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Chapter One: the US and the Cold War: Historical Background

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Chapter One: the US and the Cold War: Historical Background Dedication 1 I dedicate this Standard Essay to my beloved parents and my sister whom without their help, support, advices, cooperation, motivation, and prayers, I would not have taken up this study nor completed it. I also dedicate this work to all my friends who have supported me throughout the process. Also, to my teacher of secondary school “Mr. Moubarek” I’m thankful for all that he have done. Thank you all. Kenadessa Marwa I Dedication 2 I dedicate this work to the dearest, greatest and closest person to my heart, to my dear mother who passed away seven years ago. May Allah send his mercy upon her soul This was her dream; dear mother I did this work just for you. Goreini Amina II Acknowledgments First and foremost, all our gratitude, gratefulness, and thankfulness are directed to “ALLAH” for enabling us to complete this work. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to our supervisor “Dr. Zeghoudi Yahia”, who has gone with us through the ups and downs of this work and been invaluable source of knowledge and thoughtful advice. Thank you for giving us a wealth of ideas and generosity of time. Our utmost gratitude goes to Mr. Rahmoun Omar for his support and help. Personally, me Goreini amina, I would to thank you for your encouragement and due to your motivating words that I reach this stage of success. Special thanks go to our wonderful and greatest teacher Dr. Mouro Wassila for her assistance and guidance who without her help and support this work would not be done Great thanks to our teachers ‘Dr.Bensafa Abdelkader’, ‘Mr Kamech Mohamed’, ‘Benmeki Amine’ for their helpful advices We were fortunate to have been taught by such outstanding teachers during all the five years Finally, we would like to thank our beloved friends and families for their sustainment and their prayer for us without forgetting any name, thank you all. III Abstract In this Standard Essay, we shed light on the strained relations between the United States and the Soviet Union and the effective role of President Ronald Reagan in bringing an absolute end to Soviet Union and socialist world. We focus on his objectives achieved due to his new foreign policy in which he initiated his desire for the strategic defence initiative, his massive American military build-up, and his decision to support the anti-communism movements around the world. Bring the Soviet Union to its knees via political and economic pressure. In addition, we discuss the fall of Berlin as a turning point in the collapse of the Soviet empire. This dissertation aims to explain the real reasons that prevent the world from a third world war. IV Table of contents: Dedication 1 .........................................................................................................I Dedication 2 ....................................................................................................... II Acknowledgments ................................................... Erreur ! Signet non défini. Abstract ............................................................................................................. IV List of Abbreviations: ..................................................................................... VII List of maps : .................................................................................................. VIII List of figures: ................................................................................................ VIII General Introduction: .............................................. Erreur ! Signet non défini. Chapter One: The United States and the Cold War 1.1 Introduction: .............................................................................................. 4 1.2 Background to the War : ........................................................................... 5 1.3 The Clash between the Two Powers (US and USSR) .............................. 7 1.3.1 Introduction to the Cold War: ................................................................ 7 1.3.2 Reasons behind the Cold War: .............................................................. 8 1.3.3 The Main Phases of the Cold War: ........................................................ 9 1.3.4 Effects of the Cold War: ...................................................................... 15 1.4 Reagan and Gorbachev ended the Cold War: ......................................... 17 1.5 Conclusion: ............................................................................................. 19 Chapter Two: Reagan and the end of the Cold War 2.1 Introduction: ............................................................................................ 22 2.2 Biography of Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) ............................................ 23 2.3 The beginning of Ronald Reagan’s Political Involvement .................... 25 2.4 Reagan’s Presidency 1981 ..................................................................... 29 2.5 Reagan’s Foreign Policies : Towards the End of the Cold War ............ 30 2.5.1 Reagan’s Plans Against the USSR ...................................................... 30 2.5.2 The Use of Force Against Aligned USSR’s Nations .......................... 33 2.5.3 The Iran-Contra Affair :a Worst Scandal of Reagan ........................... 35 2.6 The Platform of Peace between the Two Leaders ................................. 39 2.6.1 The Geneva Summit 1985 ................................................................... 39 2.6.2 The Reykjavik Summit 1986 ............................................................... 39 V 2.6.3 The Washington Summit ..................................................................... 40 2.6.4 The Moscow Summit 1988 ................................................................. 41 2.6.5 Governors Island meeting:................................................................... 41 2.7 The fall of Berlin Wall ............................................................................ 41 2.8 Conclusion: ............................................................................................. 43 General Conclusion: .......................................................................................... 47 Bibliography: ..................................................................................................... 50 Books: .............................................................................................................. 50 Articles and Magazines: .................................................................................. 50 Web sites: ........................................................................................................ 53 VI List of Abbreviations: ANZUS: Australia New Zealand United States Security CENTO: Central Treaty Organisation CIA: Central Intelligence Agency FMLN: the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front INF: intermediate-range nuclear forces MEDO: Middle East defence organisation NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NSC: National Security Council PATCO: Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization SALT: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks SDI: Strategic Defence Initiative SEATO: Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation UNO: United Nations Organisation US: United State USSR: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics VII List of Maps: Map 01: Cold War World Map 1980……………………………………………...17 List of figures: Figure 01: Iran contra-affaires……………………………………………………..37 Figure 02: Gorbachev and Reagan signing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces…………………………………………………………………………………..40 Figure 03: West Berliners crowd in front of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 11, 1989 as they watch East German border guards demolishing a section of the wall to open………………………………………………………………………………….…43 VIII General Introduction General Introduction The world has witnessed great changes during the post-World War II era which led to the division of the world into two great superpowers; the Capitalist US and the Communist USSR. The clash between these two powers was due to their mistrust, different ideologies, strategic goals and national interests. Each one considered the other as a threat to its existence and adopted strategies to maintain their positions. The two powers never fought each other directly in this period, but they had been engaged in many conflicts over the world. Hence, this conflict is named as the Cold War rather than a hot war. There were a lot of occasions when it appeared that a hot war would break out between the Superpowers, but thankfully this was avoided due to the successful US foreign policy. The previous policies adopted by US presidents to calm down hostilities of the war did not give satisfactory results until the election of Ronald Reagan in 1981. He played a great role in the progress in the relations of the two superpowers that gave a favour to US in ending the cold war and transforming world into unipolar power. This dissertation represents the role of US foreign policy to defeat Communism and allowed Capitalism to become the primary government in the modern world. This research explains the importance of Ronald Reagan’s efforts to end the cold war and avoid a third world war from happening , by which he opposed the policy of detente and stood firm against the USSR, calling it the ‘Evil Empire’ and telling Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall” in Berlin. This dissertation shows his Strategic Defence Initiative against the USSR and gave support to anti-communism movements around the world. As a result, those efforts led to the collapse of the Soviet Empire and basically ended
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