The Cold War was a rivalry between the USSR and the United States that developed globally. It was an era that lasted from 1945 to 1990. The Cold War gave America a lot in terms of spy novels, arms races, space races, anti-communist films, etc. After World War II, there were only two nations left with any sort of power left, the Soviet Union and the United States. The United States still had concerns because it wanted to create a strong, free-market-oriented Europe that was capitalist. During and after the Second World War there were signs of mistrust between Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States. The Soviets' idea was to create a communist buffer between themselves and Germany, but the United States saw it differently and it seemed that communism would continue to expand. In the spring of 1945 the Soviets began installing compliant governments in the eastern parts of Europe, thus violating the promises of democratic elections made at the Yalta Conference. On May 12, 1945, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent a telegram to President Truman stating, “What will happen to Europe? An iron curtain has fallen on the front. We don't know what's going on behind it.” There was not much the Western powers could have done to prevent the Soviets from taking control of Eastern Europe. By early 1947, relations with the Soviet Union had become more problematic and simply bad. Stalin said in 1946 that international peace was impossible and “in the present capitalist development of the world economy”. This statement urges the State Department to send an urgent request to George F. Kennan, a diplomat and political analyst stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Kennan responded by insisting that the assumptions made by former President Roosevelt were dangerous…half-paper…nonsense. Under the terms of the treaty, the United States would destroy 859 missiles and the Soviets 1,752. The Soviets would end the nine-month war in Afghanistan, fought against Afghan forces. A new generation had come to power in 1985 for the Soviets, Gorbachev. He was determined to end the Cold War, as it wasn't exactly good for the communists at that time. It ended Soviet support for Eastern European vassal governments, which included the fall of the Berlin Wall. These steps improved relations between the United States and the Soviet Union or Russia (the USSR eventually dissolved into 15 separate countries). I think that the foreign policy of the United States is still and always the same in terms of protection of citizens and territory, commitment and freedom of trade and care for the good in the world, therefore always a symbol of hope for peace.