Paradigm Shift After Cold War

A paradigm shift is a concept established by Thomas Kuhn, a philosopher and physician as a dramatic change in the basic beliefs of humankind. Some examples of paradigm shifts in history are the agricultural revolution and the industrial revolution, both which drastically changed the human notion of the world. Aside from the two listed above, there are also many other events and inventions that shifted the status quo. One of the most significant paradigm shifts in the twentieth century is the development of nuclear materials. Nuclear energy, beginning with nuclear weapons, has caused a shift in human beliefs that warranted a novel way of thinking befitting of the emerging nuclear era. The engineering of the first nuclear weapons started in the United States in WWII with the Manhattan Project. The introduction of this WMD dramatically changed human warfare by increasing the level of destruction proposed by a single weapon and introduced the concept of mutually assured destruction. States are now more cautious when entering into a conflict because of this newly presented …show more content…
First of all, the two nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States essentially ended the Second World War. It discontinued one of the greatest bloodsheds in human history giving way to the emerging American primacy. The following cold war stayed ‘cold’ because of the fear of mutual destruction between Washington and Moscow proposed by nuclear weapons. Also, the intense competition between the U.S. and Russia sparked many technological developments that would’ve taken years to accomplish without the incentive. Today, the use of nuclear power plants is slowly being taken up by many countries, changing the consummation of energy. It lessens coal burning, which brings humankind one step closer to clean energy and is much more efficient than any other powering