Informative Essay: The Cold War

Mr. Norwood and fellow classmates, I will start out by reiterating the obvious: the Cold War usually refers to the showdown between the United States and the Soviet Union directly after World War II. However, the term “cold war” has nothing to do with a Soviet, Russian, or even communist adversary; instead, it implies that the participating nations are not actually at war but have a tense relationship and taunt each another (Cleveland, 2006, Section IV, para. 1). The Cold War consisted of many noteworthy events. For one, “the Marshall Plan…[which compensated] governments that promised to become or remain democracies” and the “policy of containment” (Schultz, 2015, The Policy of Containment section, para. 1; The Policy of Containment section, The Truman Doctrine and The Marshall Plan subsection) kept the war between the U.S. and the USSR “cold,” but they would eventually lead to side conflicts such as the Korean and Vietnam Wars (Schultz, 2015, Conflicts in Asia section, para. 1; Conflicts in Asia section, “Losing” China subsection, para. 1; The Korean War section, para. 1). Then there are the two stereotypical answers: the nuclear arms race and the Space Race (Schultz, 2015, A Cold War, Not A Hot One section, The Arms Race Begins subsection; From the Arms Race to the Space Race …show more content…
Even though it may not be as well recognized, this era also saw the growth of the CIA and its attempts to influence world politics (Schultz, 2015, A Cold War, Not A Hot One section, Covert Operations subsection,