(note from Carrie: I added the intro. Make sure you have this in there when you submit your final portfolio.)
How Does the Cold War Still Affect the World today?
Why are you interested in this question?
As a History major and politically active individual, it is for my leisure and personal knowledge that I study this thought provoking question. When I first started reading about the Cold War, I was intrigued by its complexed history because it’s a giant geopolitical labyrinth. I deemed the topic confusing at first and may take years to understand. When I studied this topic, it introduced me to international history, government and geopolitics. The subject and nature of history itself is very important for everyone to learn to understand politics, the way things work, and the way things use to be. All the historical facts and political/economic factors recently made me want revisit this subject to learn more about the Cold War because upcoming of the 2020 election.
What do you expect to find in your research?
During my research expedition, I expect to find historical facts that are factors that play a role to this day. For example, one effect from the Cold War is nuclear weaponry and how it changed the world forever. Another active factor is proxy wars. During the Cold War America and the USSR competed for international influence through proxy wars. These include the Korean War, Arab-Israeli War, and the Vietnam War. I plan on researching the modern day affects, the countries present condition, and how they view America.
What will you do if you find information that goes completely against what you had expected to find?
History itself comes in different shapes and forms but is always unchangeable. I believe it will be hard for me to find information that goes against what I expect to find because I’m open minded, have read about the topic before, and go by factual documents and history books. Because history never changes, I will most likely write about new sources that are unexpected because all details are useful and should not be ruled out. If the source is factual, it makes more sense to add it to your repertoire and use it.
What genres do you think might give you good information?
Genres that will give me good information is modern day history books and articles on various key details. I believe these are good genre sources for the subject because books and articles like Britannica and HISTORY.com hold a lot of credible information that will ensure my work is accurate.
[Entry 1] – Communism vs Democracy. How they work and how they are criticized
Part 1:
Diffen Communism vs Democracy – https://www.diffen.com/difference/Communism_vs_Democracy
Part 2:
To understand the simplicities of the Cold and its modern effects, one must understand what the war was fought for. After World War II, the US and the Soviet Union (USSR) established themselves as the superpowers around the globe. To maintain their geopolitical superiority, the countries sought to expand their political influence upon other countries. America’s plan was to spread democracy and Soviet Union’s plan was expand communism. The source that’s used breaks down the origins and deeper ideological meaning and intentions of both forms of government.
The origins of democracy goes back to Ancient Greece where they practiced a direct democracy where only men were chosen to vote. There are many variations of democracy but the one America uses is a representative Democracy where the people elect officials through voting to make decisions for them.
Modern day communism was introduced by Karl Marx in his book, Communist Manifesto, and took political effect in the Bolshevik Revolution under Vladimir Lenin. Ironically, the form of communism practiced in Russia at that time was ‘Leninism’, meaning ‘for the proletariat’ or working class. Unlike democracy, communist governments control everything including the rights of the people and all businesses.
Part 3:
The article states criticism both forms of government receive. Communism was criticized for having slow innovation, high rate of poverty, and little incentive to work: “Communism has been criticized as an ideology because it leads to slow technological advance, reduced incentives, and reduced prosperity. It has also been criticized as unfeasible.” I agree with this critique because most communist countries are destitute and don’t meet 1st world country standards. A good example is China because most cities within China are polluted due to its population size and coal usage.
Democracy has been criticized for allowing the majority to abuse its power at the expense of minorities: “Democracy has been criticized as inefficient and a creator of wealth disparity. It is criticized as a system that allows the uninformed to make decisions with equal weight as the informed, and one which allows for oppression of minorities by the majority.” I agree with tis critique because because US history has displayed tyranny of the majority over minority rule since the Constitution was founded. Good examples include how the white majority has treated Native Americans and African Americans with laws such as the Indian Removal Act and Jim Crow laws.
Part 4:
“Current communist states are the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Cuba, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Some people also consider North Korea to be a communist state.”
“According to Freedom House, there are currently 123 electoral democracies in the world. The World Forum on Democracy claims 58.2% of the world’s population live in democracies.”
[Entry 2] – US and USSR’s economy during the Cold War. How it changed and effects the world today
Part 1:
Amadeo, Kimberly. “How the Cold War Continues to Affect You Today.” The Balance, www.thebalance.com/cold-war-summary-events-causes-economic-impact-5070226.
History.com Editors. “Soviet Union.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 1 Sept. 2017, www.history.com/topics/russia/history-of-the-soviet-union.
