Explain and Illustrate the concept of “limited war” in the context of the cold war

Type :

Presentation

Pages :

6 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

01/15/2009

Category :

Political science

Sub category :

International relations

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Summary :

Introduction.
The classical strategy.
The USSR expansion.
The ultimate goal of limited war in the Cold War.
Limited war objectives.
1. Relevance of the Korean War.
2. Well defined objective.
3. The second characteristic of limited war.
4. The battle confined to a local geographical area.
Geography as a way to keep a war limited.
Conclusion.
Bibliography.

Abstract

After 1945, the parallel rises of US and USSR, emerged two superpowers in competition at all levels, fighting for hegemony on the post war world. Characterized by the possession of the nuclear weapon, obtained and used in 1945 by the United States and developed in USSR in 1949, this new conflict called the cold war, and ruled by the realist vision of international relations in which states are fighting for power through war and deterrence, generated a new sort of war: the limited war. Actually, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki underlined the fact that total war could no longer be possible. The development of "mass destruction weapons" destroyed the idea that war was a continuation of politics by other means(1) and forced the US to find another way to deter USSR than massive retaliation. Kissinger, in 1957, explained this obligation: "As the power of modern weapons grows, the threat of all-out war loses its credibility and therefore its political effectiveness. Our capacity for massive retaliation did not avert the Korean war, the loss of northern Indo-China, the Soviet-Egyptian arms deal, or the Suez crisis. A deterrent which one is afraid to implement when it is challenged ceases to be a deterrent."(2)The classical strategy wasn't working anymore; hence a new one had to be found to achieve the US objectives against the Soviet-Union. Indeed, the American strategy was characterized by what Osgood calls "the twin fears"(3) which necessitated a real action against communism.