Europe after the Cold War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Europe after the Cold War - Essay Example After the Soviet Union disintegrated, the post-Cold War world broadly seems as unipolar and the US remains the only remaining superpower. The Cold War was instrumental in defining the political rule of numerous states including the US after the WW2, and as of 1989, the US had military alliances with more than fifty states while having almost one and a half million troops deployed abroad in more than one hundred nations. The cold war was also integral in institutionalizing a worldwide commitment to large, lasting peacetime military and industrial complexes along with large-scale funding for science by militaries. Â  The occurrences of 1989 along with the fall of the Berlin wall demonstrated in the short term to be enormously undermining as they resulted in the disintegration of the Soviet Union, a United Germany as well as an expanded NATO while unleashing volatile forces, although the instability was not permanent (Engel, 2009). The European continent after the Cold War has demonstrated to be comparatively stable; nonetheless, judgments have to be reserved as the ramifications of these events continue to be felt. For instance, the current crisis in the Eurozone is directly connected to the greater integration of the EU, which can be attributed to the fall of the Berlin wall. The Cold War period provided a certain level of stability for governments in the European continent, as they were aware of their status quo and the sides they supported. Boundaries and conflicts had clear definitions with the key to making the system stable being a lack of interest in changing the status quo on both sid es. Â  It may also be contended that this status quo was not sustainable with the communist bloc directing huge amounts of money to the purchase of arms while daily lives behind the Iron Curtain were being marked by a high degree of hardship.