CHAPTER FIVE: The Origins and End of the Cold War

Using the Perspectives

In May of 2006, President George W. Bush delivered the commencement address for the graduating class of the United States Military Academy at West Point. The substance of his speech focused on the U.S. fight against terror and how it closely paralleled the earlier struggle against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He placed particular emphasis on America's commitment to the spread of democracy during this period.

"President Truman acted boldly to help transform old adversaries into democratic allies. In Asia, his administration led the effort to help Japan change from a nation that had launched a surprise attack on America into a thriving democracy and a steadfast ally. In Europe, he launched the Marshall Plan, an unprecedented effort to help Germany and other nations in Europe recover from war and establish strong democracies. The Marshall Plan cost about $100 billion in today's dollars, and it helped to save Western Europe from Soviet tyranny, and led to the emergence of democratic allies that remain indispensable to the cause of peace today."

1.  What perspectives do you see in this statement? Which do you think is dominant? Why?
     

But the United States did not limit itself merely to the promotion of democracy during the Cold War; it also actively engaged in military struggles across the world. President Bush recalled these efforts in his speech.

"President Truman transformed our alliances to deal with new dangers. After World War II, he led the effort to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the first peacetime alliance in American history. NATO served as a military bulwark against communist aggression, and helped give us a Europe that is now whole, free, and at peace.

"President Truman positioned U.S. forces to deal with new threats. Despite enormous pressure to bring our troops home after World War II, he kept American forces in Germany to deter Soviet aggression, and kept U.S. forces in Japan as a counterweight to communist China. Together with the deployment of U.S. forces to Korea, the military footprint Truman established on two continents has remained virtually unchanged to this day, and has served as the foundation for security in Europe and in the Pacific."

2.  How did President Truman deal with the threat of Soviet aggression, according to Bush? What perspective does this suggest?
     

Bush listed many differences between the Cold War and the current struggle against terrorism: Unlike the Soviet Union, terrorists operate in the shadows, are not contained by borders, and cannot be defeated by deterrence. But he pointed out that many similarities nevertheless exist between the two.

"Like the Cold War, we are fighting the followers of a murderous ideology that despises freedom, crushes all dissent, has territorial ambitions, and pursues totalitarian aims. Like the Cold War, our enemies are dismissive of free peoples, claiming that men and women who live in liberty are weak and lack the resolve to defend our way of life. Like the Cold War, our enemies believe that the innocent can be murdered to serve a political vision . . ."

3.  Which perspective best describes this statement? Why?
     

4.  After reading these three portions of Bush's speech, which perspective do you think best classifies his approach to the Cold War      and the War on Terror? Why?
     

The full text of the address can be found at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060527-1.html