A linked argument to this one is one which suggests that US policies of détente were important in opening up the Eastern bloc to liberal ideas. A second major reason which has been argued is the long-term weaknesses of the Soviet Union. The economy is also another important reason. Finally Gorbachev’s policies are crucially important – one could say that despite all the other things above without Gorbachev the cold war would not have ended.
Pundits often treat foreign policy decision making as a simple matter of morality or politics, and academics often ignore it entirely, viewing policy as driven not by individual officials but by broad structural forces. Foreign policy professionals, in contrast, generally see the subject as an arena of constrained choice. They try to figure out just how much freedom of action they actually have in a particular situation, and debate how best to use that freedom to advance the national interest. The hallmark of the serious professional's approach to foreign policy is not certainty but doubt; they live in a world with no easy answers, only an endless series of unpleasant tradeoffs. This collection is an introduction to that world. Originally published in Foreign Affairs, the essays gathered here offer a broad array of opinions on pressing topics ranging from handling rogue states to humanitarian intervention, from designing trade policy to dealing with the UN to managing relations with China.
Rogue state is a controversial term applied by some international theorists to states they consider threatening to the world's peace. This means meeting certain criteria, such as being ruled by authoritarian regimes that severely restrict human rights, sponsor terrorism, and seek to proliferate weapons of mass destruction.[4] The term is used most by the United States, though the US State Department officially quit using the term in 2000.[5] However, it has been applied by other countries as well.
Humanitarian intervention is a state's use of "military force against another state when the chief publicly declared aim of that military action is ending human-rights violations being perpetrated by the state against which it is directed. There is no one standard or legal definition of humanitarian intervention; the field of analysis (such as law, ethics, or politics) often influences the definition that is chosen. Differences in definition include variations in whether humanitarian intervention is limited to instances where there is an absence of consent from the host state; whether humanitarian intervention is limited to punishment actions; and whether humanitarian intervention is limited to cases where there has been explicit UN Security Council authorization for action.[2] There is, however, a general consensus on some of its essential characteristics.
Countries of the Former Soviet Union. This photographic essay surveys four countries—Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan—documenting the people and places of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) over twenty years after the dissolution of the communist empire they belonged to. Each country faces its own challenges, whether they are economic, political, or cultural. Some have remained close to their former Russian masters, however Georgia is by far the most western leaning of the countries investigated. These nations all face great uncertainty, and time will tell whether their governmental structures will rise to the economic and security challenges they face, allowing them to flourish as fully independent countries.
Enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is the process of including new member states in NATO. NATO is a military alliance of states in Europe and North America whose organization constitutes a system of collective defence. The process of joining the alliance is governed by Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty and by subsequent agreements. Countries wishing to join have to meet certain requirements and complete a multi-step process involving political dialogue and military integration. The accession process is overseen by the North Atlantic Council, NATO's governing body.
Yugoslavia was a country in Europe, mostly in Balkan Peninsula, its meaning South Slavs deriving from Slavs who came from area what is now Poland. It existed in three forms during 1918-2003. [1] From 1918 until 1928 it was called the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. From 1928 until World War II it was the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Bosnian WarþEssentially, the Bosnian war was fought because Serbs and Croats living in Bosnia wanted to annex Bosnian territory for Serbia and Croatia respectively. There were several mitigating factors in addition to ethnic tensions. The Nationalist leader of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, was pushing for what he called a "Greater Serbia". The Bosnian Croats and Muslims, fearing that Milosevic would try to take their land if they were still under Yugoslavian control, called for Bosnian independence.
East Asia or Eastern Asia (the latter form preferred solely by the United Nations) is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical[1] or cultural[2] terms. Geographically and geopolitically, it covers about 12,000,000 km2 (4,600,000 sq mi), or about 28% of the Asian continent, about 15% bigger than the area of Europe.
George Herbert Walker Bush (born June 12, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States (1989–1993). A Republican, he had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States (1981–1989), a congressman, an ambassador and Director of Central Intelligence; he is currently the oldest surviving former President and Vice President and the last surviving former President who is a veteran of World War II.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to Senator Prescott Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Bush postponed going to college, enlisted in the U.S. Navy on his 18th birthday, and became the youngest aviator in the U.S. Navy at the time.[1][2] He served until the end of the war, then attended Yale University. Graduating in 1948, he moved his family to West Texas and entered the oil business, becoming a millionaire by the age of 40.
