Economics were significant in the American victory of the cold war; however, they were not the only reason for the USSR's dissolution. Th US's capabilities, particularly regarding military spending, were key. While the Soviet's were already dealing with the financial burden of their war in Afghanistan, they had to deal with the additional pressure of keeping up with American technology. Although much of the American defence technology being developed under Reagan was impossible in the strategic defence initiative, the massive amount of resources put into plans like these would make the soviets feel a pressure to compete. Moreover, the Soviets faced the financial burden of their war in Afghanistan and their debt grew annually. However, there were many significant factors in the USSR's collapse that had nothing to do with economics. When Gorbachev came to power and open discussion began to occur under Glasnost, the citizens were finally able to see the huge faults in the Soviet government. It was admitted that they'd made many mistakes and Stalin was denounced; after censorship was reduced, it was merely a matter of time before the Soviet Union collapsed.
The Vietnam war was a regrettable era in American history. Firstly, the very nature of the population of Vietnam created a formidable environment for American intervention. The American were able to control urban area to a certain extent; however, in spite of their exponentially superior military capabilities, they were unable to gain control of the countrysides and thus had to resort to extreme tactics. These horrific occurrences such as fire bombings and chemical warfare in addition to the My Lai massacre horrified the american public as, for the first time in history, all these events could be observed in family homes. Consequently, the war became largely unpopular amongst the american public and the Vietnam war was not only a failure militarily but it completely altered the nature of the relationship between the american population and it's government. When the US pulled out of the war, the south of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia would all fall to communist regimes. The american attempt to contain was a failure and the fear of a domino effect became reality.
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