The Cold War and the War on Terror

September 11th catalyzed a major revival in the American public’s concern for domestic national security, which had dropped off following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The attacks, which were the first on American soil since Pearl Harbor, prompted American leaders to respond with swift and ambitious military action. At this time, the public perceived security of American territory against “terrorism”–an intentionally broad and emotionally charged term– as its chief national interest. Following the attack, President Bush announced the launch of a “global war on terror”, an international effort to combat terrorist groups and the nations that harbor them–prompting him to establish the Department of Homeland Security later that year.

It has been ten years since the worst terrorist attack in the history of the United States. In the decade since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the U.S. has been entrenched in two ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Department of Homeland Security was founded, and Osama bin Laden, the alleged perpetrator of the attacks, has been killed. The Patriot Act and other legislation increased surveillance while decreasing our civil liberties. Here's a look at how the attacks and America's reaction to them still affect American lives today.

Terror and Change in America After the 9/11 Attacks It is indisputable that the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, changed America, and the entire globe, forever. Despite the fact that the United States of America has always been considered one of the strongest and safest nations in the world, Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda matrix managed to take over the skies using commercial jetliners as weapons of mass destruction, causing the nation to tremble in fear and terror for many years to follow. The attack prompted America to dramatically change its attitude about safety and protection in a manner that would have effects that that would change its relationship with the rest of the world.

Terrorism is one international political issue that has been significant in US society since the end of the Cold War. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, America’s sense of security has been destroyed and continued terrorist attacks in other parts of the world targeting Americans, as well as other allied nations further fuels a sense of anxiety. From Bin Laden, to Saddam Hussein and ISIS the fear of further terrorism attacks is

Hampson explains that the bloody attack on American servicemen was "…a seminal moment on a timeline that led to the 9/11 attacks, to the war the U.S. waged in Afghanistan" (Hampson, 2008). Moreover, Hampson notes that this attack drove the U.S. out of Lebanon but more than that, if led people like Osama bin Laden to "…conclude that when America gets its nose bloodied, it pulls back" (Hampson, p. 1). Previous to this attack the Cold War era was a time when the greatest enemy of the U.S. was Soviet communism; but following the attack, there were new and extremely dangerous enemies such as al Qaeda, Hezbollah, the Taliban and Iran, Hampson continues.

War. Humans have thrived from war for as long as we can remember. The United States has been fighting wars ever since we found the new country in North America that we now call the United States. We fought against our selves for the freedom of others. We fought in several world wars. We have always fought. But in the late 1940's “war” changed forever. This was well known as the Cold War. Why was this so different? “ The world had never experienced anything like it. The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States was a half century of military build-up, political maneuvering for international support (Hanes, Sharon M., and Richard C. Hanes).” This means that the world has always seen war as either hand to hand combat or gun to

Some may say that the Cold War and the War on Terror have many similarities, but they also have some differences too. Both wars have had a huge impact on American society and how we carry out our lives. During these wars, the two have swept the nation with a relentless distress. They are similar in the sense of how the wars have affected the generation during the time of each war, along with the fact that both wars have caused a mass fear of a specific threat against America during their time periods; but are different because of who is involved in the wars.

September 11th, 2001 was the beginning of a new fear, and a sense of Americans had to "watch their back". The attacks made US citizens more aware, but made the US look like it wasn’t as invincible as it was portrayed. Some of the short term effects that took place after 9/11 was the heart ache felt by all the families of almost three-thousand victims in the attack. It caused a complete shutdown of the American air space, stock markets closed down, and insurance companies, airlines and tourists sector showed longer periods of recession. In New York there was a short term oversupply of rental space and a reduction in hotel occupancy. There was a lot of discrimination and still is today against "Muslim-looking" travelers, and a huge increase of hate crimes after the events. Some of the long-term effects after 9/11 was an increase in people joining the military, the USA Patriot Act which came into effect October 26th, 2001. There was a huge increase in security which also involved allowing law enforcement agencies to search private data and the right for USA to detain and deport immigrants suspected of terrorists’ activities. In the book "9/11 In American Culture", professor of information studies Philip Agre says "The U.S. home front itself is as much of a theatre of

For almost 15 years the U.S. has been in a constant state of war. Various terrorist organizations, from al-Quade, to the Taliban, and now Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have maintained our focus so much so that we have almost forgotten about prior threats. Ten years prior to the start of the conflict in the Middle East, the Cold War had officially concluded, ending almost 45 years of server political and military tensions between the U.S. and Russian following WWII. During this period of time, Russia was the central focus of the U.S., although China and North Korea also posed a significant threat. While terrorist threats and activates remain a significant threat, Russia recent annexation of Crimea proves that they are still a very

