ipl-logo

Geo-Political Effects Of The Cold War

1284 Words6 Pages

The geo-political struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States has heavily influenced world events even after the end of the Cold War. The old Soviet empire may be gone and the clean political battle lines of a bi-polar world with it, but the struggle between the now Russian Federation and the United States continues. The puzzle is thus: is geography a force of power in regards to foreign policy and if so, why? Geography, a nation’s place, thrust upon it by a combination of fate and design is the undercurrent that both directly and indirectly affects the aims of great nations, and it is no different between the US and Russia. Despite the advance in technology and the supposed shrinking of distance, the lines on the map still matter …show more content…

President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation sees the pushing and redrawing of these boundaries, especially in Europe, as way to regain influence, strengthen his country’s weak geographic position, and reduce the threat of NATO at his doorstep. Following the annexation of the Crimea in 2014, Shuster states, “Putin’s designs, meanwhile, are far grander than Ukraine. He hopes the conflict on Russia’s western flank will create divisions within Europe that shrink American influence” (2014, 33). Political powers rise and fall, but the land remains immutable, silent but always influencing the aims of countries. The Geography of the US, Russia and their allies affects foreign policy interaction in regards to their conflict over area access and denial for protecting their respective interests around the …show more content…

In contrast, Russia lacks natural barriers for protection against invasion, has few ports to the sea that do not freeze over and competes with Europe and China for dominance in its hemisphere. This review of literature on Geography, International Relations and US-Russian foreign policy will look over the main arguments presented, effects of culture, boundaries and borders. This review will help the author test his hypothesis of how the Geography of the US, Russia and their allies affects foreign policy interaction in regards to their conflict over area access and denial for protecting their respective interests around the

Show More
Related
941 Words | 4 Pages

These instances show how both superpowers used economic influence and aid to sway the internal policies and allegiances of other countries, frequently resulting in political repression, economic dependency, and internal conflict. Economic resources were thus used as a weapon of geopolitical rivalry during the Cold War era, with grave ramifications for national sovereignty and development all over the

Read More
439 Words | 2 Pages

On page 37 the author states, “ It doesn’t matter is the ideology of those in control is Czarist, Communist, or crony capitalist -- the ports will still freeze…” Going to show that now matter who leads Russia they will never be able to stop the ports from freezing even with the best technology. Similarly, China and India the two most populated countries in the world, who also share a 1000 plus mile long border, have never had a major war. Simply because the Himalayas separate them. Tim Marshall states, on page 201, “Without the world’s tallest mountain rage between the, what is a lukewarm relationship would probably be frosty.”

Read More
2207 Words | 9 Pages

As a result, “states in the international system aim to maximize their relative power positions over other states” (Hamilton and Rathburn, 2013). Offensive realism is representative of Polk’s desire for territorial expansion because increased territory and resources are typically associated with power. When states compete to expand their territory, they often do so with the intention of expanding their sphere of influence within the globe. With the increased wealth, resources, and trade opportunities that accompany the acquisition of territories, states will be better equipped to increase their security by developing innovative technologies and expanding and improving their militaries. Additionally, with the increased populations that accompany land acquisition, there will be more workers present to stimulate the economy, creating a cycle of wealth and granting states a greater potential to become regional hegemons.

Read More
938 Words | 4 Pages

The Cold War was a long period of tension between the democracies in the Western part of the World and the communist countries in Eastern Europe. The United States led the west and the Soviet Union led Eastern Europe. The Cold War ended in 1991 after the Soviet Union fell. After this war, Russia and America’s relationship was going on a downward spiral. The contemporary relationship between Russia and America does mark a Second Cold War, because just because Russia and America have similar hopes to achieve they both have completely different ways of achieve those goals, and in many cases these differences in opinions have caused problems between the two.

Read More
1028 Words | 5 Pages

History has a tendency to repeat itself. A prime example is the German’s invasion of Russia in World War II, which draws parallels to the Napoleonic conquest of 1812. Today this trend continues in Afghanistan. The current American situation appears to have come to a similar crossroad that plagued the Russian and British conquests that preceded it; and unfortunately, will reach the same result. The Cuban Missile Crisis was landmark event in human history, brought upon by geopolitical tension between the two global Super Powers in 1962.

Read More
725 Words | 3 Pages

he first chapter of The Cold War: A New History begins by comparing the United States to the U.S.S.R. and talking about the similarities between the two. It also talks about Communism and how Marx deemed it necessary in order to build up the economy. Lenin tried to implement Communism in Russia. They were not quite ready for that kind of system, so Stalin tried to modernize the economy. The U.S.S.R. had more casualties in World War II, but things were not necessarily looking great in America either.

