Impact of WWII on Shaping U.S. Foreign Policy

This study will argue that, in terms of shaping United States foreign policy in the twentieth century, World War II was more influential than World War I, the Cold War, or the Vietnam War. The involvement of the United States in World War I was certainly a significant event in the history of the United States, but World War I simply did not have the lasting effect which World War II had in terms of uniting the destinies of the United States and Europe. The United States essentially adopted an isolationist attitude after World War I, and this isolationism intensified during the 1930s and the Depression years.

On the other hand, the Cold War and the Vietnam War were among the direct and indirect results of World War II. Both the Cold War and the Vietnam War would not have even come into existence had not World War II taken place and created the distrust and enmity which emerged between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II.

Stephen Ambrose, in Rise to Globalism, shows how the decision which led to the entrance of the United States into World War II was made and how it resulted in victory over tyrants and established the nation as one of the two superpowers in the world, along with the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, or perhaps inevitably, the two superpowers emerged from World War II as bitter foes in a Cold War which would last for more than four decades before the collapse of the Soviet Union brought it to an end.

The involvement of the United States in

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in associations which continue to this day in all spheres--political, diplomatic, cultural, economic, and military. Because of the united efforts of the Allies, the enemies (Germany, Italy and Japan) were defeated and the status of the United States globally was tremendously enhanced: In the spring of 1945 America had enormously more power, both absolutely and in relation to the rest of the world, than she had possessed in 1941. . . . America was the victor. Her decisions would go far toward shaping the postwar world. . . . In a world full of hatred, death, destruction, deception, and double-dealing, the United States at the end of World War II was almost universally regarded as the disinterested champion of justice, freedom, and democracy (Ambrose 34; 51). It is clear, then, that the decision to enter World War II was not only a successful one, it was a wise one which resulted in tremendous benefits for the world and for the country. It is also important to note that had the United States not entered the war, the nation would have been isolated in a world controlled by Germany, Japan and Italy. In order to literally survive as a nation, the United States had no choice but to enter the war. Unfortunately, negative results ca

Category: Government - I