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation. Clinton has been described as a New Democrat. Many of his policies have been attributed to a centrist Third Way philosophy of governance. Before becoming president he was the Governor of Arkansas serving two non-consecutive tenures from 1979 to 1981 and from 1983 to 1992.
The World in 1992In the years during and immediately after the end of the Cold War new opportunities emerged for the United States but at the same time difficulties sprung up. There was no doubt that the United States emerged from the end of the Cold War as the dominant world power but what was it to do with this new power.1991 saw important moves in this ‘New World order’. First of all and most importantly – Soviet power had disappeared through the collapse of the Soviet Union. The new states that emerged in its place of it were considerably weaker in a number of ways, the primary cause of this were the economic problems that Russia and other successor states suffered in the first post-cold war decade (something we will look at later). Without Soviet Union’s pressure the US in theory had a free reign in the world, but what would be done with this newly dominant power position?
The George Herbert Walker Bush administration (1989-1992) which succeeded the Ronald Reagan administration (1981-1988). The George W. Bush administration (2001-2008) consisted of (includes some members of Bush's White House Staff):
The 2003 invasion of Iraq lasted from 19 March 2003 to 1 May 2003, and signaled the start of the conflict that later came to be known as the Iraq War, which was incited under WMD pretext and dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the United States. The invasion consisted of 21 days of major combat operations, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland, invaded Iraq and deposed the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein. The invasion phase consisted primarily of a conventionally-fought war which concluded with the capture of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad by American forces.
During his campaign for election as President of the United States, George W. Bush's foreign policy platform included support for a stronger economic and political relationship with Latin America, especially Mexico, and a reduction of involvement in "nation building" and other small-scale military engagements.
The Obama Doctrine is a term frequently used to describe one or several unifying principles of the foreign policy of U.S. President Barack Obama. Unlike the Monroe Doctrine, the Obama Doctrine is not a specific foreign policy introduced by the executive, but rather a phrase used to describe Obama's general style of foreign policy. This has left journalists and political commentators to speculate on what the exact tenets of an Obama Doctrine might look like. Generally speaking, it is widely, yet erroneously accepted that a central part of such a doctrine would emphasize negotiation and collaboration rather than confrontation and unilateralism in international affairs. This policy has been praised by some as a welcome change from the equally interventionist Bush Doctrine. Supporters of Obama's unilateral policies such as targeted killings of American citizens including former United States Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, have described it as overly idealistic and naïve, promoting appeasement of the USA's enemies. Others have drawn attention to its radical departure in tone from not only the policies of the Bush administration but many former presidents as well.
The Arab Spring is the media term for the revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests (both non-violent and violent), riots, and civil wars in the Arab world that began on 18 December 2010.
Barack Hussein Obama is the 44th and current President of the United States, the first African American to hold the office. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms represen.
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney[1] (born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who was the 46th Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009, under President George W. Bush.
Osama bin Mohammed March 10, 1957 – May 2, 2011) was the founder of al-Qaeda, the Sunni militant Islamist organization that claimed responsibility for the September 11 attacks on the United States, along with numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets.
