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Complete 7 pages APA formatted article: Pursuing Communism Abroad: Superpower Geopolitics and More Importantly the Role of the Arms Race

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Complete 7 pages APA formatted article: Pursuing Communism Abroad: Superpower Geopolitics and More Importantly the Role of the Arms Race. The most prominent impact of the Cold War can be witnessed in the primary countries that were involved in the Cold War that are the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War resulted in an arms race between these two countries which lasted as long as the Cold War did. It was this era when one after another destructive nuclear weapons were created by both the US and the Soviet Union. This arms race did not only stir fear among the people of both the countries but also had a significant influence on the culture of the countries as well. The following essay includes a brief history of the Cold War and the arms race and it evaluates the impact of the Cold War and the arms race on the cultural aspects of the American society (Sakwa, 1999). The Cold War The Cold War refers to the continuous state of conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union regarding political agendas, tension between the military forces and the competition of economies. The inception of Cold War was immediately after the successful alliance of the US and the Soviet Union in the war against Nazi Germany. The conflict initiated when both the US and the Soviet Union perceived each others as superpowers but with political and economic differences. Soon after the war ended, the disagreements started to arise regarding how the post-war Europe should be divided. Both the countries started to ensure the support of their allies and started strengthening their military forces. Some countries decided to join with one of the two powers while some decided to remain neutral. There were some proxy wars fought by the US and the Soviet Union in which both the countries were not directly at war but both of them supported opposite groups. During its huge span, there were times when the Cold War was relatively calm and there were also certain stages when there was high tension between both the countries. Some of the tense periods include the Berlin Blockade which took place between 1948 and 1949, the Korean War which took place between 1950 and 1953, the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and the Soviet war in Afghanistan which took place between 1979 and 1989. In most of these instances, both the US and the Soviet Union supported opposite groups and fought with each other indirectly. The Cold War caused the arms race between both the countries and both the forces held nuclear weapons that could cause mass destruction. Since any use of the nuclear weapons would have caused mass destruction on both the sides, the use of such weapons was not made. The acts of both the countries that represented the Cold War included. provision of extensive support to any state that was deemed vulnerable, engaging in proxy wars, extensive nuclear arms race, rivalry in economic developments, rivalry in sports events, attempts to get support from neutral nations and engaging in space race which is competing with each other technologically. At times, there was a very high risk of destruction of both the powers because of nuclear exchange either by accident or mistake however both the countries sought to deter any direct attack through agreements. Later, the economic and military pressure by the United States was increased on the Soviet Union that was not so successful in developing its economy. This caused the end of the Cold War when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and it rendered the United States as the dominant power.