Part 2:
Forms of government and economics intertwine for one cannot fully stabilize itself without the other. Every country needs a stable economy to maintain an effective form of government. In the first entry, I broke down the origins of the two main forms of government that competed for global expansion during the Cold War Era. Entry 2 will explain the lasting effects the Cold War has on the US and USSR’s economy and the events leading to it.
How the Cold War changed America’s economy forever is through technological growth and international trade. During the Cold War, America grew technologically by competing with Russia in what is known as the Space Race. The Space race was a 20 year technological competition between the two countries that grew rapidly after Russia launched Sputnik I, the first satellite. During this period, NASA, an American government agency, produced inventions that ultimately made space exploration possible. This resulted in Apollo 11, the first crew members to walk the moon. After this American accomplishment, the US ultimately won the Space Race.
Their inventions that were used during the Race are used today in forms such as CAT scans, freeze dried food, infrared thermometers, and kidney dialysis machines. Another way the American economy changed was through international trade with other countries. One example is China, albeit the negative tension the two countries share. As the Cold War started to ease slowly, President Nixon sought to de-escalate tension and instead open up business partnership with China. Ever since those relations, trades with China lead to America accumulating a total of $558 billion dollars by 2019.
How the USSR’s economy changed forever was through failed attempts of western policies leading to its collapse. The Soviet Union experienced initial growth after WWII but slowly started to fail under the Premier, Nikita Khrushchev. Khrushchev sought to decentralize (break down into multiple sectors) the economy with his “second economy” policy but failed due to food shortages, failed military operations and a weakened relationship with China. Khrushchev soon left office due to his failed credibility.
After Khrushchev left, Mikhail Gorbachev became leader and implemented capitalistic economic policies such as ‘perestroika’ or reconstructing to revive an ailing USSR. Although it appeared to work, Soviets who were opposed to these policies reacted with chaos by attempting to overthrow Gorbachev, causing perestroika to fail. This marked the final years of the Soviet Union until its inevitable collapse in 1991.
Part 3:
The article that elaborates on the US economical effects gives an overall positive reception. I agree that the lasting economic impact are beneficial. America, a superpower, is doing well as the richest country in the world with universal relations and advanced technology: “At the same time, we’ve benefited from the technological innovations sparked by NASA and other advances of the era.”
Russia is, however, on the contrary. Russia is a potential superpower with an economy that ranks 11th most richest country in the world. Their decline in the article used states failed policies increased the collapse rate: “Perestroika was Gorbachev’s plan for economic restructuring. Under perestroika, the Soviet Union began to move toward a hybrid communist-capitalist system, much like modern China”, “Meanwhile, Gorbachev’s reforms were slow to bear fruit and did more to hasten the collapse of the Soviet Union than to help it. A loosening of controls over the Soviet people emboldened independence movements in the Soviet satellites of Eastern Europe.”
I agree with these statements because Gorbachev’s policies sparked a slow transition to a more democratic nation thus destabilizing the Communist rule. This transition nailed the coffin in the collapse of the USSR. America continues to exercise their strength while Russia continues to economically struggle. The United States imposed economic sanctions, hurting their economy more. Both these documents tell me that America, both economically and technologically has the upper hand.
Part 4:
“Many of the effects of the Cold War are so ingrained in the American experience that we just take them for granted. We’ve learned to live with the threat of nuclear annihilation and ongoing conflicts in world hotspots.”
“On December 25, Gorbachev resigned as leader of the USSR. The Soviet Union ceased to exist on December 31, 1991.”
[Entry 3] – Dawn of nuclear weapons and the usage of proxy wars
Part 1:
History.com Editors. “Atomic Bomb History.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 6 Sept. 2017, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/atomic-bomb-history.
History.com Editors. “Vietnam War.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 29 Oct. 2009, www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history.
History.com Editors. “Korean War.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/korea/korean-war.
Part 2:
What were arguably the most significant major key factors of the Cold War were proxy and nuclear weapons. During WWII, America acquired new menacing weaponry that changed the art and nature of militarism forever through the form of nuclear bombs. In the pacific, the United States went to war with Japan in retaliation for the bombing of Pearl Harbor. To defeat Japan, the US used two atomic bombs, swiftly defeating them in 1945. The destruction caused by those bombs made mankind question the existence of God for no destruction has ever been possible. It remains the first and only time nuclear weapons were used in combat. America was the only country to possess nuclear weapons until Russia obtained nuclear intel through atomic espionage (spying). Despite its deadly capabilities, in a way it created, in a wicked sense, peace. Since humanity created and witnessed such a powerful weapon, all countries feared nuclear annihilation and its capabilities of destroying the world. This universal fear changed the landscape of warfare to avoid a nuclear war. Now it is done differently in a way that changed and effects the modern-day world: proxy wars.
