The Cold War and Missile Defense

Abstract

The Cold War (1945--1991) was a nontraditional conflict between two conflicting ideologies---communism and democracy. The Soviet bloc countries (USSR) were pitted against the US-led Western powers. Rather than manifesting as a traditional conflict waged through extensive use of weapons, the Cold War was conducted using propaganda, political hostility, and threats. America's free-market capitalism was used as a powerful positive force against communism, a form of socialism. Most importantly, the two superpowers leading the charge both possessed weapons of mass destruction. Many major crises occurred during the Cold War decades, a few bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war.