The causes of the Cold War were the precursors which led to the start of the competition in technological advances. The reasons for the Cold War were mainly the simple fact that both sides in the war had different political systems. The U.S was represented by capitalism while the Soviet Union was represented by communism. The two sides followed political systems that in theory, oppose to each other.
             The U.S. and Russia had been in a long-term race to be the most technologically advanced country. After the United States had developed and tested the atomic bomb, they dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima; Russia had seen the devastating power and destruction that it wreaked on Hiroshima. From that point on, Russia spent a great deal of their time trying to copy what U.S. had done. The Soviets knew that they had to come up with a weapon that was equivalent to the atomic bomb that the U.S. had created. If they didn't come up with a weapon that powerful, they couldn't be one of the main powers or wouldn't be able to threaten anyone with nuclear warfare.
             Russia's expansion into the eastern part of Europe and their broken election promises scared the United States. We were afraid with every expansion; it was another step for world communism. After the Truman Doctrine, it was that much clearer about how the United States stood upon communism.
             The Cold War was also a factor in the situation in the Middle East. Both the US and Europe offered Egypt aide to help build the Aswan High Damn, but after Egypt bought weapons from communist Czechoslovakia, the US cancelled its offer.
             Russia and the US continued to compete with each other for influences in countries rich in resources.
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