INTRODUCTION - THE ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR The term "Cold War" was introduced into circulation Churchill during his speech at Fulton (USA), 5 March 1946. It is not being a leader of his country, Churchill remained one of the most influential politicians in the world. In his speech he said that Europe was divided "iron curtain" and called on Western civilization to declare war "communism." In fact, the war between the two systems, the two ideologies are not stopped since 1917, however, the shape as it is a conscious confrontation just after the Second World War. Why did the Second World War, in fact, was the cradle of the Cold War? On the the first to opinion, this is it seems strange, but the if to address to stories of the Second World of the war, then many things will clear up. Germany began the territorial conquests (Rhineland, Austria), and future allies look to it almost with indifference. Each of the future allies imagined, that further steps of Hitler will be directed in the "the desired" to them the side. Western countries have, to some extent, encouraged Hitler, turning a blind eye to the many violations of international agreements on the demilitarization of Germany. The most striking example of this policy is the Munich Agreement in 1938, in which Hitler was given to Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union was inclined to consider the actions of Hitler as a manifestation of the "general crisis of capitalism," and the intensification of the contradictions between the "imperialist predators." Considering that after Munich, when the West was actually given to Hitler "carte blanche" to move to the East, every man for himself - decided to Stalin and the Soviet Union signed with Hitler "nonaggression pact" and, as later became known secret-sharing agreement spheres of influence is now known that Hitler was unpredictable and started a war against everyone at once that, in the end, his undoing. But the Hitler and the in a terrible dream could not assume of education the coalition, which in the end and emerged victorious in the war. Hitler hoped that the profound contradictions that existed between future allies are insurmountable, and made a mistake .. Now historians have enough information about the identity of Hitler. And, although a good talking about it a little, it does not fool anybody thinks, and therefore, the contradictions to which he hoped actually existed. That is, the "Cold War" had deep roots. Why is it only started after the Second World War? Obviously, this was dictated by the time of the most epoch. Out of this war, the Allies took so strong a weapon of war have become so destructive that it became clear that the old methods to sort things out too much luxury. However, the desire to lime the opposing party in the coalition partners was not lowered. To a certain extent initiative began the "cold war" is owned by the Western countries, for which the power of the USSR, which has become apparent in the course of the Second World War, was a very unpleasant surprise. Thus, the "cold war", which occurred shortly after the end of World War II, when the Allies began to sum it up. What same they saw the? First. Half of Europe was in the Soviet zone of influence, and there arose feverishly pro-Soviet regimes. Secondly, there was a powerful wave of the liberation movement in the colonies against the colonial powers. Third, the world is rapidly turning into a polarized and bipolar. Fourth, on the world stage formed two superpowers, military and economic power which gave them a significant advantage over others. Plus to everything, the interests of countries of the West in different points of the of the globe are beginning to barging into the interests of the of the USSR. Here is a new state of the world, formed after the Second World War, more quickly than others and realized Churchill, declaring the "cold war."OPPONENTS (Establishment of military units) After the Second World War, Western Europe and the United States have united against the USSR. The Soviet Union is seeking to protect themselves, created around its borders sort of a buffer, surrounding himself with the countries in which the end of hostilities formed the pro-Soviet government. Thus the world was divided into two camps: the capitalist and socialist. And in fact, and in the other were created by the so-called system of collective security - military units. In April 1949, was created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization - NATO, which included the United States, Canada and Western Europe. In May, 1955 - The Warsaw Pact was signed. It included (at the time of signing) Albania (Later (in 1968), she denounced the Agreement), Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Romania, the USSR and Czechoslovakia. The polarization of the world over, and by the coalition, led by their leaders, began to struggle for influence in the Third World. Theaters "COLD WAR" What is expressing a "cold war"? The first, and perhaps the most visible expression of her - it Arms race Start it was associated with a nuclear weapon. As you know, in 1945 the United States was the only nuclear power in the world. During the war with Japan, they blew up the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Strategic superiority has led to the fact that the U.S. military began to build a variety of plans pre-emptive strike on the Soviet Union. But the American monopoly on nuclear weapons remained only four years. In 1949, the Soviet Union had tested its first atomic bomb. This event was a real shock to the Western world and an important milestone, "Cold War." In further boosted