Nuclear Weapons & Cold War Essay

1) How did thermonuclear weapons affect the shamment of the cold war? The Cold War arrest of much conflict and tension was between the unify States and the Soviet juncture, on with their respective allies, was from the middle of the1940s until the early part of the 1990s. The building up of nuclear weapons was maybe, the close to important of the m each arenas that the rivaling countries played in. It became known as the nuclear arms race or the contestation for supremacy The disc everywherey that uranium was a plenty around the military man shortly after the support world ar, helped to solidify the nuclear monopoly held by both the fall in States and USSR.While the coupled States had their own resources for uranium, they in brief spy that Eastern europium was providing a steady supply to the Soviets, until they could develop a source of their own. The United States, who had predicted that the USSR would not have any nuclear weapons until the mid-1950s, was massively surprised when the Soviets detonated their outgrowth bomb Joe One on August 29, 1949. It was much like the bomb that the US had dropped on Japan in 1945 nown as the rich Man. From that point on both governments devoted massive amounts of money, time and resources to increasing their nuclear arsenals. outgrowth off, it was the hydrogen bombs and consequently next came the Intercontinental ballistic rocket or ICBMs as they are known. And on Oct. 4, 1957 the Soviet Federal launched the Sputnik, the US followed with their own on Oct. 31, 1959. During this period of innovation, the world became nervous and scared they discovered just how vulnerable they were. Large underground bunkers were built to save the presidents and he leadership of the nations, individuals were encouraged to restore fallout shelters and they were often taught how to react in the case of a nuclear attack.When both sides literalized that any attack upon the opposite would be suicide for themselves as well, a new indemnity know as the Mutually Assured Destruction was adapted, and this would, in opening restrain both sides from attacking one another. The subroutine of nuclear weapons held by the two superpowers during the Cold War increased drastically because of the need for a first strike and later a second strike draw. The highest get alongs of nuclear warheads held by these powers was approximately 12,000 for the USSR and 10,000 by the US.This some(prenominal) nuclear weapons has the potential to destroy life on earth more than 1,500 times over http//www. pwc. k12. nf. ca/coldwar/plain/armsrace. html. And yet, both sides kept exploring and spending large amounts of money and resources on developing nuclear weapons. In many respects, the stockpiling of these weapons was by far the most important contribution made to the world during the cold war period, than any other resource added by any other country.2) Why has the European legal jointure found it so difficult to achieve po litical, social and economic integration amongst the member states? unawares after the Second World War at the University of Zurich, Winston Churchill gave a speech that called for a United States of Europe and the creation of a Council of Europe. This council became the oldest brass in favor of European integration since 1949. But, in shock all the enthusiasm of the European citizens, the Councils idea of integration has struggled for many reasons. One of the main reasons is because at the same time as the evelopment of the council another European Union was being formed.This Union was made up of twenty-seven European countries. It was established as the European Economic Community in 1957 under the pact of Rome and has undergone many changes since, most notably in 1992 by the Maastricht Treaty. At first this Union was a welcome relief, growth and restructure was happening over night. The European Union was founded upon a number of treaties, and their laws cover a wide range of topics. Both, a legislative branch and the Parliament govern them. And the authorities of he European Union primarily covered the economy.However, there is still a disagreement on how far the Union should expand. Because of the disagreement, the integration and expansion of the European Union has been slow since the end of the cold war period. Enlargement or expansion, together with the signing of new treaties, are seen by some as collimate processes, vital to the Unions welfare. To many this is known as the bicycle theory. The European Union is often compared to a bicycle if it stops moving forwards it will fall over. The bicycle theory also applies to multilateral trade talks. Bounds, Andrew (2007).Brussels blog Bicycle wobbles on the way to Doha, financial Times. And like most trade talks, both parties want to come out ahead in the end. Thus, the on-going integration of the European Union and its member states are becoming contested on the grounds that it reduces its members national sovereignty too much. Politically, the Union struggles because neither theyre laws or their political theory asseverate the concept of a democracy. Their attitudes remain fixed by the idea of a nation state organization and its people. Socially, this makes them still behind the times.Economically, They struggle with the different economic and resource levels of each of the member states. All these along with the concept of Euroscepticism, or better known as the opposition to the process of European integration, the Union continues to move forward and yet has been forced to make changes to its policies. Amid the post war trauma, the European Union has become a beacon for organized political growth and upbringing. And instantly, in spite all the worldwide turmoil and confusion, The Union still spreads forth its hand in every effort to encourage global slumber and umanitarian aid to its member states.There is no set standard in the process of integration, but today there is a new focus on the complex policy making of the European Union.3) What was containment and how did it bias US cold war thinking? The word containment means to isolate or to make stagnate. In the terms of the cold war, it refers to the international policies adapted by the United States under the direction of George Kennan. In the beginning, their policy was to stop all of the outside nations from moving politically towards Soviet Union communism and to ensure that the United States continued to ave, what they thought would be, the upper hand.For ideology as we have seen taught them that the outside world was hostile and that it was their profession to overthrow the political forces beyond their borders. (XKennan, Foreign Affairs, 1947). They hoped that ultimately in the end thecontainment policies would cause the fall of the Soviet Union and its ally nations. Back in the early days of history, containment was accomplished with the use of brute force or tactics much like an army taking over a castle and then came the use of treaties and political policies, thus being the cold war period.Today this is often accomplished by politically using severe sanctions, as in the United States dealings with Iraq and Iran. Espionage and sabotage are other ways of creating a containment among a group of people or nations. During the United States cold war containment period the policies adapted by chairwoman Truman experienced some major setbacks through the opposition of the Soviet Union, and by the Time the United States pulled out of the Vietnam war and the Koran conflict, there wasnt mush credit assumption to the containment policies and ideas, anymore.So the United States started a new heory of detente or peaceful co-existence. Until the election of Ronald Reagan this was a believable concept. President Regan believed that the containment policies did not expand far enough, He felt uneasy about the weapons being held by the foreign nations. He wanted new missiles, p laced in Europe to help the United States to become immune to the first strike concept. His new policies become highly controversial and very unpopular in many of the surrounding foreign countries.In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed under the direction of Gorbachev and the wanted nd pass of the original containment policy had been achieved, this marked the official close of that policy. All though, the US still keeps its military and missile bases in the areas around the former Soviet Union, just to be on the safe side they take, many events have effected the world and the current containment policies. As of 2005, the United States are listed as having at least 700 military bases around the world, like the ones in Iceland and Germany. Some up to date estimates suggest that the real number is much higher.