Describe how the superpower rivalry during the last two decades of the Cold War resulted in proxy wars

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

ANSWER:
Between 1975 and the end of the century, wars and revolutions spread death and destruction through many of the world’s least-developed regions. In most cases the origins of conflict were found in the experience of colonialism and foreign intervention, but each conflict also had a unique historical character. Throughout these decades of conflict the two superpowers sought to avoid direct military confrontation while working to gain strategic advantages. The United States and the Soviet Union each supplied arms and financial assistance to nations or insurgent forces hostile to the other. Once linked to superpower rivalries, local conflicts became deadlier. Conflicts where the rival superpowers financed and armed competing factions or parties are called proxy wars. In Latin America superpower rivalry transformed limited conflicts over political rights, social justice, and economic policies into a violent cycle of revolution, military dictatorship, and foreign meddling. In Iran and Afghanistan resentment against foreign intrusion and a growing religious hostility to secular culture led to revolutionary transformations. Here again, superpower ambitions and regional political instability helped provoke war and economic decline. These experiences were not universal, however. During this period some Asian nations experienced rapid economic transformation. Japan emerged as one of the world’s leading industrial powers, and a small number of other Asian economies entered the ranks of industrial and commercial powers. Socialist China joined this group of fast-developing Asian nations after initiating market-based economic reforms.