development in the USSR, it was soon established nuclear, and then thermonuclear weapons. Fighting has become very dangerous for everyone, and is fraught with very bad consequences. Accumulated over the years of the "cold war" nuclear potential was huge, but huge reserves of deadly weapons not profit, and the cost of production and storage of growing up. If you said earlier, "We can kill you, and you have - no," but now the wording changed. They began to say "you have to destroy 38 times you can, and we have - 64!" Fruitless disputes, especially considering that if war broke out, and one of the opponents of nuclear weapons would be applied very soon nothing was left not only on him but also on the entire planet. The arms race was growing at a rapid pace. As soon as one of the parties to create any fundamentally new weapon as her opponent threw all his energy and resources to do the same. The mad race has affected all areas of the defense industry. Competed everywhere: in the creation of new systems of small arms (the Soviet AKM meet U.S. M-16), in new designs of tanks, aircraft, ships and submarines, but perhaps the most dramatic was the competition in the production of missile technology. All the so-called peaceful space in those days was not even visible part of the iceberg, and a snow cap on the visible part. United States overtook the Soviet Union in the number of nuclear weapons. USSR surpassed the U.S. in missile. The Soviet Union launched the world's first satellite, and in 1961 sent the first man into space. Make such a visual superiority of Americans could not. As a result - their landing on the moon. At this point the parties have reached strategic parity. However, this did not stop the arms race. On the contrary, it has spread to all industries that have anything to do with weapons. This could, for example, include the race to build supercomputers. Here, the West has taken revenge for the unconditional gap in the field of rocketry, as for purely ideological reasons, the Soviet Union missed the jerk in this area, equating cybernetics together with genetics to the "whore of imperialism." The arms race has touched even education. After Gagarin's flight, the U.S. was forced to review the basis of the education system and introduce a fundamentally new methods of learning. The arms race was subsequently suspended voluntarily by both parties. Entered into a number of agreements limiting the accumulation of arms. Such as, for example, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and under water (5.08.1963g.), The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the creation of nuclear-free zones (1968), an agreement on SALT-1 (the limitation and reduction of strategic Arms) (1972), the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction (1972) and many others. Another "front", "Cold War was.The struggle for influence in the Third World. Since the achievement of strategic parity (early sixties), the military component of the arms race is gradually pushed into the background, the scene plays out the same struggle for influence in the Third World. The term itself was coined due to the increasing influence of non-aligned countries, openly joined the one of the warring parties. If at first, the fact that the opposition of two powerful systems on the world map has led to a landslide de-colonization (the period of the liberation of Africa), in the later period of a circle of states openly and very effectively using their choice of political orientation on one or the other superpower. To some extent, this may include the country's so-called Arab socialism, is solved by the USSR its specific narrow national objectives. "Cold War" was fought not only in politics but also in culture and sport. For example, the United States and many Western European countries boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. In response, the athletes in Eastern Europe following boycotted the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984. "Cold War" was widely reflected in the film, and propaganda films shot by both sides. The United States is the "Red Dawn," "America," "Rambo, First Blood, Part Two," "Iron Eagle," "Invasion of the United States." In the USSR removed: "Night Without Mercy," "neutral water", "The Case of the square 36 80", "Solo Voyage" and many others. Despite the fact that the films are very different in them, with varying degrees of talent, shows what bad "they" and what are the good guys in our army. Quirky and very accurately, the manifestation of the "cold war" in art is reflected in a string of popular songs, "and even in the field of ballet, we are ahead of the rest .." Economy - "ambush regiment of capitalism." It is quite obvious that the huge costs that carried a superpower could not continue indefinitely, and eventually the confrontation between the two systems was solved in the economic sphere. It is this component was, ultimately decisive. More efficient economy of the West, allowed not only to support the military and political parity, but also to meet the growing needs of modern man, which by virtue of a purely market mechanisms was able to competently handle. At the same time, heavy weight, focused only on the production of weapons and the means of production, the economy of the USSR, could not, and was not going to compete in this area with the West. In the end, it was reflected at the political level, the Soviet Union was losing the fight, not only for influence in the Third World, but also for influence within the socialist community. "Hot" points "cold" war For the "Cold War" was characterized by the frequent occurrence of "hot spots" Every local