American Domestic Policy In The Cold War Analysis
Painting the Picture
The role of American domestic policy in the Cold War
When the Cold War was brought into an election, naturally it was discussed in terms of America. Sometimes foreign policy issues were decisive factors in the outcome of the vote, showing their relevance in American lives. Even so, this did not always mean these issues directly related to the rest of the world. The quoted interpretation is strong in its recognition of the America-centric view in translating domestic policy into foreign policy. However, this does not mean America had an inaccurate perception of the Cold War. On the contrary, the Cold War ultimately was defined by the United States’ perspective on the war, and more specifically, the issues on which its …show more content…
The United States only got involved in Cold War events when domestic policies called for it. After two Red Scares in the 20th century, Americans were understandably still terrified of communism. Popular opinion supported the domino theory, which states that one country bowing to communism will cause the ideology to spread until it takes over the entire world. This need for containment motivated most interventions. The CIA tried to overthrow any leader viewed as a potential communist. In 1960 they assisted a coup against Congo’s first elected Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba. Because he turned to Moscow for help with his divided country, the West assumed he was secretly communist. They dismissed Lumumba and put the pro-West Mobutu in power. Mobutu was authoritarian and greedy, but America was more comfortable with him in power than a communist. The United States was only preoccupied with its own pro-capitalist interests and refused to allow Moscow any more supporters, no matter the cost to each country …show more content…
The Cold War was dominated by American and Soviet tensions. Each power’s actions influenced the response of the other. Therefore, the focus of America often became the focus of the Cold War in general. Specifically, the Cold War was not concentrated on countries that were threatened with communism, but on America’s fight against them. There are events America was uninvolved in that were still part of the Cold War, such as the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, but they were still influenced by US policy. In Hungary, America’s decision not to step in led to the revolt’s suppression. Therefore, the interpretation is mistaken on an important point. In truth, the actual realities of the Cold War were based on political decisions in
The role of American domestic policy in the Cold War
When the Cold War was brought into an election, naturally it was discussed in terms of America. Sometimes foreign policy issues were decisive factors in the outcome of the vote, showing their relevance in American lives. Even so, this did not always mean these issues directly related to the rest of the world. The quoted interpretation is strong in its recognition of the America-centric view in translating domestic policy into foreign policy. However, this does not mean America had an inaccurate perception of the Cold War. On the contrary, the Cold War ultimately was defined by the United States’ perspective on the war, and more specifically, the issues on which its …show more content…
The United States only got involved in Cold War events when domestic policies called for it. After two Red Scares in the 20th century, Americans were understandably still terrified of communism. Popular opinion supported the domino theory, which states that one country bowing to communism will cause the ideology to spread until it takes over the entire world. This need for containment motivated most interventions. The CIA tried to overthrow any leader viewed as a potential communist. In 1960 they assisted a coup against Congo’s first elected Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba. Because he turned to Moscow for help with his divided country, the West assumed he was secretly communist. They dismissed Lumumba and put the pro-West Mobutu in power. Mobutu was authoritarian and greedy, but America was more comfortable with him in power than a communist. The United States was only preoccupied with its own pro-capitalist interests and refused to allow Moscow any more supporters, no matter the cost to each country …show more content…
The Cold War was dominated by American and Soviet tensions. Each power’s actions influenced the response of the other. Therefore, the focus of America often became the focus of the Cold War in general. Specifically, the Cold War was not concentrated on countries that were threatened with communism, but on America’s fight against them. There are events America was uninvolved in that were still part of the Cold War, such as the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, but they were still influenced by US policy. In Hungary, America’s decision not to step in led to the revolt’s suppression. Therefore, the interpretation is mistaken on an important point. In truth, the actual realities of the Cold War were based on political decisions in