A proxy war is a conflict between two major parties (the US and USSR in this case) fight each other indirectly through minor league parties whom they exert influence through. It’s complicated to understand initially but the nature of proxy wars will be better understood after reading some examples of real proxy warfare during the Cold War. There were many proxy wars during the Cold War but the most prominent proxies were the Korean War, Vietnam War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Korean War is a good way to grasp a simple understanding of proxy wars and how they effect the modern day world.
The Korean War was a Civil War between the North, which is communist, and the South, which was democratic. It started in 1950. North Korea, who was supported by the Soviet Union, dispatched 75,000 North Korean soldiers to invade South Korea. This invasion forced the South side to reach to their allies, America. The US aided the South Koreans to not only push forward but to attempt to liberate communism in North Korea. This plan was ultimately halted by North Korea’s neighbor, China. China’s leader, Mao Zedong, feared the expansion of democracy being close to their turf, so he sought to even the odds and help maintain communist rule in North Korea. After sending Chinese troopers, China forced backed South Korean soldiers back to their territory causing a stalemate between the 38th parallel, the line separating what was once a united country into North and South. The war “ended” in 1953 but the 38th parallel divide continues till this day as well as the tension and animosity between North and South Korea.
Another major proxy war was the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13 day military standoff between the US and USSR. After Fidel Castro rose to power, he sought military and economic aid from Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the USSR at the time. Russia installed nuclear missiles in Cuba causing America to act due to possible nuclear threats being only 90 miles from US shores. As retaliation, US president John F. Kennedy set up a naval blockade that was prepared to use military action if necessary to eliminate the perceived threat. The world feared we were on the brink to nuclear war. After 13 days, Khrushchev gave in and came to an agreement. The USSR would dismantle their nuclear missiles if the US did not invade Cuba and dismantle their nuclear missiles in Turkey. Khrushchev’s decision to pull operations out of Cuba caused him to lose credibility among the USSR and Chinese leader, Mao Zedong who called him a coward. The Cuban Missile Crisis is remembered for being the closest to a nuclear war.
The Vietnam War is not only another major proxy war, but a controversial war that is arguably a stain on American soil. The start of the Vietnam War has similar historical circumstances like the Korean War but with a more drastic and distasteful set of events. After Japan’s brutal defeat in WWII, they withdrew their political involvement in Vietnam, allowing the country to govern themselves. All Vietnamese wanted to govern their own independent country, but two distinct parties wanted it to be run their way rather than the opposing party.
Ho Chi Minh was the leader of communist North Vietnam, known as Viet Minh or Viet Cong. They were supported by the USSR by receiving military support. The opposing side was South Vietnam under anti-communist leader Ngo Dinh Diem who was supported by the United States. The US got involved in the Vietnam War in 1954. With training from US military personnel, Diem sought to track down and arrest anybody he presumed to be Viet Cong within his territory, leading to the arrest of some of 100,000 people. This mass internment resulted in tortures and executions of not only Viet Cong, but Southern Vietnamese under Diem’s regime. This branded Diem as a brutal dictator, causing him to lose support of his party and create enemies within his own territory. A resistance was formed against Diem’s brutal regime called ‘The National Liberation Front’ and a coup was plotted to assassinate Diem. It succeeded, furthering political chaos and instability in South Vietnam.
After Diem’s assassination in 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson, LBJ, pushed for more US military and economic support of South Vietnam. In 1964, ships that were supposedly of North Vietnam attacked two US destroyers. This is now known as the Gulf of Tonkin incident which was a hoax by the US government to motivate war activity in Vietnam. This prompted Congress to pass the Gulf on Tonkin Resolution, giving LBJ the opportunity to increase warfare in Vietnam. In 1965, LBJ sent 82,000 troops and 175,000 more by the end of the year to fight in Vietnam.
