Example research essay topic: Threat To The United States Soviet Union - 1,354 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

In 1938, the United States possessed the most productive economy in the world with one of the largest navies. However, to describe it as a fully active world power as we have shown already would be inaccurate. If it was America that sealed the fate of Germany in the First World War, its financial muscle during the twenties that brought a degree of stability to Europe, then it was its isolationist policy in the thirties compounded by the Depression that upset the international system. This encouraged German and Japanese expansion and weakened the resolve of more liberal democracies to stand up to their aggression. Subsequently what the United States did and did not do in the inter war years had an enormous impact on world politics. The United States tried desperately to shield itself from the war in Europe and Asia by retreating into isolation.

However, after the fall of France in 1940 Roosevelt believed that vital American interests were at stake. He considered the defense of Britain to be vital to United States interests. Whilst America remained technically neutral, Britain managed to exchange a number of naval and air bases in exchange for 50 destroyers. The subsequent Lend-Lease act of March 1941 allowed the sale of war materials to any country whose defense the President considered would promote the defense of the US, without the need for immediate payment. By December 1941, the US had declared war on Germany and Japan. The Atlantic Charter of 1941 declared that the war would have a democratic purpose winning wars was not enough.

Without the promise of a better world, ordinary people would not be prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to ensure victory. A lasting peace presupposed freedom and the champion of freedom was the United States. By 1945, the America controlled about one-half of the worlds industrial output. The war effort had broken the back of the depression and GNP had doubled in four years. The war not only changed the economy of the US it also transformed it militarily. Its navy was the biggest, its air force the strongest and it possessed the atomic bomb.

In his interview on Tape 5, Paul Nitze declares that as early as 1942 he believed that Hitler would be defeated by the USSR and it would be unlikely that Germany would win the war. At that time, it became apparent to him that the United States needed to begin thinking about what it wanted to see as its role in the post-war world. Whilst the USSR was an ally of the United States in war it seemed likely due to their position in the post-war era that they would pose the greatest threat to the United States as a huge power bloc in Europe. Germany would not exist as a power, the French had suffered a great deal and Britain had been gravely weakened.

Because of the war, the United States and the USSR had gained much more intellectual and physical power. The focal issue would be the relationship between the two. America would have to take a much more significant role in world affairs than it had done in the inter-war period. The results of isolationism were clear and it was no longer an option. American prosperity and security was not untangled from developments in other parts of the world what happened elsewhere had a direct bearing on the United States. In planning for peace, American policy makers assumed an open world economy, the primacy of liberal democratic principles and the benign use of hegemonic power to create the new-world order.

The dream that the USSR could be drawn into a close relationship with the United States foundered quickly. However, the transition from wartime co-operation to the Cold War occurred in stages. The USSR did not live up to promises made at the Yalta summit in 1945. American initiatives such as the Marshall plan, the formation of NATO and the war in Korea established and confirmed the division of the world into two camps. Also in 1947, Secretary of State, George Marshall decided to create a Policy Planning Staff (PPS).

The PPS was headed by George Kennan, who declared in his Long Telegram to Washington that Stalin and the communists had been misunderstood and posed a large threat to the United States and other Western capitalist countries. It played a central role in shaping American security policy in the early post-war years by establishing where the risks were and what should be done about them. It also aimed to think in strategic terms about the long-range future of the security system. Nitze succeeded Kennan at the PPS and it was his NSC 68 written in 1949, which became the blueprint for American grand strategy in the cold war.

Its analysis of Soviet intentions and capabilities set the tone and framework, at the highest levels, for US relations with the Soviet Union. The US reaction to the perceived Soviet threat was to be one of containment. The notion of rolling back the gains of communism however, was never actually pursued. NSC- 68 argued for a massive military build-up in order to contain the Soviet Union and maintain American credibility. Now into the Twentieth Century the United States is a power of imperial dimensions that occupies three million square miles between the Atlantic and Pacific, controlling the Caribbean, and up to the Arctic. (Fish 1989, 285) Benjamin Schwartz, a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute, provides a concise summary of how U. S.

policymakers and government leaders view U. S. responsibilities in the post-Cold War era. During the Cold War, Schwartz argues, U.

S. responsibilities focused on the duty of making the world safe for capitalism containing communist expansion and ensuring the creation of a capitalist world order with America at the helm (Schwartz 1996, 94). In the aftermath of the decline of communism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, both Schwartz argues, the basic trappings of United States foreign policy strong defense budget, economic rivalry with rising Asian powers, and a tendency towards hegemony over the Third World remain virtually unchanged. The U. S.

must continue to dominate the international system and thus discourage the advanced industrial nations from challenging our leadership or even aspiring to a larger regional or global role (Schwartz 1996, 100). As Schwartz explains, in the past two decades, the Pacific Rim has emerged as a vital economic interest to the United States, both in terms of direct and indirect investment flows and trade and in terms of the Asian role in the maintenance of the global liberal economic order. Another principle concern of U. S.

foreign policy focus is controlling the action of so-called rogue states Iraq, Iran, Syria, North Korea, and other countries (now possibly including Russia) which might engage in unilateral action to disrupt the established status quo. As Schwartz observes, the potential for any of these states to take such action is unquestionable. Obviously, foreign investment is necessary for the future of developing other nations as well as our own. There must be an emphasis on foreign investment and trade, otherwise the third world nations will continue to fall behind economically, technologically, and domestically, which could lead to an economic downfall for the United States as well. The question then arises as to what the United States must do in order to have large trade agreements with other countries other than Japan and Mexico. In order for the United States to play a more active role in the economic and political development of many of these developing nations, it must first accept a different philosophy than its current one.

First, it is imperative for the United States to play a similar role in Latin America to the one Japan has played with many of the developing nations in East Asia. America neighbors Latin America, and if it wants to play the role of big brother, it must accept the responsibility. Japan has invested, traded, and has been a guide for many of its neighboring countries in East Asia, making them grow politically and economically, while profiting itself.

Research essay sample on Threat To The United States Soviet Union