The Cold War

Orthodox historians often place the Cold War’s origins in Europe. By doing so they ignore the global origins as well as the issues surrounding whether or not the development of the Cold War was perpetuated by European events.

Global Issues Responsible for the Cold War

The Cold war was just short of an international armed conflict. It was defined by the policy makers and on subsequent interpretations it had important bearing. It developed because of global issues, not just European problems. By the 1960’s, the non-European areas became more important in the Cold War. Ideological elements that focused on competition in the socio-economic systems became a direct focus and concern of the policy makers.

After the WWII ended, the three biggest allied powers were unable to settle in to an agreement on the peace treaties, the global distribution of power, and the post-war era of international order. Many of these issues were directly related to the domination of questions over prestige and power. They can be traced back to the global nature of territorial disputes.

Certain Countries Overlooked

The Middle East, the Pacific, and Asia have not been rated in importance that they deserved over the increasing tensions. The original source of the conflict was Europe. It was the most important area for control because it offered the main source of manpower in military and the economic strength that was so vital. Western allies rejected the idea that the Soviets could dominate the eastern countries.

The new international order and the global power reflected the harsh power in Europe as it was overtaken by events of the periphery. This was after the Cold War became a clearly defined war in the ‘50’s. Later on the Cold War became more focused on soft powers and ideologies where events in the periphery became more important. The initial phase of the western containment when the west was using psychological warfare as well as political propaganda to fight more offensively in the Cold War. As the need to prevent the hot war progressed more destructive powers were revealed, such as the exploding of hydrogen bombs in the year 1953.

The center of the Cold War and the importance of the periphery was surrounded in the battle for hearts and minds. The struggle of non-European people to gain independence was connected to the ideological war over democracy or capitalism. All of this was crucial to the development of the Cold War.