The War in Vietnam grew extremely unpopular back home in the United States. From the 1969 draft to the increasing number of casualties and wounded, protests against the war grew. Soldiers stationed in Vietnam no longer trusted the government resulting in many no longer on task. Instead, many deserted the war while others partook in fragging (attempting to or to deliberately kill your allied soldiers), did drugs or committed suicide. Back at home, thousands of people protested the war. A form of protest was draft dodging, or refusing to serve in Vietnam. Others protested by accusing the government of supporting dictatorship as well as targeting Vietnamese civilians instead of Viet Cong combatants.
In 1973, after constant failures to amount offense in the war as well as lack of domestic support, the United States concluded their animosity with North Vietnam and came to a peace agreement. Although the US withdrew from fighting in Vietnam, the war between North and South Vietnam continued on until April 30, 1975. As the last few US soldiers were airlifted out, the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon (later renamed Ho Chi Minh City), fell to the North and the Viet Cong claimed their victory. Many Vietnam vets experienced severe mental disorders that negatively impacted their lives permanently after witnessing and partaking in ghastly horrors. Not only did Vietnam vets experience psychological disorders but received severe hatred by citizens back home. Throughout the 19 year conflict, an estimated of over 58,000 US soldiers died and an overall estimation of 1-4 million people, including soldiers and civilians, were killed as a result of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War is remembered as a failure as well as a human rights violation that America is negligent for.
Part 3:
In the source I used about atomic bombs, I agree how the invention of nuclear weapons changed the world forever: “The United States responded by launching a program in 1950 to develop more advanced thermonuclear weapons. The Cold War arms race had begun, and nuclear testing and research became high-profile goals for several countries, especially the United States and the Soviet Union.” Because these weapons were new and powerful, other nations wanted to obtain them to be a more powerful threat in case of international threats. Now that many countries have armed themselves with nuclear warheads as a means to protect themselves, thy all share the same fear: a nuclear war.
The alternative to nuclear weapon usage were proxy wars. Another detail I find intriguing is how overall unknown the Korean War was to the American people: “In all, some 5 million soldiers and civilians lost their lives in what many in the U.S. refer to as “the Forgotten War” for the lack of attention it received compared to more well-known conflicts like World War I and II and the Vietnam War. The Korean peninsula is still divided today.” This tells me that nuclear weapons did in fact change how the modern world fights wars in the new age. The art of fighting in proxies was something many people did not understand for decades because of how new this tactic is.
Another striking detail I discovered in my Vietnam War source is when studying the Vietnam War, many flaws in the American government system are revealed as a whole: “The anti-war movement, which was particularly strong on college campuses, divided Americans bitterly. For some young people, the war symbolized a form of unchecked authority they had come to resent. For other Americans, opposing the government was considered unpatriotic and treasonous.” This divide that was caused by the government’s deception and lies brings up a valid criticism of the nature of democracy that I quoted in my first entry: “It is criticized as a system [democracy] that allows the uninformed to make decisions with equal weight as the informed, and one which allows for oppression of minorities by the majority.” This quote is exactly what the government demonstrated by lying to keep the American people uninformed while coercing people to join through the draft. This divided American society amongst each other. In this case, the government did not disclose the hoax of the Gulf of Tonkin incident as well as fabricating the events in Vietnam. This makes me question the government’s overall credibility due to their historical constant premise of corruption and lies that that causes civil unrest both at home and other nations. Ex: Discovery of weapons of mass destruction in 2003 Iraq Invasion, COINTELPRO, Herbert Hoover’s response to the Great Depression, McCarthyism, Mai Lai Massacre.
Part 4:
“Unlike World War II and Vietnam, the Korean War did not get much media attention in the United States.”
“The Korean War was relatively short but exceptionally bloody. Nearly 5 million people died. More than half of these–about 10 percent of Korea’s prewar population–were civilians. (This rate of civilian casualties was higher than World War II’s and the Vietnam War’s.)”
“According to a survey by the Veterans Administration, some 500,000 of the 3 million troops who served in Vietnam suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and rates of divorce, suicide, alcoholism and drug addiction were markedly higher among veterans.”
“In the United States, the effects of the Vietnam War would linger long after the last troops returned home in 1973. The nation spent more than $120 billion on the conflict in Vietnam from 1965-73; this massive spending led to widespread inflation, exacerbated by a worldwide oil crisis in 1973 and skyrocketing fuel prices.”
