Question

What influence has the Cold War had on our lives?

Answer 1

The cold war has brought us stockpiles of nuclear weapons, which we are still trying to figure out how to manage.The first victims of the cold war, the Hibakushas of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are dying out, but still remain to remind us of what human costs nuclear warfare will bring. The very hostile hermit kingdom of North Korea is rattling its sabre in regards to its intentions to develop delivery systems for its stockpile of nuclear warheads, still seething after 50 years of the division of Korea. Russia is taking exception to the installation of a NATO missile defense shield in its previous sphere of influence, and its military maneuvers are increasingly aggressive, with military excersises in South America and various incidents of Russian military aircraft teasing Western nations. The expansion of NATO into the former Warsaw pact nations is also causing major conflict, like the war in Georgia over South Ossetia, which in part happened because of Georgia's intentions of joining NATO and the problem this unstable region caused for its aspirations. The only real benefit is that there is little chance that a nuke will ever be utlized, even in a terrorist action, because it is virtual suicide for the group responsible, something that would probably be different in a world with a much smaller nuclear arsenal.