U.S. And Russia May Be Headed Towards Cold War II
Kevin Felts 03.19.18
Is the Cold War even taught in school anymore? The question is asked because some of the readers may not know what the Cold War was.
Simply put, the Cold War was when Russia and the United States were having a stand off. Communism was expanding, and the United States joined various conflicts in an attempt to stop its spread. In essence, the Cold War was fought by proxy.
What does “by proxy” mean? It means the U.S. Government trained and supplied one side of the conflict, and Russia trained and supplied the other side of the conflict. The two sides fight it out, and Russia and the United States got to see how their training and weapons performed.
An example of this was the Soviet–Afghan War in the 1980s. Another example was the Iraq and Iran war. A more modern example is the Syrian civil war. Then there was Korean Conflict, Bay of Pigs and the Vietnam Conflict.
During the Cold War there was a constant threat of nuclear war between the United States and Russia. I remember my 1st grade teacher telling the class what to do if we saw a flash and mushroom cloud in the distance. This would had been around 1974.
Times were different during the Cold War. We lived under a constant threat of war. Our grandparents told us stories of rationing during World War II. Such as being able to buy certain foods using government issued food coupons.
Looking back to 1990, maybe we should ask if the Cold War ever stopped? Since 1990 the United States and Russia have fought numerous conflicts by proxy. There was Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. After the 9/11 attacks, the United States invaded and overthrew Saddam Hussein.
Cold War Phase II
From the mid-2000s until the 2016 elections, tensions between the United States and Russia seemed to stabilize. Then Russia was accused of meddling the the 2016 Presidential Election. Part of the meddling was through massive social engineering through social networking sites.
Recently other events have become known and or happened:
Blackout threat to Britain from Russian cyber-attack.
Spy chiefs have warned the bosses of Britain’s key power companies to boost their security amid fears of a Russian cyber-attack that could put the lights out.
The National Grid was put on alert last week by officials from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) — a branch of the signals intelligence agency GCHQ — and given advice on how to improve its defences to prevent power cuts.
In a first, U.S. blames Russia for cyber attacks on energy grid.
The Trump administration on Thursday blamed the Russian government for a campaign of cyber attacks stretching back at least two years that targeted the U.S. power grid, marking the first time the United States has publicly accused Moscow of hacking into American energy infrastructure.
Russia spy poisoning: 23 UK diplomats expelled from Moscow.
The Russian foreign ministry said the UK staff would be expelled from Moscow within a week in response to Britain’s decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats.
It also said it would close the British Council in Russia, which promotes cultural ties between the nations, and the British Consulate in St Petersburg.
In response to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, Britain expelled Russian Diplomats. In response to having their diplomats expelled, Russia expelled British diplomats.
Then there was the Ukraine conflict, Crimea, and sanctions against Russia.
After a decade and a half of reduced tensions between the United States and Russia, why are things escalating?
- Invasion of Crimea.
- Hacking of U.K. and U.S. power grids.
- Poisoning of Sergei Skripal.
- Influencing U.S. elections through social networking sites.
Maybe the Cold War never really stopped? We will have to wait and see if tensions continue to escalate.