“Psychologically, the effects ran even deeper. The war had pierced the myth of American invincibility and had bitterly divided the nation. Many returning veterans faced negative reactions from both opponents of the war (who viewed them as having killed innocent civilians) and its supporters (who saw them as having lost the war)…”
“When the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, there were still thousands of nuclear weapons scattered across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Many of the weapons were located in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. These weapons were deactivated and returned to Russia.”
[Conclusion]
When I chose to research the Cold War, a topic I’ve studied before, I believed I had all the answers in my head planned out and it would be a cake walk. Fortunately, I am not only wrong on that notion but, instead, more enlightened and knowledgeable. The hours of reading and source searching opened me up to more thought provoking interesting facts, questions and analysis.
Before conducting research, I originally planned to do comparisons between the US and USSR and to make America seem like it had either won the Cold War or at least ahead in the game. Now I see there are many more possibilities. New questions that I’ve discovered from restudying the Cold War is “Who Was America really fighting and what for?”, “Did the United States fight themselves more than fight the expansion than communism?”, “Did the Cold War thaw or does it continue?” and more. This is how my research made me more knowledgeable and enlightened on the modern day effects of the Cold War.
Entry 1 Analysis:
In my first entry, I once again scrutinized two main forms of government: democracy and communism. The key examination that started my thought provoking questions was when I read the sources’ criticism of both forms. This lead me to look for historical evidence from the Cold War in future entry sources that proves these criticism correct. The first criticism I analyzed deeply was communism.
Communism is when the government control everything. The article I used stated the following: “Communism has been criticized as an ideology because it leads to slow technological advance, reduced incentives, and reduced prosperity. It has also been criticized as unfeasible.” Not only is this accurate due to most communist countries being very poor, but the fall of the USSR is the embodiment of lacking in money and prosperity. The poverty rate under the Soviet Union was 20%. That is about 9.5% greater than the US poverty rate today. For their economy, they experienced growth initially but slowly declined. Leaders like Gorbachev tried using western economic policies to improve it, but it only destabilized the country more thus the USSR collapsed.
The criticism of communism made me realize in detail how antiquated the form of government is through the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The fall of the USSR is the best historical evidence in my opinion that justifies and proves criticism of modern failures of communism because the Soviet Union’s economy rapidly declined. That alone shows how impractical a command economy can be. It can also be seen through this detail that of the modern world that amazes me: there are only about 5 major countries in the world that use communism and most of them are poor.
The article also criticized democracy. Democracy is a form of government where the people vote for officials. The article criticized for allowing tyranny of the majority to abuse their power over minorities. During the Cold War, the United States exploited this not only towards their own people, but people of other nations while under the premise of lies (notably in Vietnam).
During the Vietnam War, America cranked up their involvement within Vietnam, a country that was enduring a civil war. America set up a controversial Draft Select system that affected people who were skeptic of the war as while as African-Americans who were already experiencing racial oppression at home. How America abused their power towards foreign minorities was by targeting mostly civilians in Vietnam instead of the Viet Cong combatants in through massacres such as the Mai Lai massacre.
America has demonstrated tyranny of the majority since the founding of the Constitution. After researching modern effects of the Cold War in America I agree with the criticism while also being more aware of how the US government plays a big role in doing so. One way is through government deception which happened during Vietnam War.
(My Take) – Entry 1 has made me come to the conclusion that democracy is not perfect but more effective and practical than communism. The USSR collapsed and remains weakened till this day, which is evident of slow and weaker incentives. Not only is the collapse of the USSR evident itself, but the amount of communist countries, whom are mostly poor, being only five compared to there being 123 democratic countries. However, democracy’s imperfection is shown through the majority using its power to attack minorities both domestic and foreign. The United States did more damage to themselves by dividing their citizens, sending American people to be damaged and slaughtered, and further tarnishing the American legacy of being an outspoken nation for world peace and human rights, but instead partook in an unnecessary war that is remembered for permanently damaging and killing millions of innocent people for the world to witness and remember.
Entry 2 Analysis:
My second entry was an analysis of economical effects that transpired during the Cold War that plays a role in modern day life. This entry made me question how it changed the world and if the Cold War continues economically through another nation. The research I conducted informed me of how important a stable economy is and how it dictated the movement of the Cold War.
As referenced in Entry 1, a command economy is slow and ineffective versus a mixed economy which is more flexible and practical This is how the Soviet Union collapsed due to an ineffective economy. How it happened was a combination of military inefficiency and implementing capitalistic policies. Most growth economic growth arose from military action in the USSR for a lot of their money was invested in their military. However, under Nikita Khrushchev, the USSR pulled out of most military operations causing the economy to decline as well as Khrushchev’s credibility. Mikhail Gorbachev tried using western policies to revive the economy but it only caused the economy to decline more rapidly. Ultimately, the failed economy resulted in the collapse of the USSR.
