Why Did The Cold War Start

The Cold War was a conflict between the west lead United States of America and the communist block lead by the former Soviet Union. It lasted almost 4 decades and a half from
1945-1991- the collapse of USSR. It was fought in neutral areas, space, Africa and Asia. It was fought in all manners including: an economic war, media and propaganda, diplomatic struggles and military conflicts. Prior to the Second World there were economic, political, and ideological differences that were put aside so that the two blocks take part in WW2.
These reasons were magnified after WW2 ended because there were no longer common interests. Though the cold war has finally ended, it had a great impact on the world. Today, there are many unresolved issues
that are greatly similar to the cold war, one of which is the
Lebanese crisis; though Lebanon is considered as part of the Third World. The conflict in
Lebanon is between the mosaic religious sects and their foreign allies with the Israeli and
Arab elements in the back ground.
The reasons leading to this conflict are the interests of the different allies, the ideological differences, and militarism. (Islam for today)
The first and basically far most important reason is the ideological conflict. Lebanon's population is geographically divided. The south is mostly populated by the Shia sect and the north is populated by Sunnis, the Minorities, the Druz and others (Wikipedia). The Shia is one of the two main sects of Islam alongside the Sunni. The Shi'a believes that the successor after Muhammad's death should have been Ali and the Sunni's believe that the 4 caliphs chosen were the right selection. In Lebanon this is a main issue because each sect is after the power to rule the country in order to enforce their own laws on their dominated region (Islam for today). Militias of different religious and political groups armed by regional powers fought in a bitter civil war that lasted twenty years between 1975 and 1995. The aftermath of the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon in March 1978, the Shia formed a strong militia that fought against the Israelis. This militia was backed and funded by the new regime
that succeeded the Shah in Iran. Syria is part of this alliance (Wikipedia).
Alliances are mainly formed because there is an area of common interest or ground. In the case of Lebanon, Qatar, Iran, and Syria allied with Hizbollah the common ground is the Shia;
Saudi Arabia, Jordan, other Gulf states and USA stood behind the Sunnis, the base of their common interest is religious ground and power factor. Some politicians believe that
Qatar and Jordan are nonaligned nations. Alliances are also formed because of common enemies which are Sunni vs. Shia - Shia being the enemy- and Shia vs. Sunni - Sunni being the enemy (NY Times). This was crystal clear during the first Iraqi-Iranian war, but it was reversed when Iraq invaded Kuwait. The alliance of USA with other thirty three nations fought against Iraq in 1990. The Desert Storm ended in defeating Iraq and the liberation of
Kuwait. Oil and energy sources where the main interests that formed this alliance in contrast with the sectarian factor (history guy).
The third reason is militarism. The Shia has its own militia that is heavily armed. Once the
Hizbollah party follows through a plan, they are acting on behalf of the country; yet, not supported by the government. On July 12th 2006, the war between Hizbollah and Israel broke out and ended by a UN brokered cease fire that was put into effect on 14th August 2006. This
34- day war brought the Lebanese forces and the UN peacekeepers to station in southern
Lebanon, yet their affect was minimal (Middle East news/about.com). After this war,
Lebanese ideological differences (religion) escalated and are still to date a fragile, ongoing, unresolved issue. (NY Times)
The Cold War was caused by many reasons that included economic, ideological, and political differences. This war was unorthodox in the sense that it wasn't fought the conventional way, but by proxy. The means used were propaganda, economic and regional conflicts and hostilities. Guerrilla wars in different parts of Africa and Asia were key elements in the cold war. There were arms race and space race. This war was mainly based on ideological differences and soon escalated to a range of causes (Wikipedia). Today many unresolved issues follow the policies and traditions set by the Cold war. Lebanon's different religious and political sects are a perfect example of an unresolved issue that has emerged from its consequences. Though they are not at war, each side is always willing to go to war
(brinkmanship). (NY Times)
Citation:
- Worth, Robert F., and Nada Bakri. "Sunni-Shiite Tensions out in the Open in Lebanon." NY
Times Advertisement. NY Times, 18 May 2008. Web. 21 Oct. 2010.
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- Ameen, Hussain A. "The Origins of the Sunni/Shia Split in Islam." Islam For Today. Web.
21 Oct. 2010. .
- "Israel-Lebanon/Hezbollah War (2006)." The History Guy: A Resource for History,
Military History, Politics, and Biography. Web. 21 Oct. 2010.
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- Tristam, Pierre. "The 2006 Lebanon War: Israel and Hezbollah Square Off." Middle East
News and Issues from About.com. Web. 21 Oct. 2010.
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- "2006 Lebanon War." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 08 Nov. 2010.
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