According to Walter LaFeber, ôBetween 1989 and the end of 1992, the Cold War endedö (285). During this period the world witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union, the independence of nations in Eastern Europe and former states of the Soviet Union, the unification of Germany, and an expanded role in international affairs for the U.N. The end of the decades-long Cold War has a significant impact on U.S. foreign policy. As the worldÆs remaining superpower, increased hegemony for the U.S. increased its responsibility as an international peacekeeper and defender of democracy. As globalization based on U.S. democratic principles and neo-liberal economic reforms pervaded the globe, the U.S. became increasingly viewed by opponents of globalization as a powerful bully that used coercion and military might to achieve its aims. This analysis will explore how the impact of end of the Cold War has affected U.S. domestic and foreign policy and how they relate to the present War on Terrorism.
The end of the Cold War extinguished the last powerful ôevil empireö, as President Reagan once called the Soviet Union, as a threat to the U.S. and democracy. In the absence of a clear-cut enemy, U.S. military actions lost the justification that formerly won a consensus of congressional, public, and international support. Foreign policy that engaged in military conflict in the past, supplied policymakers with enough justification to win such broad support because of the existence of a clearly defined enemy and threat. As Engelhardt writes, about such broad support for military involvement in WWII, ôThe Japanese used ambush and treachery that pursued suicidal attacks. It was a clear case of us versus the other, with resonances that encompassed the dichotomies of good and evil illustrated throughout American historyö (246).
The end of the Cold War eliminated any such ôother,ö as the U.S. remained the worldÆs lone superpower. Domestic...