Paper Example on What was the Ideological Conflict that Facilitated the Cold War?

Entry 1

There were various ideological conflicts that resulted in the cold war. The cold war was majorly a "face-off" between the Soviet Union and the United States after World War II. During that time, the United States was a modern liberal state whose principles ware grounded on individualism, whereas the Soviet Union was a communist nation whose values were based on collectivism. This meant that the United States was positioned on the far-right, while the Soviet Union was placed on the left side of the economic spectrum; these conflicting ideologies were the primary causes of conflicts between the nations since throughout the Cold War, the Soviet Union struggled to increase communism to other area but the United States aimed at stopping it with its stringent policy measures. It is was a result of this that made most people attribute the Cold War to the conflicts that existed between the right and the left sides of the spectrum.

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Entry 2

How did the Cold War Reshaped Ideas of American Freedom?

The Cold War played a pivotal role in shaping the ideas of American freedom. Whereas there was an exaggeration of the idea of freedom in America during the Cold War, it significantly assisted in reshaping various ideas of freedom in America as a nation in the sense that it helped in bringing the true picture of freedom in the country; this, therefore, acted as motivation to many groups to fight for true freedom owing to the fact that issues such as racism still engulfed the nation. Moreover, it enabled America to comprehend the disparities between it and other countries concerning various forms of freedom, such as freedom of expression and, therefore, put much emphasis on the importance of freedom in a country. The Cold War played a pivotal role in raising various issues concerning human rights during the postwar world, which helped in subjecting numerous officials on trial for various crimes against humanity.

Entry 3

What were the Effects of the Vietnam War on America?

The American culture and politics ware greatly transformed by the Vietnam War. As the Vietnam War persisted and the casualties of America continued to increase through the late 1960s as well as early 1970s, Americans started to take a more negative on the government and the war. The conscription or draft of nationals into the military became very unpopular, together with wars that happened for several seasons. The most affluent Americans mostly avoided the draft. They could do this pay paying for more time in college, meaning that the burden heavily shifted in the minority communities as well as low-income groups to fight.

Another effect of the domestic war was the depletion of the trust of the Americans on politicians as well as the government. There was a clear demonstration by the Pentagon Papers in 1970 that the presidents of the United States right from the 1950s misinformed the public as well as over-exaggerated the interests of the U.S. in Vietnam. Further depleting the trust of the public in politicians was the Watergate scandal, which yielded resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974; this also unearthed the illegal doings of other high-level officials of the federal.

Entry 4

How did the War in Iraq Lead to 9/11?

There are various views concerning the cause of 9/11. One of the views is that 9/11 was a result of conflicts in the Muslim world. The followers of Bin Laden viewed themselves as the island of true believers that enclosed by a sea iniquity and, therefore, thought that the world and the future of religion depended on them as well as their battle. The view was tightly held by the Egyptians in al Qaeda, like Ayman al-Zawahiri. They inherited it from Sayyid Qutb, who held the belief that a good proportion of the Middle East was living in the state of pagan ignorance. Furthermore, the Egyptian jihadists held the belief that by using “apostate” rulers, they would overthrow the Middle East regimes that were their "near enemy." However, it took a varied view. He convinced Zawahiri that the “near enemy” was not the root of the problem but the “far enemy,” the United States, which resulted in the wake of 9/11.

Entry 5

What are the Issues that Made America to Participate in World War II?

Numerous events made the United States participate in World War II. During World War II, Paris was taken over by Germany. The United States intended to remain neutral in the war. However, People came to realize that the United States was never neutral as they were supplying Great Britain with war instruments. In the course of the war, the United States decided to stop the supply of oil to Japan, had their assets frozen and failed to give back their money; this left Japan in great need of tanks of oil, planes as well as a submarine. The actions of the United States against Japan made Japan view it as an economic declaration of war. At the Coral Sea battle, the United States offered protection to Australia; this made the U.S. be driven out of the Philippines by the Japanese; this consequently led to the participation of the United States in World War II.

Entry 6

What were the Contributions of Ronald Reagan’s Presidency during the Cold War?

President Ronald Reagan played a pivotal role of reviving the economy of America and emerged victorious in the Cold War. As the president, he was successful in bringing back the sense of patriotic feeling within the American individuals and encouraged them to feel very proud of the country again. He won the trust of many, and most Americans felt very secures and consequently became strong patriots of the land. He brought a sense of hope among people, and his presidency was an assurance to various individuals that everyone can become the president in as much as they were born American.

