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Compare And Contrast Cold War And Doves

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One of the most interesting and divisive issues of US politics has always been the use of US military force abroad. With the conclusion of World War II, the United States entered into a period of world dominance matched only for a time by the Soviet Union. The US army became the preeminent fighting force in the world. The isolationist policies of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries relaxed and the US began to insert its army into numerous areas around the globe to establish security and achieve various foreign policy goals. The current debate on the use of military force features two camps, colloquially known as the hawks and the doves. The hawks are known for being largely in favor of military intervention and the use of force, notably in areas vital to US security. The doves see the US military as a force that should only be used in times of great distress and never preemptively. To understand the current decisions to deploy the US Army a careful examination of previous foreign policy decisions and strategies must be understood. The first notable strategy guided US military involvement was George Kennan’s policy of containment, developed to fight the Cold War with the Soviet Union. This policy …show more content…

Contrasting the hawkish George H.W. and George W. Bush presidencies were the Bill Clinton and Barack Obama administrations, noted for their lack of military involvement in world affairs. Many praised the doves’ non-interventionist policies, as the loss of US lives was avoided and quagmires such as Vietnam were circumvented. However, the hawks argued that the US should have intervened in crises in places like Rwanda and Syria. The Obama administration was famous for its decline in the number of troops present in the Middle East and the end of the war in Iraq, both of which appealed to a large number of doves within his

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