Реферат: The Rise Of The Super Power Essay

It might be asked why Roosevelt did not plot the fall of the British Empire as well.

A cynical answer to this is that Roosevelt understood that the United States was not

powerful enough to check the Soviet Union?s power in Europe by itself. It made sense

because the United States and Britain are cultural cousins, the most extensive solution

would be to continue the tradition of friendliness. As far as economic or military

competition, Roosevelt knew that if he could open the British Empire to free trade it

would not be able to effectively compete with the United States.

It is fair to say that Roosevelt had originally planned to have a system of three

superpowers. Those powers being, the U.S., the UK, and the USSR. After it was seen

that either the Germans or the Russians would dominate Eastern Europe, the plan was

forced to change. It shifted from one where the U.S. and Great Britain would keep order

in Europe, to one where Great Britain and Russia would keep order in Europe as local

superpowers. The U.S. would act as a world wide mediator.

Roosevelt also hoped for the creation of an Anglo-American-Russia world police

force. However, he underestimated the power of the Russian ideology. He believed that

the Russians would back away from communism for the sake of greater stability in the

West. Roosevelt saw the Soviet Union as a country like any other, regardless of its

preoccupation with security (Overy 216). Such as the safety corridor in Eastern Europe

that Stalin insisted on. Yet Roosevelt thought this could be explained by the cultural and

historical background of Russia.

It was not thought unreasonable to request a barrier of satellite states to provide a

sense of security, given that the Soviet Union had been invaded at least four times since

1904 (Ovyany 98). It was felt that granting the Soviet Union some territory in Eastern

and Central Europe would satisfy their political desires for territory. Yet after World War

II, Soviet expansion and their quest for acquiring territory seemed unlimited. Roosevelt

felt that the position in Eastern Europe, vis-?-vis the Soviet Union, was analogous to that

of Latin America, vis-?-vis the United States (Dukes 46). He saw that there should be

definite spheres of influence, as long as it was clear that the Soviet Union was not to

interfere with the governments of the affected nations. Author Tony Smith states ?the