The Influence of Cold War on World Politics and International Relations (Essay Sample)

Students Name Instructors Name Course Date The Influence of Cold War on World Politics and International Relations The Cold War was a geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and marked world politics significantly, driving international relations from the middle of the 20th century until the early 1990s. This essay analyzes how the Imperialist conflict between capitalism and communism polarized the formation of military alliances, artificial wars, and the shift of world powers. The Cold War impacted superpowers’ foreign policies as they competed against each other, but it also influenced other nations as they had to choose sides, either to join the Western bloc led by America or the Eastern bloc led by the Soviet Union. The Cold War had one of its main effects on forming military alliances, and perhaps the most famous were NATO and the Warsaw Pact. These affiliations were not only military obligations but also declarations of political orientation, which only strengthened the division of the world into two different poles. NATO and the Warsaw Pact were not only military alliances but also means by which the superpowers could exercise their control over their particular spheres of influence (Miles 53). Given that states within these alliances could engage in conflicts, this triggered a risk of conflict that could lead to a world war, as observed during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Another key impact of the Cold War on world politics includes proxy wars, especially in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. These conflicts were usually caused by superpowers wanting to spread or preserve their ideology without an actual war. For instance, the Vietnam War and the Korean War were both proxy wars where the U. S and the Soviet Union provided support to warring factions, hence destroying many countries (Baugh 3). Cold War intensified the globalization of conflicts where localized conflict became part of a fight between capitalists and communists. These wars not only defined the political system of the states within the regions concerned but also deepened the cleavage in the world between the capitalist and the communist blocs. Cold War also influenced world politics and the role of global institutions. The UN was created in 1945 and was frequently frozen in the Cold War struggle between the two superpowers, especially in the Security Council with its right to vet the Soviet Union and the USA. However, the Cold War also generated new international organizations and documents that were supposed to regulate tensions, like the Helsinki Accords of 1975, which attempted to establish more friendly relations between the communists and the West (Snyder 30). These accords are moments when the two powers und...