April 25 - 29 - Blogs

Monday - Mr. Bruns' went over Cold War powerpoint. Notes are below.

Cold War
- US Goals for Cold War
  - Wanted to promote open markets for US goods to prevent another depression
  - Promote democracy throughout the world, especially in Asia and Africa
  - Stop the spread of communism
    - Policy of Containment
- USSR Goals for Cold War
  - Wanted to create greater security for itself
    - lost tens of millions of people in WW2 and Stalin's purges
    - feared a strong Germany
  - Established defensible borders
  - Encouraged friendly governments on its borders
  - Spread communism around the world
- Key Terms
  - Iron Curtain Speech
    - Winston Churchill
    - The Iron Curtain, (not a real curtain), would separate Free Europe and Communist Europe
  - Domino Theory (Effect)
    - Once one country falls to Communism the rest will follow
    - USSR started it
  - Policy of Containment
    - Contain communism
    - Stop the spread of communism
  - Truman Doctrine
    - 1947, the British were helping the Greek government fight against communist guerrillas
    - They appealed to America for aid and we responded with the Truman Doctrine
    - Greece received large amounts of arms and supplies, and by 1949 had defeated the communist
  - Marshall Plan
    - 1947, US Secretary of State Marshall announced the Marshall Plan
    - This was a massive economic aid plan for Europe to help it recover from the damage caused by the war
    - There were two motives
      - helping Europe to recover economically would provide markets for American goods, benefiting American industry
      - A prosperous Europe would be better able to resist the spread of communism
  - Brinkmanship
    - The United States has to be able to go to the brink of war and hope that USSR will back down
  - Massive Retaliation/Mutual Deterrence/Mutual Assured Destruction
    - MR - one side fires at the other, the other fires a massive assault
    - MD - neither country can use nuclear bombs, because they will be bombed back
    - MAD - Both countries are destroyed
  - NATO vs. Warsaw Pact
    - 1949 the Western nations formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to co-ordinate their defense against Russia
    - NATO was a defensive alliance
    - This was the first peacetime alliance in US History
    - Consisted of:
      - America
      - Canada
      - Britain
      - France
      - Holland
      - Belgium
      - Luxembourg
      - Portugal
      - Denmark
      - Norway
      - Italy
  - CIA vs. KGB
    - Central Intelligence Agency - 1947 - Present
    - Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti
      - Committee for State Security
      - 1954-1991
- Peaceful Co-Existence - After 1953
  - De-Stalinization
- Detente - 1970's
  - easing of tension between US and USSR
  - opened trading with China
- Perestroika and Glasnost - 1985
  - Perestroika: restructuring of the Soviet economy and political system
    - more democracy
    - Free elections
  - Glasnost: more openness of the Soviet government and for it's people
    - Free speech and press
- USSR's First Atomic Test - 1949
- Nuclear Powers
  - United States - 1945
  - Russia - 1949
  - United Kingdom - 1952
  - France - 1960
  - China - 1964
  - India - 1974
  - Pakistan - 1998
  - North Korea - 2006
  - Israel - ???
  - Iran - Developing?
- Nuclear Power Treaties/Organizations
  - Nuclear Test Ban Treaty - 1963
    - JFK signed treaty
    - only banned above ground testing
    - Underground nuclear testing began
  - Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty - 1968
    - Prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology
    - Promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy
    - Further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament
  - SALT I Treaty - 1972
    - froze the number of strategic ballistic missile launchers at existing levels
    - limited new submarine-launched ballistic missile
    - was signed but never ratified by Congress
      - due to Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979

The Ballistic Missile Defense System
- Program is designed to counter any nuclear missile attack on the US or allies
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban treaty - 1996
- signed by President Bill Clinton
- Not ratified by the Senate
  - "A ban on testing would damage the safety and reliability of America's existing nuclear arsenal, and it would be impossible to guarantee treaty compliance by all countries."
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)- 1957
INF Treaty - 1987
- Eliminated nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with intermediate range
START Treaties - Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty - 1991
- Largest and most complex arms control treaty in history
- Resulted in the removal of about 80% of all strategic nuclear weapons in existence
- The START 1 treaty expired in 2009
SORT - 2003
- Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty
- Between US and Russia
- Stockpile of both deployed and reserve nuclear weapons was to be cut in half by 2012
- The goal was achieved in 2007 for US
- Lasted from 2003-2011 when New Start took it's place
New START - 2011
- Signed by President Obama and former Russian President Medvedev
- The number of strategic nuclear missile launchers will be reduced by half
- A new inspection and verification system will be established
- Lasts until 2021
United Nations 1945-Present

Tuesday - I continued taking notes on Mr. Brun's powerpoint. Notes are above.

Wednesday - I continued taking ntoes on Mr. Brun's powerpoint. Notes are above.

Thursday - We had a work day today and we shared our outline with Mr. Bruns.

Friday - We had a work day.

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