However, Ronald Reagan, U.S president between 1981-1989, was the most significant political leader to influence the ending of the Cold War. Reagan was able to encourage the end of the Cold War, more so than Gorbachev, through his unrelenting war on communism. He did this through his attitudes, actions towards the Soviet arms race and foreign policies. The way in which Ronald Reagan acted on his negative attitudes towards communism and his desire to destroy it, displays how he, more so than Gorbachev, influenced the end of the Cold War. Reagan, even before his presidency was displaying his anti-communist stance.
The war had created the division of two superpowers; The Soviet Union and The United States. After 1945, the United States had become the leading power due to it’s military strength and economic advantages after the war and Soviet Union play it’s role to challenge the state’s power (Young & Kent: 2) due to it’s ideology of communism and wanted to expand their influence globally, in which the United States wanted to prevent this from happening because their idea was absolutely conflicted with the Soviet Union; capitalism (Young & Kent: 6). These two countries reshaped Europe and the world. In contrast, World War II also weakened Britain’s and France’s powers because both of these countries faced a devastated loss by the war especially Britain. Likewise, both of the powers had to dismantle their colonies and ended their overseas and territorial empire.
Let me say that the second gulf war had solved many problems linked to the Saddam Hussein’s regime yet it has also exacerbated some tensions in the Middle East. Considering the regime of Saddam Hussein and what he has done, the second gulf war had a positive effect. The regime of terror established by Sadam Hussein was finally over and at the same time the slaughters he had caused (e.g : bombing or using chemicals against Kurdish minority, Shia minority ). Politically speaking, the second gulf war was seen has being necessary because of the growing sentiment that more democratic forms of government were needed. In this way, the establishment of a republic inside this region was seen as a relief and a sign of hope for fairer regime and even more freedom.
War now does not allow any civillian casualites. Also now with the modern technology exaples like advanced radar, heat seeking missiles, more accurate bombing technology and more advanced aircraft, it is impossible to miss a target. Back in WW2 they bombed industrial areas because it was really hard to bomb a certain spot where the enemy army would be. I do not think it was acceptable back than because why kill millions of civillians when you can go directly to the source which was the military attacking? This is a really hard argument because if you attack the enemy army which is attacking you, you have to think about the deaths of your own men.
As well as this the fighting itself was filmed and broadcasted in North Vietnam to show that they had successfully attacked and breached the American defences. The information was then relayed back to the United States and shown, through the media and press, to the public. At this time Americans believed that the war was coming to an end and that they had almost total control over Vietnam. This was obviously not the case - as they soon found out. The images that were broadcasted all over America did not please the public and before long riots and protests were being held in the streets to end the war.
Paper #2 The Tet offensive proved to be the turning point of the war, delivering a fatal blow to political support for the war in the United States. Even though Tet was a disappointing defeat for North Vietnam in strictly military terms, it exposed the bankruptcy of U.S. war policy and aims in Vietnam, and paved the way for America’s eventual humiliation. The most surprising aspect of the Tet offensive was that it was not really a surprise at all. Yet the episode shows how even a superior force can be taken by surprise both militarily and politically when it lacks the initiative in war. Since the North Vietnamese had the initiative instead of the U.S., it was possible for their elaborate campaign of deception to succeed in maintaining the element of surprise, even though the U.S. discovered numerous details of the attack to come.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor quickly ended the first debate, as the United States collectively wanted to fight back to the world at war around them, as well as help allies. However the republican party was split on the New Deal issue. The northern republicans, with a more liberal view, were not for the New Deal, but sought to revise it, unlike the western and Midwest republicans who hated it from the beginning. With Roosevelt's death allowing Truman to take office, as well as the end of the war cause labor unions and other entities to erupt in massive strikes, allowing the Republicans to gain control of the House for the first time since 1928 in
The first President Bush also described the incalculable human and political costs of trying to remove Saddam, picturing the United States fighting to hold onto control in a bitterly hostile land without much promise of success. Then
Richard Nixon’s election to Presidency of the United States in 1968, marked a turning point in American foreign policy and a new strategic approach to the war in Vietnam. It was a war he had inherited from his predecessor, Lyndon Johnson. Domestic support for the war had diminished significantly, with national outpourings of opposition. This prompted Nixon to make his famous ‘silent majority’ speech, where he outlined his position on Vietnam, “After all, we became involved in the war while my predecessor was in office. I could blame the defeat which would have been the result of my action on him and come out as Peacemaker…But I had a greater obligation than to think only of the years of my administration and of the next election.
Cold War In the mid 1940’s, a war begun between the Western world, led by the United States, and the communist world, led by the Soviet Union, in a struggle for power and domination. By the end of the Cold War, around the late 1980’s, the United States claimed victory despite never having once engaged in direct military action. The goal of the United States and its NATO allies had been reached- communism had been contained. Many events and wars occurred during the Cold War period that contributed to the victory of the United States; however, the main cause of western success can be traced to the Vietnam War. Fearing a communist overtake in Southeast Asia, the United States began to send troops to Vietnam in the 1950’s.