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Threats to U.S. Interests and Responses

Threats to U.S. Interests and Responses

Currently, the three most serious threats to United States' interests are terrorism, organized crime, and environmental problems. At the outset of this paper, it should be noted that none of these threats are as serious as the threat of global nuclear warfare which existed during the Cold War. Absent a rival nuclear power on the same level as the Soviet Union, no foreign country or non-governmental organization has the power to inflict massive destruction upon the United States to the extent that the very survivability of American society would be in jeopardy. As will be discussed below, the threat posed by terrorists using nuclear weapons within the borders of the United States, while very serious, does not rise to the level of threatening the survival of the U.S. as a society.

The outright survival of the United States has rarely been threatened during its history, except during the last half of the Twentieth Century. During the last two decades of the Cold War (1970-1990), the Soviet Union possessed sufficient numbers of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles to destroy every large city in the United States and thereby effectively destroy American society. Thus, the United States faced a threat to its survival interest, making this its most important national interest (Nuechterlein, 1985, pp. 21-22).

With the demise of the Soviet Union, this threat was eliminated. Although Russia still possesses large numbers of nuclear weapons, it is not under the control of ideologues who are philosophically opposed to democracy and capitalism. Moreover, Russian leaders are preoccupied with the economic crisis which has engulfed that country and are also more concerned with the military threats posed by other former Soviet states than with any perceived conflict with the United States. Thus, the threat of nuclear war Russia and the United States is relatively low (Gati, 199...

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Threats to U.S. Interests and Responses. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 18:50, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1681605.html