Nevertheless, President Ronald Reagan also politically had some of the most infamous achievements. Some of his infamous achievements comprised his economic program that was commonly referred to as the “supply-side economics” or also known as “Reaganomics" that depended on high-interest rates to help in curbing inflation as well as lowering tax rates, mostly for various businesses with the main aim of enhancing investments.

In 1981, President Reagan managed to persuade Congress to reduce the taxes for the persons who were working in prison, which had direct effects of the gross domestic economy; this is what was termed by his critics as "Reaganomics." It discouraged people from over-dependence on the handout from the government, an event that led to a frenzy that offered of benefit to a few individuals and left the majority of individuals disadvantaged. Under the "Reaganomics," the country was subjected to great recession as most organizations and companies downscaled and shifted their production overseas, leading to an increase in economic inequality as the poor got poorer and the rich got richer.

Entry 7

What were some of the Socioeconomic Issues of the Nixon Administration?

Concerning the social issues, Nixon was the first United States president to pay a visit to the Soviet Union. In his visit, he engaged in an in-depth negotiation to slow down the arms race as well as to enhance trade. Furthermore, he dropped the Philadelphia plans concerning affirmative action in favor of the one that was ineffective and posed a lot of stress to the voluntary local efforts towards the hiring of the minority instead of the federal requirements.

Regarding the economic issues, Nixon managed to expand the food stamp program and developed social security benefits that adjusted the increasing cost of living. Furthermore, Nixon proposed a negative income tax as well as minima income for every American; this was considered as a change from welfare despite the fact that it failed at the Congress.

Entry 8

What Contributed to American Isolationism in the 1930s?

The combination of the memory of tragic losses and the Great Depression that emanated from World War I contributed to pushing the policy as well as public opinion towards isolationism. Isolationists encouraged non-involvement in Asian as well as European conflicts and detached themselves from international politics. However, the United States undertook measures to evade military and political conflicts through oceans. It continued to expand economically and safeguard its interest in Latin America. The isolationist movement leaders vowed to strengthen their position. President George Washington, in his farewell address, encouraged non-engagement in European politics and wars. For a good proportion of the nineteenth century, the stretch of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans presented an opportunity for the United States to largely remain detached from the conflicts of the Old World hence isolationism.

Entry 9

What are the Challenges in Obama’s First Presidency?

In his first presidency, Obama faced a lot of challenges. For one, he failed to minimize the rate of unemployment. The rate of unemployment stood at 5.7% of the economically active population in 2008, increasing to 8.9% in 2011. One of the reasons attributed to this was the blockage of the Obama’s Jobs Act by the republicans in autumn, 2011. The job was act was made to enhance employment via tax cuts, infrastructure spending, and incentives. However, Obama in 2008 ensured the facilitation of emergency loans to the United States automotive industry and expanded insurance for unemployment in 2011. Furthermore, America had made promises to its citizens concerning Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare benefits; this was, however, not easy to achieve, and President Obama had to postpone some but ended up still owing a lot to the citizens. The accomplishment of the promises posed a big challenge in Obama’s first presidency.

Entry 10

What Attempts did the American Government Make to Shape Public Opinion during the Cold War?

There are numerous ways in which the American government attempted to shape the opinion of the public during the Cold War. The media played a significant role during the Cold War, especially via fear-mongering. Some of the movies, such as the Red Menace, presented to people the tyke of terror that would occur if they permitted the infiltration of communism into the United States. The media encouraged the production of movies as well as anti-communist propaganda. In contrast, most the portrayals by the media of capitalist America were very boring and calm; this got into the mindset of the Americans and actually assisted in making them be more active supporters of the Cold War as well as the suppression of communism. An example of such was McCarthyism’s growth. McCarthyism’s character assassination via the association of communist let people policing themselves as well as others for things that could be deemed as un-American; this comprised offering support for continual military production and ultimately thwarting the sentiments of the anti-war in the Vietnam and Korean conflicts. Eventually, the federal government tried all that was possible to preserve the support of the Americans during the growth of the Cold war. The American government utilized subtler techniques to ripen the social atmosphere for their aggressive tactics and mostly used the communists as a scapegoat whenever the opinions of the Americans began to decline.