Download US Pathway to Power part 3

III. The Cold World: The United States
Disseminates its Power in a Bi-Polar
World (1945-1990)
How does the United States affirm its
domination over the West during the Cold
War?
The U.S. and the World post WWII
A. Leader of the Free World
1945-1960
•In the aftermath of WWII, the U.S. decides to
permanently turn the page on isolationism
•Assumes full responsibility for their position of power
•Aims to avoid a new world conflict like in 1917 and
1941
•From 1947 onwards, they become the leaders of the
West in the Cold War which sets them against the
USSR and its allies
The Vandenberg Resolution
• 1945, Senator Vandenberg publicly announces his conversion
from “isolationism” to “internationalism“
• 1947, at the start of the Cold War, Vandenberg cooperated
with the Truman administration in forging bipartisan support
for the Truman doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and NATO,
including presenting the critical Vandenberg resolution.
• The Vandenberg Resolution –
– landmark action that opened the way to the negotiation of the North
Atlantic Treaty.
– American action would have been stymied (=hindered) without the
Senate action endorsing an internationalist role for the United States
1. Total Commitment against Communism
• Defenders of liberty and democracy
• Commit to fighting communism all around the world but avoid
direct military confrontation with their adversary
• Application of Containment Policy
– Bilateral and multilateral agreements to encircle the USSR and to
prevent them from extending their communist influence.
Display of Military Strength
• NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
– Originally the US and 11 other members
– A threat to any NATO nation would involve all NATO nations
• Double land and sea military bases
• Berlin airlift (1948-1949)
• Korean War (1950-1953)
Creation of the NSC and CIA
• National Security Act of 1947 creates the
Department of Defense
– Pentagon is built
– National Security Council is created to advise the
President
• NSC–68 allowed for the President to
quadruple military spending
– Peacetime draft is created
• CIA Central Intelligence Agency created
CIA
• Three major tasks:
– 1. To coordinate the information gathering activities of
all State, Defense, & other federal agencies involved in
the areas of foreign affairs & national defense.
– 2. To analyze & evaluate all intelligence collected by
those agencies.
– 3. To brief the President & NSC.
• CIA conducts worldwide intelligence operations.
• Espionage—Spying
• Much of work in secret---budget is disguised.
NATO
• Created in 1949
• A defensive alliance to
protect from Soviet
aggression
– An attack on one is an
attack on all
– Warsaw pack is the
Soviet response
• US gets entangled in a
foreign alliance
• US hegemony by
consensus
Video: Empire – what & where is NATO
Berlin Airlift 1948-1949
• Berlin Blockade---Split of Berlin into four sectors
(Soviet, U.S., British, French.)
• 1948, Soviets tried to force the other nations
out, with a land blockade.
• U.S. airlift for 1 ½ years.
Korean War 1950
– US foreign policy change: from containment to
roll back
– South Korea(non-communist) attacked by North
Korea (communist)
– War lasted three years, but peace terms never agreed
upon.
– U.S./South Korea (UN) vs. North Korea/China
– After much back and forth manoeuvers, border
remained the same as beginning of war: 38th parallel
2. Economic and Financial Hegemony
• U.S. by far the leading economic world power
– Industrially
• Produced 43% of world steel & 65% automobiles in 1955
– Commercially
• U.S. Merchant fleets represent 2/3 of world tonnage
– Financially
• U.S. foreign investment from $6 B in 1946 to $30 B in 1959
• Bretton Woods establishes the supremacy of the dollar
• Dominant U.S. position in new international monetary institutions
– IMF + World Bank
• GATT agreements 1947, based on free trade principles favor
dominant economy of the U.S.
