COLD WAR NOSTALGIA
The impact of Cold War Policies and Politics on the current course of America's War on Terrorism1.Introduction: Exit Cold War, Enter War on TerrorThe State of the Union address by US President George W. Bush on January 19th, 2002, rang clear of America's unflinching dedication to the War on Terrorism. Beside the obvious rhetoric of unilateralism and the overt threat against the "axis of evil," the issue over the war's limitless scope remained and still remains unresolved. President Bush and his administration «as a very long and difficult struggle», however, have repeatedly articulated this new struggle against global terrorism. Admiral Michael Boyce, Chief of the British Defense Staff, was even more direct then the Bush administration in forecasting the length of the war: "[The War on Terrorism] may last 50 years." Cold war nostalgia immediately resurfaces inthe American consciousness, invoking the memory of the longest war in American history which consisted of not only proxy wars from 1945, but of economic, political and ideological confrontation until the final collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990. For most Americans, however, wars are fought in weeks or months and are recognized by clear geogra
5 percent-than at any time during the cold war. So, what makes these two conflicts stand out and at what point do they begin to loose their likeness? This paper will specifically focus on assessing the multifaceted issue of cold war and war on terrorism parallels. Unlike the situation in the cold war, there is little reason to think that any leg of the existing triad will be fundamentally threatened by adversarial capabilities in the foreseeable future, much less two of them at a time. Leninism, after all, was an antitheist movement, while fundamentalist Islam is theocratic. BothRussia and the United States maintain large and ready nuclear forces. During President Bush's campaign, the president pledged to reduce the amount of nuclear weapons held by the United States. Planned American expenditures of $451 billion annually are roughly double the entire German domestic budget!4. economy, defense spending would still reflect a smaller fraction of GDP-about 3. States can be defeated; individuals can be killed; but ideologies must be outlasted. Alternatively, there is no compelling reason why the nuclear triad-of ICBMs, SLBMs, and long-range bombers-absolutely must be retained into the future. Although, officially, the US military budget increase is justified by its necessity for the war against terrorism, it just as easily can be interpreted as an attempt to put pressure on Europe. Realignment I: Reshuffling the Global Deck of CardsDespite the Bush administration's noble motives, the risk of alienating and subsequently freezing our warm relations with "friendly" nation states is blatantly clear- particularly of recent. The new Bolsheviks similarly focus their political indictment on the leading capitalist nation, the United States, and the alleged imperialism of Israel. Even before the latest huge increases in its military spending, the US was financing around two-thirds of all NATO expenditures. This, however, is the midpoint where both enemies of America radically split in their ideology, military, and politics.
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