conflict was imposed on the world stage, thanks to the fact that the opponents by the "Cold War" supported the warring parties. About these conflicts - all together and each separately - you can write a book. The authors of this study did not set out such global challenges. They only offer a quick look at some of the "hot spots." Korean War. In 1945, Soviet and American troops liberated Korea from the Japanese army. To the south of the 38th parallel, U.S. forces are located, to the north - the Red Army. Thus Korean Peninsula was divided into two parts. In the North, the Communists came to power in the South - the military, backed by U.S. aid. The peninsula was formed two states - North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea. North Korea's leadership to unite the country dreamed of, even by force of arms. In 1950, North Korea leader Kim Il-sung traveled to Moscow and secured the support of Soviet Union. Plans for the "war of liberation" of South Korea were also approved by the Chinese leader Mao Tse Tung. At dawn on June 25, 1950 North Korean army moved to the south of the country. Her attack was so powerful that in three days she occupied the capital of the South - Seoul. Then progress slowed northerners, but by mid-September almost the entire peninsula was in their hands. It seemed that the final victory of the army of the north separates only one final spurt. However, on July 7 of the UN Security Council voted to send international troops to aid South Korea. And in September, the UN troops (mostly American) came to the aid of the southerners. They launched a major offensive in the North from the snout, which still held the South Korean army. At the same time the landing of troops was made on the west coast, cut through the peninsula in half. Events began to move with the same speed in the opposite direction. The Americans occupied Seoul, crossed the 38th parallel and the continued attack on the DPRK. North Korea was on the brink of disaster, when suddenly intervened in the case china. The Chinese leadership has proposed, without declaring war on the United States, to send aid to North Korea's troops. In China they are officially called the "People's Volunteers". In October, nearly a million Chinese soldiers crossed the Yalu river border and joined battle with the Americans. Soon the front lined along the 38th parallel. The war continued for another three years. During the American offensive in 1950, the Soviet Union threw for aid to North Korea several aviation divisions. The Americans were significantly superior to the Chinese in technology. China carried the heavy losses. July 27, 1953 the war ended truce. North Korea has remained in power for a friendly government of the USSR and China, Kim Il Sung, who took the honorary title of "great leader." The construction of the Berlin Wall.In 1955, the final shape the division of Europe between East and West. However, a clear border confrontation divided Europe is not yet the end. It remained unclosed one "window" - Berlin. The city was divided in half, with East Berlin was the capital of the German Democratic Republic and West Berlin felt his part of Germany. The two opposite social systems have coexisted within the same city, each Berliner could easily get "from socialism to capitalism" and back again, going from one street to another. Every day this invisible border crossing in both directions up to 500 thousand people. Many East Germans, taking advantage of the open border, forever leaving the West. Every year, thousands of people moved so that a very troubled East German authorities. On the whole, open wide the window of the "iron curtain" completely consistent with the general spirit of the era. In August 1961, Soviet and East German authorities decided to close the border between the two parts of Berlin. Tension in the city grew. Western countries have expressed their protest against the division of the city. Finally, in October confrontation reached its climax. At the Brandenburg Gate and Friedrichstrasse, near the main crossing points, American tanks lined up. They went out to meet the Soviet military machine. More than a day tanks of the USSR and the United States stood with aimed guns at each other. Periodically tankers included motors, as if preparing to attack. Stress multiple-bit only after the Soviet and after them, and American tanks moved to other streets. However, the final section of the Western countries recognized the city only after ten years. It formalized the agreement the four powers (the USSR, the U.S., Britain and France), signed in 1971, worldwide erection of the Wall was seen as a symbolic end of the post-war division of Europe. The Cuban Missile Crisis. January 1, 1959 the revolution triumphed in Cuba, which was headed by 32-year-old guerrilla leader Fidel Castro. The new government began a determined struggle against American influence on the island. Needless to say that the Soviet Union fully supported the Cuban Revolution. However, the authorities of Havana seriously feared U.S. military invasion. In May 1962, Nikita Khrushchev put forward the idea of a surprise - to place on the island of Soviet nuclear missiles. Such a move, he jokingly explained that the imperialists' need to launch a hedgehog in his pants. " After some deliberation, Cuba agreed to the Soviet proposal, and in the summer of 1962 was sent to the island of 42 nuclear missiles and bombers capable of carrying nuclear bombs. The transfer of missiles made in the strictest confidence, but in September the U.S. government suspected that something was wrong. September 4th President John F. Kennedy announced that the United States in any case