Cold War Beyond Europe
Latin America, with a stated qualification
- Cold War competition extended to Latin America, where the United States supported non-Communist regimes that had varying levels of commitment to democracy.
- Varying levels of commitment to democracy is the CED being precise about a tension in the policy.
- 8.2's aims included limiting Communist influence; this sentence shows what that aim sometimes cost.
The United States supported non-Communist regimes with ____ levels of commitment to democracy.
The CED is precise about a tension in the policy.
A domestic debate about arms
- Americans debated the merits of a large nuclear arsenal and the military-industrial complex.
- Two subjects: the arsenal itself, and the military-industrial complex — an institution, not a weapon.
- 8.3 said containment had bipartisan support; this shows the debate moving to how it was maintained.
Select both subjects of the domestic arms debate.
One is a weapon, the other an institution.
Decolonisation created a third position
- Postwar decolonisation and the emergence of powerful nationalist movements in Africa and the Middle East led both sides in the Cold War to seek allies among new nations, many of which remained nonaligned.
- Many of which remained nonaligned — the CED refuses to sort the world into two camps.
- So a two-bloc account of the Cold War is incomplete by the CED's own description.
A regional policy, a domestic debate, or the third-camp problem?
Sort each element of the global Cold War.
'Many of which remained nonaligned' means a Cold War account with two camps is...
By the CED's own description.
"Many of which remained nonaligned" refuses a two-bloc world. Both sides sought allies among new nations precisely because those nations had a choice — so a Cold War account with only two camps is incomplete by the CED's own description.
Nonalignment gave new nations bargaining power because...
Both sides had to seek allies rather than divide territory.
Why nonalignment mattered
- A new nation with a choice can extract terms from both sides, and neither can assume its support.
- That is why both sides... seek allies rather than simply divide territory between them.
- So decolonisation changed the Cold War's shape, not merely its map.
Select both kinds of response the objective names.
Arsenal and allied regimes; courting nonaligned nations.
Military and diplomatic responses
- The objective is the various military and diplomatic responses to international developments over time.
- Military: a large nuclear arsenal, the complex that sustains it, and support for allied regimes.
- Diplomatic: courting nonaligned new nations, and choosing which regimes to support and on what terms.
A country that can plausibly go either way is worth more to both sides than one already committed. Its bargaining power comes from not deciding, which is a strategy rather than an absence of one.
Cold War competition extended to Latin America, where the United States supported non-Communist regimes that had varying levels of commitment to democracy. Americans debated the merits of a large nuclear arsenal and the military-industrial complex. Postwar decolonisation and the emergence of powerful nationalist movements in Africa and the Middle East led both sides in the Cold War to seek allies among new nations, many of which remained nonaligned.