Truman Doctrine
• Greece & Turkey are on verge of collapse to communism
and Truman is forced to make a momentous decision
• Truman Doctrine
– Policy of containment is introduced (Keenan)
– Communism is evil and it must not be allowed to
spread
– US provided $400 million of economic and military
aid to Greece and Turkey
• 1947, Truman requested a massive program of economic
& military aid to Europe
Marshall Plan
– Billions of dollars given to European nations
• Help them rebuild and survive
• Help keep communism isolated
• Aid given to Ally and Axis nations
• Develop potential markets for US products in
Europe
– Enables the U.S. to monitor the economic policy
of its allies and to consolidate the cohesion of the
West
In millions of dollars
Distribution
of Marshall
Plan Aid
United Kingdom
France
Italy
West Germany
The Netherlands
Belgium & Luxemburg
Greece
Denmark
Norway
Turkey
Others
TOTAL
2,826
2,445
1,316
1,297
877
561
547
257
237
153
749
11,780
Marshall
Plan Aid to
Europe
1948-1952
B. A Time of Uncertainty
(1960-1980)
1. Rivaled Supremacy
USSR challenged US leadership in certain fields
– set off a nuclear bomb in 1949
– developed the hydrogen bomb first
– caught up in the arms race
– established principle of MAD (mutually assured
destruction)
– Surpassed the U.S. in nuclear weapons in 70’s
– Space race
• 1st to send satellite into orbit 1957 - Sputnik
Vietnam War (1964-1973)
• Defeat of Containment policy
• Disastrous consequences for image of U.S.
• Despite military power, unable to stop
progression of communism in SE Asia
• Violence committed and covered in the media
provoked massive dissension within the U.S.
2. Contested Domination
• Western Bloc broke up in the 1960’s
– France under de Gaulle contested U.S. hegemony
• France left military section of NATO 1966
– Latin America
•
•
•
•
Economic and political control by Washington disputed
1960 Castro led Communist revolution in Cuba
1965 Dominican Republic U.S. military intervention
1973 U.S. planned coup against Allende in Chile, supported
Pinochet
• U.S. supported coups d’états, extreme right dictators, military
intervention
• Video: CIA Guatemala
C. U.S. Victors of the Cold War
(1980-90)
1. Strategic and Diplomatic Victory
• Reagan’s administration – return of offensive policy
– Fight the “Empire of Evil”
– Military spending increased
– SDI relaunches arms race
• Knowing USSR doesn’t have economic or technological means
to compete
– Goal to fight communism from within - Rollback
• Arrival of Mikhaël Gorbachev alters the scenario
– Recognizes need to reform Soviet system and
negotiate with the U.S.
– Nuclear Disarmament
•
•
•
•
•
•
Washington accords 1987
SALT accords 1991
Fall of Communist regimes in Eastern Europe 1989-90
Reunification of Germany 1990
Break-up of Soviet Union 1991
U.S. peaceful victory of the Cold War – rival collapses
2. Ideological Victory
– Values of U.S. – liberal economy triumphs in
1980’s
– Capitalism reaches Eastern Europe & China
(even prior to political reform)
– Democracy progresses in Latin America, SE
Asia and South Africa
U.S. Power at its Apogee –
uncontested and universal
• U.S. continues to preserve its interests
• Supports non-democratic regimes if necessary
• Middle East
• Egypt
• Oil Monarchies of Arab Peninsula
The Middle East
• The U.S. in Iran 1953
–Coup d’état orchestrated by the U.S. and the
UK
–CIA published a false report to spark the
coup
–Prime Minister overthrown
• Attempted to reduce power of the Shah –
instate democracy
• Nationalize Iranian oil industry (owned by
Anglo-Iranian company)
Reading Assignments Part 3
Mastering Modern World History by Norman Lowe (2 pages)
• Part 1 War and International Relations (read last year)
• 8. The Spread of Communism outside Europe and its effects on international relations,
pp. 142-168
• Part IV The United States of America
• 23.4 Nixon and Watergate; Foreign Policy, p. 496. Jimmy Carter, pp. 497. Reagan and
foreign policy problems, pp. 499
The Unfinished Nation by Alan Brinkley
• Chapter 31: the ordeal of liberalism (6 pages)
•
Flexible Response and the Cold War, pp. 824-827
•
The Agony of Vietnam, pp. 827-830
• Chapter 32: The Crisis of Authority (5 pages)
•
Nixon, Kissinger, and the War, pp. 860-865
• Chapter 33: From the Age of Limits to the Age of Reagan (6 pages)
•
Human Rights and National Interests, pp. 882-883
•
The Year of the Hostages, pp. 883-884
•
Reagan and the World, pp. 895-896
•
The Bush Presidency & the Gulf War, pp. 901-904
The Cold War and U.S. Foreign Policy, by Howard Zinn (3 pages)