The Positive Aspects of the Cold War: 1946 - 1991 Describes the positive aspects and outcomes of the cold war, and how it helped to create a stable world economy and political structure.

Although the Cold War had many negative influences on global society, it also helped to create a stable political world, as evidenced by the fact that during the Cold War era, civil wars, nationalistic uprisings, and ethnic cleansings were almost non-existent. As well, the world economic situation was subsequently greatly improved by the military build-up caused by the Cold War. The implementation of the American "Marshall Plan" and the Communist "Molotov Plan", the nuclear arms race, and the global military build-up all served to create global political stability and economic prosperity.

The "Marshall Plan" created by United States Secretary of State George Marshall and the "Molotov Plan" created by Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov were both designed to increase their respective country's "spheres of influence". Both plans called for the creation of alliances, treaties, and pacts with as many other countries as possible in order to weaken the enemy's political strength on the world stage.

Fidel Castro becomes the leader of Cuba as a resul...

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U.S. reconnaissance photograph of soviet missile s...

In order to do this, both the United States and the Soviet Union provided large amounts of financial aid and weapons, and signed bi-lateral trade agreements with countries and/or ethnic groups with whom which they wanted to be allied. They also provided funding to revolutionaries in other countries that were not in their sphere of influence. For example, in the Vietnam War, which was a war of the communist North against the democratic South, the North Vietnamese armies were mostly trained and equipped with weapons by the Soviet Union because North Vietnam was governed by a Communist dictatorship loyal to the U.S.S.R. The United States, on the other hand, started out sending 800 military advisors to help the South Vietnamese, whose government was led by Ngo Dinh Diem , an anti-communist and willing servant of American policies. But gradually, the Americans became more and more...