America’s economy outlasted the Soviet Union. It practiced a system of supply and demand. This means Americans spending money for a return of goods fed the economy. Not only did the economy improve, but so did technological advancement. During the Cold War, America and Russia competed in the Space Race, which ultimately lead America to achieve putting the first man on the moon through greater advanced technology. America also started international trade.
(My Take) – The US and USSR economic competition ended when the USSR collapsed thus proving that America is also ahead in terms of economics. However, the Cold War continues economically through the country that substitutes USSR’s former position: China. What I learned from the research conducted in Entry 2 is that China took Russia’s place in the Cold War. During the Cold War, the US opened up international trade with China under president Nixon. This mutual trade that continues today helped ease international animosity with the US and China while also elevating China to have the second largest economy in the world while America remains the largest. Russia’s economic success ended prematurely and abruptly, leaving them with the worlds 11th largest economy. China, on the contrary, is just beginning and can pose a greater threat today due to being a more healthier and established nation.
Entry 3 Analysis:
My third entry was my longest and my most examined source of evidence throughout the entire study of the Cold War and its effects on the modern day world. It is also what taught me the most and gave me a better understanding of America’s flaws and importance of geopolitics. What I learned is the Cold War did not end, but has changed courses over the years. Many things caused this geopolitical transition but two things that should be acknowledged are nuclear weapons and proxy warfare that still effect the world we live in.
What I learned more in depth is how nuclear weapons changed how the world responds with warfare that goes on today. After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended WWII in the pacific, the world has since feared nuclear annihilation. This fear is what lead to most countries attain nuclear weapons to defend themselves. Despite the alarming dangers, the mutual fear that all countries share of a nuclear war is what created peace. This is evident due to the Japanese atomic bombings being the only time in history nuclear weapons was used in warfare.
This fear is what elevated the use of proxy wars during the Cold War which receives mixed reception due to how some proxies were controversially carried out. The Vietnam War is perhaps the most controversial proxy during the Cold War. It overall rippled the country leaving lasting scars on the United States as a whole. This ripple revealed to me one of many of flaws this country suffers: American prejudice and how it negatively impacts the world.
(My Take) – I learned the United States did okay in spreading influence to cement allies with other nations as well as containing the spread of communism. There are more democratic nations that are allies for there is the United Nations. However, the US failed itself with its major flaw of tyranny of the majority through a corrupt and prejudice government by dividing American citizens amongst each other as well as tainting their reputation for being a pro human rights nation by committing human rights violations. This is overall straining America’s potential to be fully complete.
How America tarnished its legacy is through various forms of deception and discrimination committed by the government. War mongering people, who hated communist expansion, sought to increase America’s participation in war through fabrication like Gulf of Tonkin incident that caused millions of injuries and deaths. Another way is withholding the events they are guilty of. For instance, the hoax of the Gulf of Tonkin was not released to the public until 30 years after the was concluded. Finally, government operations motivated by spite, discrimination, nativism and jingoism from the government also deteriorates America’s potential. The American white majority has a history of racially discriminating minorities through law, including Asian Americans. Ex: Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese Internment Camps, Fong Yue Ting vs United States, Korematsu vs United States.
My Overall Conclusion:
Based on all my entries that I invested a lot of research in, I can conclude that the United States has won most of the battle but has yet to win the war. The Cold War has not fully thawed because China has substituted in Russia’s place as America’s main competitor, thus the Cold War continues. I believe America has the edge for now but because of the nations’ self induced problems, we cannot fully progress to significant results. Instead, we are making similar issues that the USSR did and what America has done during the Vietnam war which is slowly progress down. Issues such as government deception and civil unrest cause us to fight each other. Continuing this path will halt progression and may potentially cause the United States to fall behind and/or collapse if we do not change.
The people who need to read and study this message is the youth and young ones within minority classes. Election Day is coming soon [at the time of this publication] and is an opportunity to practice the right vote for change. The youth must be exposed to non-biased versions of the truth so they can make the right choices and fix America’s domestic problems. Without young people being educated, progress dies. Teachers, elderly, and history majors have a mission to ensure our future makes it.
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