The USA has always played a major role in foreign affairs but that role has changed throughout the course of history. Before 1962 America's main aim was to stop the spread of communism through the tactic of containment. Russia was the USA's biggest threat and for years they fought a Cold War with the other superpower country. From 1945 to 1962 America used war through other countries to attack communism.
This way the USA and the Soviet Union weren't fighting directly.An organisation containing western powers was set up. They agreed to work together and oppose communist Russia. They called this pact NATO. In 1950 another confrontation between the USA and communism occurred called the Korean War. After the Second World War the North of Korea had been freed by the Communist Soviets and the South by the Capitalist USA.
The North attempted to invade the South and another war broke out between the two beliefs. The peak of the cold war was in Autumn of 1962 when the Cuban Missile crisis occurred. It's the closest that the world has ever come to total destruction.In 1969 the Communism North of Vietnam, aided by China, began to spread to the Capitalist South and America went back to war. Many American citizens didn't agree with the invasion and after four years and USA eventually withdrew on the orders of President Nixon. Containment had failed both militarily and politically and communism had now gained support from other countries who disapproved of America's use of chemical weapons in Vietnam.
The USA realised that they had to allow communism to exist and in 1972 talks were held between President Nixon (USA) and Brezhnev (soviet leader) agreeing to limit their nuclear weapons. SALT 1 (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) was formed and signed by both Superpowers. This relaxation in tention between communism and capitalism was called detente. SALT 2 was another negotiation in 1979 agreeing reduction in arms but was not completed because of the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan.After the involvememnt in Afghanistan Russia came under new power. In 1989 the USSR held free elections and the communists lost control of the government.
All of the Easten communist dictatorships also fell. By 1990 Germany had united and much of eastern Europe had turned to Capitalism. Even the USSR had split up into separate states. The world had changed and the USA had to rethink its attitude towards Russia and find a new role in the changing world.
Today America is the world's policeman. USA possesses military strength which no other nation has. America is the last superpower. Also the USA largely determines NATO policy as operations are impossible without US forces. President Bush intends to start a programme to develop s shield of satellite weapons and missiles around the USA to destroy any foreign missiles before they can land. This was called "Son of Star Wars." China and Russia object to the militarisation of space and do not want to match the US spending on missile defence.
