Реферат: The Rise Of The Super Power Essay

great European powers for a change in the world state system meant that either a massive

war would have to be fought; or that one of the great powers would need to attempt a leap

to superpower status (Dukes 101). One of two ways war could have been avoided was

for the United State or Russia to have taken powerful and vigorous action against

Germany in 1939. Robert A. Divine holds that ?superpowerdom gives a nation the

framework by which a nation is able to extend globally the reach of its power and

influence? (32). This can be seen as the ability to make other nations, especially in the

Third World, to act in ways that the superpower prefers, even if this is not in the weaker

nation?s self interest.

The question must be raised, were the United States and Russia superpowers even

then, could certain actions taken by them have had such significant ramifications for

international order? It must be concluded that, while they were not yet superpowers, they

certainly were great powers with an incredible amount of influence that accompanies such

status. Neither the U.S. nor the Soviet Union possessed the international framework

necessary to be a super power at this time. It is likely that frameworks similar to NATO

or the Warsaw Pact could have been developed, but such infrastructures would have been

on much a smaller scale (Smith 7). At this time, neither the U.S. nor Russia had

developed the overwhelming advantages that they possessed at the end of the war.

The United States did not become a superpower by accident. Roosevelt had a

definite European policy that was designed from the start to secure a leading role for the

United States. After the war, Roosevelt perceived that the way to dominate world affairs

was to reduce Europe?s international role. The creation of a permanent superpower

rivalry with Russia was seen as the safest way to ensure world stability. Regarding

Roosevelt?s policy, author Elena Aga-Rossi states, ?Roosevelt sought to reduce Europe?s

geopolitical role by ensuring the fragmentation of the continent into small, relatively

powerless, and ethnically homogenous states? (81). These goals are very similar to those

of Stalin. Roosevelt was certain that World War II would destroy continental Europe as a

military and economic force, removing Germany and France from the stage of world

powers (Aga-Rossi 82). This would leave the United States, Great Britain, and Russia as