The cold war completely altered AMerican foreign policy.
The Cold War (1945-1990) was a huge part of American history that did much to shape foreign policy as we know it today. It drastically altered how Americans viewed our involvement in foreign affairs. Its beginning can be traced back to World War II, around the time of the US’ dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Soviet Union and the United States had been reluctant allies up until this point, when the Soviet Non-aggression Pact with Germany was broken by Hitler. The United States had ultimately severed its ties with the Soviets when they became communist. Now, the Americans had exploded the first atomic bomb, and the Soviets wanted access to the technology. The United States refused to share its information on atomic energy with them, despite their demand that it was their right to know. This led to a deep-seated distrust between the two “allies”. When the war ended, another problem arose between the USSR and the United States. All the countries that had previously been occupied by Germany or some other now obsolete power were in need of governments. Although the conference at Yalta attempted to smooth over these kinds of issues before the war ended, the stubbornness of both countries didn’t allow much progress. The United States wanted free elections and self determination for all the newly formed countries, while the Soviets hoped to install pro-communist governments and even run the governments in these countries, especially in Eastern Europe. Neither country wished to allow what the other wanted because the Cold War was a zero sum game (a gain for one would be a loss for the other). The United States adopted a “get tough” mentality with the Soviets in Eastern Europe. The Soviets, however, were supposedly just building up buffer countries to protect the mainland from invasion. They continued to attempt to expand their sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, as well as throughout the world. The dynamic of the Cold War changed completely when the Soviets obtained atomic capabilities. Now, there was the concept of MAD (mutually assured destruction). The United States didn’t dare attack the Soviets due to the assurance that we would be retaliated against in a big way, and vice versa. Both countries therefore resorted to fighting through other countries, rather than directly. By supporting anti-communist movements in Turkey and Greece, for example, the United States was also combating the Soviet Union. By supporting and advising communist uprisings such as in China or North Korea, the USSR was indirectly combating capitalism and the United States. Conflicts such as the Korean War (where 54,000 American soldiers died), or the Cuban Missile Crisis are both rooted in the Cold War. For the over forty year span of the Cold War, the United States has attempted to contain Soviet expansion efforts without directly involving ourselves in conflict with them. Only within the past 20 years has the communist government in Russia slowly dissolved and rendered them nonthreatening, ending the Cold War.