Title: Cold War Influences on American Culture, Politics, and Economics | Shad's Blog
Headings: Cold War Influences on American Culture, Politics, and Economics
Cold War Influences on American Culture, Politics, and Economics
Content: In response, the Soviets felt obligated to increase their military spending and eventually went bankrupt trying to keep up with the Americans. To try and prevent collapse Soviet Premier Gorbachev attempted to reinvent his country’s brand of communism introducing reforms and openness known as perestroika and glasnost. A domino effect of these policies spread across Eastern Europe. Within six years the Soviet empire had disintegrated and the Cold War was over. The Cold War was an important influence on almost all aspects of American society. Cultural antagonism between the United States and Soviet Union had both positive and negative repercussions. Mutual fear between the two countries led to political confrontations; some of which nearly led to world war. Differing economic philosophies resulted in opposing claims of what freedom meant, and economic competition led to massive military spending by both countries. Because of its broad influence, the Cold War was the defining event of the second half of the 20 th century and impacted, to varying extents, almost all American foreign and domestic policy decisions.