What parallels can you identify between the Cold War and War on Terror?

Question

What success or failures are being repeated? Can we compare today to the McCarthy Era? Is this a ideological battle, a struggle for economic influence, or both? Is Christianity be exploited by the ruling elite or is this a worthy crusade? Any thoughts would be of interest.

Answer 1

I actually just answered this question for a history final. As far as parallels, US policy dealing with both is relatively similar in that both are/were lead by knee-jerk reactionism. In the Cold War, the US had a relatively strict containment policy but that simply meant that anyone who was aligned with Russia we were opposed to. This type of diplomacy got us involved in many things we shouldn't have been involved in and allied us with many people we shouldn't have been aligned with. For instance, our strict opposition to Russia during their invasion of Afghanistan led the US to support (financially and politically) the Mujahadeen. The Mujahadeen evolved into the Taliban which then turned around and attacked the United States. So mistake wise...America should learn that supporting radical fundamentalist groups to further our own agenda is NEVER going to work because in the end, they'll come back to bite us in the ****...

The Cold War was expected, especially after the Russian Revolution and the end of WWII during which time we couldn't agree on how to handle the reconstruction of Germany. The War on Terror, however, was not expected even though it should have been. The west pretty much ignored the Middle East because we were preoccupied with the Cold War and serving our own interests. But the warning signs were there...

A major difference between the two that people sometimes overlook is our opponents. In the Cold War, it was between two diabolically opposed economic systems (US capitalism and Russian communism). The War on Terror, however, has become a war of idealogy. And, unfortunately, some Americans (like the president) have used the world "crusade" to describe the war on terror. A government should never be involved in a crusade, because crusades are about reclaiming land in the name of religion (at least in their basic historical definition). That creates fundamental problems between the two opposing sides.

I think society today could easily fall into a McCarthyistic Era, but I also think the people of today are slightly less fear driven than during the Cold War. During the Cold War, the West was terrified of the Soviet Union, in large part because of the strong propaganda being distributed, and it was a justifiable (for the most part) fear, but thanks to mutually assured destruction, neither side struck first. Today, for whatever reason, the average American person does not fear that he or she will be directly harmed by terrorists.

Not sure if I gave any useful information regarding your question, but those are just some of my thoughts on the matter.

Answer 2

This is both a religious war and an ideological one. There is no parallels between the war on "error" and the one fought with the Soviets during the Cold War. The sad fact is, is that we have been going about this "conflict" all wrong. Terrorism can't be defeated militarily. Only sociologically and economically. Politically, nothing gets done. Just more of the same fear rhetoric.

Answer 3

I think the only parallel is the need for the arms companies to increase their profits.
Apart from that I think the better parallel is between the War on Terror and the War on Drugs.
Both rely on the hypocrisy of the participants and are not winnable by the normal processes of war but will only be overcome by addressing the genuine underlying issues which are injustice and poverty.

Answer 4

In both cases America has made so many mistakes, that it is not worth even counting... stupid yankees racists

Answer 5

fear is the common strain through out each issue