The Cold War

The Cold War is the period following World War II up until 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Essentially, it was a de facto war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The reason it is called a "cold" war is that the two sides never actually fought each each other (the military term for a shooting war is going "hot"). Although both superpowers never really fought any battles, they did have several confrontations during the period as well as fought many proxy wars (such as Vietnam).

Part of the reason why the Cold War is so heavily emphasized is the nature of the conflict, and how close the world came to being engulfed in nuclear war. After WWII, the Soviet Union asserted itself as a growing power and began to rival the United States. George F. Kennan characterized the foreign policy of the United States as one of containment, in which the western powers would limit the expansion of communism (and thus Soviet control) at any possible point. In accordance with this policy was the Marshall Plan, offered by then Secretary of State George C. Marshall as a widespread aid program to help rebuild Europe. Under the table, however, the Marshall Plan had an objective to keep nations on the side of democracy.

Key to the growing polarization of the world was the development of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, as a military alliance among western democratic states. In 1955, the Soviet Union countered the development of NATO with the Warsaw pact, which was an organization of eastern communist nations.

The realities of the modern nuclear age were witnessed when the Soviet Union tested is first nuclear weapons in August of 1953. From this point forward, the Cold War became synonymous with the possibility of a nuclear war. Thus, any event leading to a war certainly had the potential to go nuclear.

The Korean War during the late 1950s were among the first proxy wars fought by the United States against the Soviet Union. Although American forces never engaged with their Soviet counterparts, they did do battle with communist factions in North Korea supported by the Soviets with weapons and funds. Likewise, the Soviets had their own proxy war against the United States in Hungary.

The most dangerous incident, however, during the Cold War is the Cuban Missile Crisis. In October of 1961, the Soviets began construction of nuclear missile launch sites within Cuba, partly due to the existence of American sites within Turkey. President Kennedy issued an ultimatum against Premiere Khrushchev to have said missile sites in Cuba dismantled. On top of this, the United States blockaded Cuba, preventing Soviet ships suspected to have nuclear weapons be brought into harbor. Both sides read the actions of the other as declarations of intent for war; however, war was averted once the United States and Soviet Union came up with a deal to have missiles removed.

The Space Race was also a key part of the war, which showed how the conflict transgressed even culture. Of course, there is also the Vietnam War, which was the longest conflict in which American forces were committed. Throughout the late 70s and 80s, a massive development of nuclear arms by both sides (an arms race) led to the eventual collapse of the Soviets due to a lack of funds. Fighting off an extreme military coup de etat, Boris Yeltsin came to power as the Russian Prime Minister, as Mikhail Gorbachev, the previous Soviet leader, initiated the devolution of the Soviet Empire. Thus, in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed and was replaced by a new democratic regime.

The reason why the scars of the Cold War do not heal to this day, besides the numerous lives lost and the tensions of mutually assured nuclear destruction, are the fact that both sides held thousands of missiles worth of nuclear arsenals, and many weapons remain unaccounted for. Thus, the legacy of the Cold War is the need for a sense of responsibility with the use of the atom (as seen through Metal Gear Solid).