Cold War Ethical Reflection

Reflection of the Cold War The Cold War, from 1945 to 1991, is one of the most important periods of time that has greatly influenced and shaped the modern world. It was not just a battle between two super powers, the USA and the Soviet Union, but also a clash of two really popular ideologies during that time. There was the American claim of fighting for freedom and democracy and the Soviet claims of fighting for the interests of the workers and the common people. Now in theory, these ideologies seemed ethical, but throughout this period, both countries’ actions severely opposed the ideologies they represented on numerous occasions. Some say it all came down to a competition of achieving the most power and influence and just using what they’re supposed to represent as a disguise to hide the true intention of their actions. Now this is partly true and in this reflection I will explain the cynicism caused by both superpowers and decide which one actually represented a greater evil. Let’s start with Soviet Union. They were communist and actually held true to these values inside their own country but did use brutal force to destroy anyone who opposed their totalitarian rule and this often led to many deaths. Even though life under Soviet Union had its ups and downs, it is the actions that they did in other countries which really gave them a negative image especially in the west, throughout most of the cold war. One of the first atrocious acts they committed was the Berlin Blockade which was an attempt to exercise their power over East Berlin. They blocked the country from receiving necessary supplies and instead of helping the workers and installing communism, they were oppressing them and this was a major event that deteriorated their image, and they even did this again with the construction of the Berlin Wall. The same thing happened in Czechoslovakia. Although they were supporting Communism in the country, they were not representing the interests of the