The Effect of the End of the Cold War on U.S. Diplomatic Practices - Essay Example

The Effect of the End of the Cold War on U.S. Diplomatic Practices The battle against communism, which was the major drive of the United States during the cold war, had a major impact on the foreign policy of the United States. There was an arms race and nuclear proliferation, which led to a major confrontation between the United States and Former Soviet Union. However, the superpowers involved in the cold war did not resort to direct confrontation, but instead used the third-world countries. Overall, the Cold War was characterized by divisiveness and suspicion between the involved superpowers.

Each superpower aimed at drawing more nations into its own orbit. Nonetheless, the Cold War and end of Cold War has had a long-term influence on the modern world, and different aspects resulting from this continues to affect the foreign policy of the United States. The end of Cold War influenced the foreign policy of the United States in various ways. Some of this influence has resulted in problems that are persistent in the United States diplomacy. An example of the effect of end of Cold War is the formation of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

This was developed as a collective organ, which was opposed to the Former Soviet Union, as well as the spread of communism across the globe (Lindsay 210-1). Nonetheless, China and Russia today have evolved beyond communism. However, other countries such as Cuba and Bolivia still present greater challenges, which are hard to manage. Cameron (86) argues that after the Cold War, the United States has lacked a consensus on guiding principles for its foreign policy. This has led to different ethnic groups to pursue individual aims.

This has mainly been witnessed through their increased access to the Congress, their efforts in encouraging the legislature to be more active in foreign policy, as well as their great contributions to political campaigns (Cameron 87). Nonetheless, this was not the case during the Cold War, as during this period, the US foreign policy was highly influenced by the other superpowers, which were its rivals, mainly Russia. Therefore, the United States would establish ties with different countries, with an aim of gaining their support, and influencing them to detest the Former Soviet Union.

However, after the end of the Cold War, this basis for US foreign policy became obsolete (Moore and Lanoue 393). Therefore, the lack of a clear framework or basis for US foreign policy today has been detrimental to the country, as opportunists are taking advantage of this, to further their individual interests. Furthermore, the end of the Cold War has had an effect on the US foreign policy, and this is manifested in the present state of some of the smaller countries, which the US pulled into its orbit.

Overall, this has resulted in major foreign policy snarls today. During the Cold War, the United States had only one major interest in other smaller and third world countries. This was establishing ties with them, solely for the purpose of getting them into its orbit, and making them show no support for the Former Soviet Union. The United States did not focus on helping the governments of these countries to establish themselves and become functional. The United States, therefore sowed seeds of despotism (Chomsky 17).

This has consequently led to challenges on the side of the United States, in dealing with such governments, which it influenced during the Cold War. On the positive side, the end of Cold War led to the strengthening of the foreign policy of the United States, especially with some of the major countries that were in the circles of the Former Soviet Union. For instance, the United States continues to forge good relationships with China at both the economic and diplomatic levels. Additionally, the relationship between the United States and Russia has improved since the end of the Cold War.

The United States has come to learn the importance of positive ties with all nations, even those that it considers enemies (Ruland, Hanf, and Manske 184). In conclusion, when the Former Soviet Union collapsed, this marked the end of the Cold War. A major effect of the end of the Cold War on United States foreign policy is the fact that this led to the United States to lose its stance for foreign policy. This is because, the rhetoric and anti-communism held by the United States during the foreign war, mainly dictated its foreign policy.

Similarly, those countries that were allied to the United States also depended on this same stance on communism. Therefore, the foreign policy of the United States today can be considered to have lost important guiding principles. Nonetheless, the end of the Cold War was advantageous, as it somehow restored positive ties between the superpowers that were involved in the Cold War. Works Cited Cameron Fraser. “Us Foreign Policy After the Cold War: Global Hegemon Or Reluctant Sheriff?” New York: Routledge, 2006.

Chomsky Noam. “After the Cold War: U. S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East.” Cultural Critique, No. 19, The Economies of War (Autumn, 1991), pp. 14-31. Lindsay James, and Ripley Randall. “US Foreign Policy After The Cold War.” New York: University of Pittsburgh Pre, 1997. Ruland Jurgen, Hanf Theodor, and Manske Eva. “U.S. Foreign Policy Toward the Third World: A Post-Cold War Assessment.” New Jersey: M.E. Sharpe, 2006. Moore Will and Lanoue David. “Domestic Politics and US Foreign Policy: A Study of Cold War Conflict Behavior.

” The Journal of Politics, 65 (2): 376–396, 2003. Web.