THE COLD WAR ARENAS
THE COLD WAR | DEFINATION | ARENAS
WHAT IS THE COLD WAR?
“The Cold War referred to the competition, the tensions and a series of confrontations between the United States and Soviet Union, backed by their respective allies”. Fortunately, however, it never escalated into a ‘hot war’, that is, a full-scale war between these two powers.
-> There were wars in various regions, with the two powers and their allies involved in warfare and in supporting regional allies, but at least the world avoided another global war.”
-> Cold War, where crisis and war occurred or threatened to occur between the alliance systems but did not cross certain limits. World be spared a nuclear war and global hostilities.
-> It is a war of competition in military equipment, territorial establishment, ideological supremacy, and to gain maximum resources.
ARENAS OF THE COLD WAR
- The Cuban Missile Crisis
- Various areas where crisis and war occurred or threatened to occur between the alliance systems but did not cross certain limits.
- Several shooting wars [Korea(1950 – 53), Berlin (1958 – 62), the Congo (the early 1960s)]
- Diplomatic communication between the superpowers could not be sustained and contributed to the misunderstandings.
But These crises and wars did not lead to another world war/Nuclear war. Countries involved in NAM, played a role in reducing cold war conflicts also.
Why the superpowers needed any allies ?
Smaller states were helpful for the superpowers in gaining access to:
(i) vital resources, such as oil and minerals,
(ii) territory, from where the superpowers could launch their weapons and troops,
(iii) locations from where they could spy on each other, and
(iv) economic support, in that many small allies together could help pay for military expenses.
(v) Ideological reasons. (USA- liberal democracy & capitalism vs USSR-socialism & communism)