will not tolerate Soviet nuclear missiles to 150 km from its coast. In response to Khrushchev, Kennedy assured that no Soviet missiles or nuclear weapons in Cuba and never will be. October 14 U.S. spy plane photographed from the air launching pads for rockets. In an atmosphere of secrecy the U.S. government began discussing the response. October 22, President Kennedy turned on the radio and television to the American people. He said that in Cuba discovered Soviet missiles, and demanded that the USSR remove them immediately. Kennedy declared that the U.S. begin naval blockade of Cuba. October 24 at the request of the Soviet Union urgently met the UN Security Council. The Soviet Union continued to stubbornly deny the existence of nuclear missiles in Cuba. The situation in the Caribbean more tense. Cuba moved to two dozen Soviet ships. American ships were ordered to stop them if necessary - fire. True to sea battles is not reached. Khrushchev ordered several Soviet ships on the line to stop the blockade. From October 23 between Moscow and Washington began an exchange of letters. In the first letter Khrushchev indignantly called the U.S. action "pure banditry" and "madness degenerate imperialism." After a few days it became clear that the U.S. is determined at all costs to remove the missiles. October 26, Khrushchev sent Kennedy a more conciliatory message. He acknowledged that in Cuba there is a powerful Soviet weapons. At the same time, Khrushchev persuaded the president that the Soviet Union is not going to attack America. As he puts it, "Only crazy people can do that or suicide, wishing to die themselves, and the world before destroy." John Kennedy, Khrushchev offered to pledge not to invade Cuba, then the Soviet Union would take out their weapons from the island. The President of the United States said that the United States is prepared to take the gentleman's commitment not to invade Cuba if the Soviet Union take their offensive weapons. Thus the first steps towards peace were made. But October 27 came the "Black Sabbath" the Cuban missile crisis, when a miracle is not a new world war broke out. In those days over Cuba to intimidate twice a day rushing squadron of American planes. And on October 27, Soviet troops in Cuba, anti-aircraft missile shot down one of the U.S. spy planes. Its pilot was killed Anderson. The situation escalated to the limit, the president of the United States decided in two days to start bombing of Soviet missile bases and military attack on the island. However, on Sunday, October 28, the Soviet leadership decided to accept the American terms. The decision to remove the missiles from Cuba was taken without consultation with the Cuban leadership. May have done so deliberately, because Fidel Castro strongly objected to the removal of missiles. International tension was quickly subside after October 28. The Soviet Union had brought from Cuba, its missiles and bombers. November 20 the U.S. lifted a naval blockade of the island. The Cuban (or the Caribbean), the crisis ended peacefully.
The Vietnam War The Vietnam War began with the Gulf of Tonkin incident, during which the Coast Guard vessels fired on U.S. destroyers DRV who rendered fire support for the South Vietnamese government troops in their fight against the guerrillas. After that, all the secret is out and the conflict has evolved on the familiar pattern. One of the superpowers openly entered the war, and the other doing everything in its power to fight was "boring." The war that the United States imagined a cakewalk was a nightmare of America. Anti-war demonstrations rocked the country. Young people rebelled against the senseless slaughter. In 1975, the United States found it best to announce that they have "fulfilled their mission" and proceed with the evacuation of its troops. This war has severely shaken all of American society and led to major reforms. The post-war crisis lasted more than 10 years. It's hard to say what he would end not tuck under the arm Afghan crisis. The Afghan war. In April 1978 there was a coup in Afghanistan, later known as the April Revolution. Came to power Afghan communists - the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). The government led by Nur Mohammed Taraki writer. However, a few months within the ruling party broke a bitter struggle. In August 1979 confrontation broke out between the two party leaders - Taraki and Amin. September 16 Taraki was dismissed from his post, was expelled from the party and taken into custody. Soon after he died - according to the official report, "from the turmoil." These events have caused resentment in Moscow, although everything remains as before. Conviction began in Afghanistan caused massive "cleansing" and killings in party circles. And as they recalled the Soviet leaders Chinese "cultural revolution", there were concerns that the amine can break with the Soviet Union and rapprochement with China. Amin repeatedly asked about entering Soviet troops in Afghanistan to strengthen the revolutionary power. Finally, December 12, 1979 the Soviet government decided to grant his request, but remove himself Amin. Soviet troops entered Afghanistan, Amin was killed by a grenade during the storming of the presidential palace. Now the Soviet newspapers called him "a CIA agent", wrote about the "bloody clique Amin and his henchmen." In the West, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan triggered violent protests. With the new force broke "the Cold War". January 14, 1980 The UN General Assembly demanded the withdrawal of "foreign forces" from Afghanistan. For this decision voted by 104 states. Meanwhile in Afghanistan has intensified