The Cold War was an extended conflict between the western states, which were led by the United States, and the communist states that were led by the Soviet Union. The Cold War lasted forty-five years from 1945 to 1990. The Cold war had economical, political, and ideological dimensions. The Cold War started in Europe when the Soviet Union extended its control into Eastern Europe. The Cold war extended into Asia with the North Korean invasion of South Korea.
             The United States and its allies then built a worldwide system of military pacts to contain communism during the Eisenhower administration called the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization. The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization was formed in 1954. The United States and the Soviet Union never had military action against each other, but they were caught up in major political crises that had the potential to become open warfare. After the mid 1970's the crises declined severely. Both the United States and the Soviet Union each were involved in combat operations to keep smaller states within their camp or the prevent them from falling into the other side's camp, although they never engaged each other militarily.
             To prevent a communist government from coming to power, in 1965 the United States assisted the overthrow of a leftist government in Guatemala. The United States invaded Grenada in 1983 to displace a Marxis regime. The United States fought two major wars against communist forces. One was the war in Vietnam, which failed to prevent North Vietnam from bringing South Vietnam under communist rule. The other war was in Korea, which resisted and invasion of South Korea by North Korea.
             During the Brexhnev-Nixion year, "détente" Prevailed, leading to several important agreements and a series of Soviet and American meetings. SALT 1, which outlawed nationwide antiballistic missile defenses and established a five-year morator
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