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OF WINNING THE COLD WAR : AN AMERICAN VIEW OF THE MULTI-FACETED COLD WAR EFFECTS

Even if the Cold War has ended several decades ago , there is one thing that remained unsettled in the eyes of the Americans : who has really won the Cold War ? I would say that there is no straight answer to the long-been-debated question unless we come to examine the multi-faceted effects of the Cold War to the American society . I do not however intend to convince every American to settle on one argument because each has his own

point to consider

If we are to consider the elimination of Communism in Russia , then the Americans technically won the war game . If we are to take the worldwide peace brought about by the deterrence of possible nuclear war , then neither party won because the whole world did . If we are to closely look into winning enemies , America lost in the game for accumulating more enemies especially the communist governments . Economically wise , both the Americans and the Soviets lost because of increasing its military spending too far above what it had used to be without the Cold War Because of these , it is but fair to consider the point of view of one Soviet writer : Americans think they are the greatest and the most powerful , and have a special mission to tell the world what it should be , while at the same time they are bitterly and almost evenly divided among themselves about their own affairs (Anichkin , Alexander 2004 Despite this , this would argue that the Americans , in reality lost in the Cold War

If there was one thing John F . Kennedy left in the hearts of the Americans during the Cold War period , it would his challenge for every citizen to "pay any price , bear any burden , meet any hardship , support any friend , oppose any foe (Leebaert , Derek 2002 ,

.8 . Was the National Science Foundation budget increase from 100 ,000 (1951 ) to 100 million (1961 ) for Research and Development purposes part of the challenge ? If I am to ask , I would say that it was not in anyway a challenge but rather a warning for the Americans of the economic sacrifice they would have to experience in the name of the Cold War Leebaert stressed , This spigot would not have been even halfway so loose without the Cold War (Leebaert ,

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Meanwhile , it is important that we first take a closer look at the nature of the Cold War before going deeper into its effects to the American society . For some , the Cold War is just the fancy-pants name for what a free society would have called World War Three (Johnson Rod . In the eyes of others , it is equivalent to a nuclear war could never be won and therefore must never be fought (Allison , Graham 1987 . In my point of view , these men were all right for citing their honest and straight views of the Cold War in their own perspectives Anyway , the...