armed resistance to Soviet troops. Fought against them already, of course, are not supporters of Amin, and the opponents of the revolutionary government in general. The Soviet press at first claimed that there was no fighting in Afghanistan is not that there is peace and tranquility. However, the war did not abate, and when it became clear to the Soviet Union recognized that the country "rampant bandits." They were called "dushman", that is the enemy. Secretly, through Pakistan, they were supported by the United States, helping with arms and money. United States is well aware that such a war against armed people. The experience of the Vietnam War, was used at 100%, with only one small difference, the roles were reversed. Now the Soviet Union fought with underdeveloped country, and the U.S. helped him to feel what it's not an easy thing. The rebels controlled much of the territory of Afghanistan. All of them are united by the slogan of jihad - Islamic holy war. They called themselves the "Mujahideen" - champions of the faith. The rest of the program rebel groups varies widely. The war in Afghanistan did not stop for more than nine years .... During the war killed more than a million Afghans. Soviet troops, according to official data, lost in killed 14,453 people. In June 1987 made the first, while symbolic steps towards peace. New Kabul government offered the rebels' national reconciliation. " In April 1988, the Soviet Union signed the Geneva agreement on the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. May 15 troops began to leave. Nine months later, on February 15, 1989, Afghanistan, the last Soviet soldier left. For the Soviet Union in Afghanistan the day the war ended. Detente and the end of the "cold war" Shallow discharges in the confrontation took place in the 70s. The climax of it was the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Participating countries deliberated for two years and in 1975 in Helsinki, these countries signed the Final Act of the Conference. On the part of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev, it sealed. This document legitimized the post-war division of Europe, and then sought the USSR. In exchange for this concession, the West, the Soviet Union had committed itself to respect human rights. Shortly before, in July 1975, was a famous Soviet-American joint mission to the spacecraft "Soyuz" and "Apollo." In the Soviet Union stopped jamming Western radio broadcasts. It seemed that the era of the "cold war" forever thing of the past. However, in December 1979, Soviet troops entered Afghanistan - began another period of "cold war." The relationship between the West and the East have reached the freezing point, when the decision of the Soviet leadership was shot down a South Korean plane with peaceful passengers on board, who was in Soviet airspace. After this event, the U.S. President Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union an "evil empire and the center of evil." Only by 1987, relations between the East and the West once again began to gradually improve. In 1988-89 the beginning of perestroika in the Soviet policy of drastic changes have taken place. In November 1989, ceased to exist Berlin Wall. 1 July 1991 there was a dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. The socialist camp collapsed. In a number of countries - its former members - there were democratic revolutions that are not only not condemned, but supported by the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union also refused to expand its influence in the Third World. Such a sharp turn in Soviet foreign policy in the West associate with the name of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Epilogue - Farewell bipolar world The last milestone, "Cold War," said the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. That is, we can talk about its outcome. But this is perhaps the most difficult. Perhaps the results of the "cold war" fail history, its true results will be seen in decades. We are not objective. On the one hand, there are many people who believe that the "cold war" is not over, and moved into the next phase, on the other hand, many people tend to regard it as the start up of a new confrontation. What's wrong with the "cold war"? First of all, perhaps, brinkmanship. The parties certainly not at war, but so thoroughly prepared for it, that it seemed she could start at any moment. All events and phenomena in the world, in a world seen as good and bad, what benefits one of the parties (in this they differed little from each other) was good - everything else is bad. Entire generations of people grew up with a deformed psyche, reflected in an inadequate perception of the world. But this war has brought with it and a lot of positive results. Well first of all, because it was not hot, ie a sufficiently long period in spite of a very strong conflict parties were able to figure out the relationship without resorting to armed force, and secondly, she first made the opposite sides to negotiate and make certain rules of the game in opposition to itself (the whole system of treaties limiting the arms race is proof) , the arms race, as a phenomenon that had an absolute negative sign. She was carrying a huge material resources, but as with any phenomenon was a downside. In this case we can speak of a "golden age" of science, without which neither the rapid development of the arms race, which could not be thought of. Finally, she stressed that the main component, which defined the victory of one party - it's universal values, which could not outweigh the fantastic development of any technology or sophisticated ideological influence.