Read More
943 Words | 4 Pages

The Cold War was long, tense conflicts between the Soviet Union and the United States even though they were technically at peace. Both states had a political and ideological rivalry that would result in a decade long struggle for supremacy. When talking about the Cold War the impact it had on our nation starts with the onset of the war, the influence of the U.S. foreign policy, and the effect of the expansion. When World War two ended Germany had to get divided by the big four nations which included France, Soviet Union, United States, and Britain.

Read More
143 Words | 1 Pages

The Cold war maybe long over, but its influence remains to the world we are living in—the surviving society we have at this time. There are several experiences that shapes our foreign policy. First, the Cold war stifled and instigated strong anti-communism within our country—USA; and throughout the history, it added moral component significantly to Americans. Second, contradictory; Cold War molds fear to all American. They are afraid that war can be prompted by the arm race—out-of-control attack such as nuclear bomb and missile.

Read More
906 Words | 4 Pages

The Cold War was a time of tension between the Soviet Union and The United States lasting from the end of WW2 in 1945 to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The USSR and US were rivals due to their differing political ideologies, the US being capitalist and the USSR being communist with both countries wishing to spread their ideologies around the world and keep the others from spreading . There was never any bloodshed between the two countries due to MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) which is a doctrine that says if one country fires nuclear weapons at the other, the other country will retaliate by firing their own, annihilating both countries in an interaction where there’s no winners . While there was no direct fighting between the superpowers,

Read More
591 Words | 3 Pages

The cold war was a long war that lasted from the end of ww2 in 1945 and ended in 1991. The war had many proxy wars that many American lives died fighting for. The cold war started because of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings that happened at the end of ww2. The advancements in weaponry and technology caused the US and USSR to have a race to see who was the best super power in the world for about 45 years. The cold war began because of an arms race and each country was a threat to each other, because of nuclear weapons.

Read More
506 Words | 3 Pages

A key political cause of the establishment of the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp was the Cold War. The Cold War was a period of political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, starting in 1945 after the end of WWII and lasting until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. At its basis, the war was a ‘conflict between the ideologies of communism and capitalism’. The USA is known for being one of the staunchest followers of capitalism, meaning that business and property are privately owned. Capitalism focuses heavily on freedom and personal rights and ties into the idea of the ‘American Dream’, the concept that any citizen can achieve success if they work hard enough.

Read More
696 Words | 3 Pages

Ever since the structure of DNA was discovered in 1953, there have been various advancements.(1) This includes a powerful tool that allows us to modify the genes of human embryos, called CRISPR. Currently it is not legal to modify an embryo and let it develop, but should we ever? On December 1 through 3, 2015, an International Summit on Human Gene Editing took place in Washington, D.C. to discuss what should be done with the new biotechnology.(1) There was much controversy about this, both morally and scientifically.

Read More
354 Words | 2 Pages

Social and political factors are the driving force behind successful innovations. Political intervention can help open up new markets, which would otherwise remain unavailable. During the cold war, the United States funded and pushed many innovations in order to ensure its success in the space race. The reason the government spent so much money and put in so much effort was that they wanted to improve the country’s national defense. They were concerned with the Soviet Union’s scientific and technological research so they decided to combat them by increasing funding in R&D.

Read More
1685 Words | 7 Pages

In Prisoners of Geography, Tim Marshall argues that geography constrains and shapes all nations and their leaders. Their actions are limited by mountains, rivers, seas, and concrete. He argues that to really understand world events, one must also consider geography. Physical characteristics affect the strengths and vulnerabilities of regions. In his book, Tim Marshall examines Russia, China, the Middle East, Latin America, the United States, Africa, Western Europe, Japan and Korea, and Greenland and the Arctic.

Read More
1196 Words | 5 Pages

INTRODUCTION Geo Politics is defined as the impact created by a country on other neighbouring countries due to its Geopolitical position. This impact also affects the politics of the region as a whole. Pakistan is at a location which is of great importance in political ,strategic and economic sectors. It has been centre of activities of great powers since the start and has witnessed intervention of three great powers i.e Britain, USSR, and USA. Pakistan is located in Southern Asia and shares border with four countries which include India, Afghanistan, China and Iran all of which are of great importance in the international politics and play a major role in it.

Read More

More about Geo-Political Effects Of The Cold War

Related Topics

Open Document