◦ What political ideologies were in conflict during the Cold War?

During the Second World War, United States and the Soviet Union put their differences aside to face their common enemy, Nazi Germany. However, after the war ended, they continued their ideological conflict capitalist liberal democracy versus communism. In the final stages of the Second World War, both the United States and the Soviet Union tried to gain the upper hand in territory and weapons technology. The Soviet Union at the time was a communist nation that was based on the principles of collectivism, while the United States was a modern liberal nation based primarily on the principles of individualism. In other words, the Soviet Union was positioned on the far left side of the economic spectrum, while the United States was position on the right side.  This difference in ideology was a major source of the conflict between the two nations because, throughout the Cold War, the Soviet Union sought to expand communism to other regions and the United States sought to stop it with its policy of containment. Each side clearly was trying to promote their own ideology while trying to limit the other at the same time.

◦ What economic systems were in conflict during the Cold War?

The economic systems that were in conflict during the Cold War are communism, capitalism, and democracy. The Soviet Union was seeking to expand communism into the countries while the United States was fighting to stop the spread of communism and instead supported the values of capitalism and democracy.

◦ Why did the U.S.S.R ultimately dissolve?

The leader of the U.S.S.R Mikhail Gorbachev believed to better the Soviet economy depended on a better relationship with the world, especially the United States. Gorbachev withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan, where they had fought a war since 1979 and reduce the Soviet military presence in the Warsaw Pact nations of Eastern Europe. Frustration over the bad economy combined with Mikhail Gorbachev’s hands-off approach to Soviet satellites to inspire a series of independence movements in the republics on the USSR’s fringes. One by one Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia declared independence from Moscow, followed by the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine who created the Commonwealth of Independent States. Lastly, the eight of the nine remaining republics also left which lead to the fall of the Soviet Union.

◦ Is the U.S. in or entering into a new Cold War with Russia? Why or why not?

I would say no the U.S. is not entering a new Cold War with Russia. The reason being, The United States and its allies are much stronger now than before. Also, the tensions between Russia and the U.S. possibly more volatile but they can always create opportunities for the West. Also, Russia is much more dependent on trade, and lastly there are no rules, for example, unlike during the Cold War when U.S. and Soviet pilots generally kept their respectful distance to avoid sparking a nuclear confrontation, Russian military pilots now routinely buzz U.S. warships and planes flashing their array of missiles.

REFERENCES

Hawksworth, R. (Executive Producer). (2009) Cold war

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