The Cold War was caused by many factors which each contributed to the
             uncertainty and instability of the situation between the America and the Soviet Union.
             While there were many important factors, only a few stand out as prominent causes of
             the conflict. First, the decision by America to drop the atomic bombs on Japan, which
             ended World War II, led to much mistrust between America and the Soviet Union.
             After dropping the atomic bombs, the Soviet Union was much more cautious in their
             dealings with America due to mistrust. Second, America's national security policy for
             planning post-war was a cause of great discomfort for the Soviets. Due to this, the
             Soviets were much more conscious of America's post-war planning in which Ameirca
             planned to regain their previous interests and possibly gain more. Ameirca's post-
             war planning and their use of the atomic bomb caused tension between them and a
             rising power, the Soviet Union. These two factors were crucial to assesing the
             American-Soviet Union rivalry in the post-war era.
             The first factor that is important to understand about the American-Soviet
             Union relations in the post-war era involves an incident that happened while America
             and the Soviet Union were allies during World War II. The American's decision to
             drop the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki not only effected the outcome
             of World War II, but it also effected the post-war time because of the magnitude of
             power the atomic bomb contained. The threat of nuclear was far outweighed the
             threat of any of weaponry or technology at the time. Well before 1945, American
             leaders had decided to treat enemy civilians as as leigitimate targets of areial warfare.
             There had been many instances of fire bombing in Japan during the war that resulted in
             many civilian casualties. Another reason for dropping the atomic bombs was the ability
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