in annexing Kuwait; he placed Iraq on a collision course with the West at a time when the Soviet Union was no longer able or willing to bail out Iraq," (Sayigh & Shlaim 1997:286). Thus, thanks to the lack of backing European power, the Middle East has also seen instability thanks to mulitpolarity.
S. was willing to stand up to the Soviets. When the U.S. tried to unite East and West Germany, Stalin build a blockade into West Berlin, but the U.S. flew supplies in over the blockade to keep their influence strong in Germany. The Soviets resented that. The entire buildup of bad feelings between the two superpowers was ideological and political. The communists wanted to spread their influence, and they began
China and the Cold War The term "cold war" is used for explaining the shifting efforts of the Western powers and the Communist bloc from the ending of World War II until 1989 in order to attain supremacy influence and esteem on a global level. If seen from a worldwide magnitude, the conflict can be understood as an ideological clash between communism and capitalist democracy ("cold war," 2012). China occupied an
That intervention considered, it is fair to say that on the one hand, the fact that the U.S. came out as the winner of the Cold War was obvious, and on the other hand that a certain change had occurred in terms of the rule of the international law. The following years saw an increase in the intrastate violence, taking into account the Somalia crisis, the situations in South Africa,
Cold War Truman 1945-1953 and expansion of communism As the 21 century approaches, there was every indication on the firmness of Present Harry S. Truman's reputation on the subject of his stewardship of foreign policy even though, as luck would have it, he took over Oval Office in the year 1945 inexperienced in affairs of the world. As he was approaching the end of his reign in the White House, there were
Relations with West improved a lot. Economic liberalization process also started after the rise of Gorbachev as many economic and social problems plagued Soviet Union. In the face of economic issues facing the empire the cost of managing the cold war with respect to the Cold War arms race almost endangered its survival. The Chernobyl catastrophe in 1986 made matters even worse for the Soviet Republic. On American front
As counties in Europe began to align themselves behind the Soviet sphere of influence or the U.S. - Western influence each side looked to fortify their positions. For the U.S. this meant the development of the policy of containment of the Soviet advance. Containment developed along a number of varying lines including political diplomacy, military expansion, and economic aid. President Truman articulated an economic aid package, the Truman Doctrine which
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