CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: THE FIFTH SHIFT

In January 1991, nearly eleven months prior to the fall of the Soviet Union, the administration of Bush-41 unveiled a military operation within the context of what would become the Persian-Gulf War. The mission, dubbed “Operation Desert Storm,” aimed to curb Iraqi influence and expel the occupying forces which had invaded the nation of Kuwait …

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: TIDES OF CHANGE, THE REAGAN YEARS

In the years following the Nixon Administration, the underlying theme of detente carried itself through the presidencies of Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter respectively. Having served its purpose in the earlier part of the decade, the relaxation of tensions began to concern Americans at home. Many believed the policy had weakened American resolve and permitted …

CHAPTER TWELVE: PROXY WARS, PART I

Having understood the mindset and groundwork of US foreign policy, i.e. theories of containment and the implications of NSC-68, the attitude of the United States and its subsequent decisions towards challenges should come as no surprise. On June 25, 1950, following a series of border altercations on the thirty-eighth parallel and an ensuing invasion, war …

CHAPTER EIGHT: THE PATH TO POLARIZATION

In the history of United States foreign policymaking, the most tense and perhaps most consequential period came in the wake of the second world war. Following the invasion of Berlin in April 1945, Stalin and the Soviet Union proceeded to conquer much of Eastern Europe; along with a new dominant power came a dominating political …