The Cold War was a state of economic, diplomatic, and ideological discord among nations without armed conflict. The Cold War was between the United States and the USSR because these were the two major powers after WWII. Basically, the Cold War was a series of proxy wars that had taken place back in time involving surrounding countries. One of the main causes for Cold War was that the Soviet Union was spreading communism and the United States didn’t like that so they were trying to contain communism. However, in the end they failed. Many events took place in other countries. In Korea, Vietnam, Latin America, and China, communism took over; however, before it did, major wars had taken place. The cold war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union worsened the condition of countries involved. The Cold War broke countries into two parts that turned against each other, the United States and the Soviet Union used these countries to fight their war and caused a big disturbance to daily life, and the Communist States fought the Non-Communist States; however, the end results of these wars only caused more damage in these countries.

The Cold War, which is often dated from 1945 to 1989, was a constant state of political and military tension between powers in the West, dominated by the United States with NATO among its allies, and powers in the East, dominated by the Soviet Union along with the Warsaw Pact. The development of Nuclear Weapons and long range shooting missiles by the United States gave a lot of fear and caused mass destruction. The Cold War came about after World War II when America used their atomic bombs on Japan. America fearing of a communist attack, and Soviet Russia disliking capitalism. The Cold War described a world where the two major powers, each possessing nuclear weapons and threatened with equally assured destruction. The development of a Civil Defense policy in the United States promised citizens survival opportunities in the event of a nuclear attack. This lesson connects this 1950’s policy with today’s national policy regarding survival during a biological or chemical terrorist attack.

What is going on in the Middle East is very different as to what was happening during the Cold War even though there are some similarities. During the Cold War the goal for The United States was to stop the spread of communism. As The United States and the Soviet Union began competing for influences in the Middle East. President Truman agreed that communism must not spread from those nations that were already under Stalin’s sphere of influence to the rest of the world. ”(Trowbridge 2017) This is what the Soviet Union had planed a global communist takeover. However, The United States put in affect the Marshall Plan in order to stop the spread of communism. The Marshall Plan aided the European populations, after the Soviet Union put up the “Iron Curtain.” Today the goal for The United States is to stop the spread of terrorism in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, the United States President George W. Bush initiated the War on Terror. The United States government put into effect the U.S. Patriot Act. This act made it possible for The United States to detain a person who is thought to be part of the spread of terrorism.

Despite its name, the Cold War did not actually involve military fighting between the United States and the Soviet Union. However, the Cold War is still an excellent example as to why war can be a result of bargaining failures and explains reasons as to why war occurs. A single person’s rationality can tip the scale between war and peace. The Cold War was essentially a deadlock between the two super powers of that time, the United States and the Soviet Union. Both states expressed desire to maintain and widen their respective spheres of influence around the world. Both states also wanted to prove that their political system is superior; whereas the United States was pro-democracy, the Soviet Union was pro-communism. Although the Cold War was a result of many factor, war can definitely occur due to information problems between two states. Nonetheless, I do believe there is always a range of agreements that is possible between states, as is evidenced by the resolution of the Cuban missile crisis.

As tensions continued to augment profoundly throughout the latter half of the Cold War period, they brought forth a movement from a previous bipolar conflicting course, to one of a more multipolar nature. These tensions were now not only restricted to the Soviet Union and United states, but amongst multiple other nations of the globe. It became a general consensus that a notion of ‘peace’ was sought globally, hence, the emergence of détente. The nature of this idea in the short term conveyed itself to be an act of change for the conflicting nations, however, in the long term it proved to be a blatant continuity, ultimately acting as a ‘mechanism for domestic fortification’ which prompted a more divisive tone. It became apparent that by the prime 1970’s Cold War countries were now seeking a state of relaxation in political and international tension, détente, through measures of diplomacy and negotiation. Actions, influences and treaties such as the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, the establishment of SALT 1, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 and the Shanghai Communique of 1972 evidently help reinforce that the concept of détente brought a period focused on lessening the tensions of international relations and ultimately achieve political relation for the future of the Cold War, although the success and impact of this era is abhorred by many historians who have concluded that détente didn’t activate any positive changes to the cold war, and was conclusively a failure.

Ever since the beginning of the terrorist attacks on American soil, the War on Terror has been involved in the lives of Americans and nations near us. The War on Terror’s background originated through conflicts between warring countries in the Middle East; U.S. involvement started when a terrorist guided plane crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 in New York City. The attack was suspected to be the work of the middle-eastern terrorist group Al-Qaeda. The U.S. military, under the leadership of then commander-in-chief George W. Bush, declared a “War on Terror” on the terrorist group and the fighting began.