The Things They Lost, and the Burdens They Carry
By: Kennedy Ervin
Tags: Intergenerational Trauma, Nuclear Weapons, Communism, Cold War, The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried by Tim O’brien, written in 1990. A story following nine soldiers through the Cold War in Vietnam.

The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’brien, is a novel about the Cold War. The story follows nine soldiers through war-torn Vietnam, where they experience trauma and witness terrible events. This book shows first hand accounts of PTSD, death, and war. While the book itself is fictional, it brilliantly shows the all-too-real lives of the soldiers that actually fought in the war. This book contains subjects of gore, death, violence, war and suicide. This book is heart wrenching, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The characters were well crafted and the book was incredibly witty.

Hot and Cold in Southern Africa, Violence in Mozambique

Poverty leads to violence. The Cold War sucked resources out of Mozambique, and is one of the leading causes of the country’s extreme poverty.

https://youtu.be/_89Rn_1EyNQ

This video follows reporters as they document the violence in Mozambique this April. The violence in Palma, Mozambique was caused by a terrorist attack by the RENAMO resistance group. The attack lasted over a week, and over 20,000 people are left unaccounted for. Mozambique fought its Civil War from 1977–1992, which overlapped with the Cold War. The Cold War was one of the leading factors that caused the Mozambican Civil War. Portugal had allowed precious resources to be taken for from Mozambique, which caused civil unrest among the Mozambicans. After Portugal forfeited control of Mozambique, the FRELIMO and RENAMO parties rose. The Cold War heavily contributed to the extreme poverty in Mozambique, something that they are still struggling with as a nation today.

International Twitter Thieves, a Social Media War

Relations between Russia and the US have been strained for decades, but a new threat is surfacing for the US. Most notably, during the Trump Administration, Russian hackers were caught tampering with election results and political emails, but the interference goes much deeper.

Russia/US relations have been shaky since the Cold War, each nation has managed to offend the other countless times. Over the last few years, US officials have noticed Russian hackers tampering with US internet accounts. Most recently, the US uncovered that hackers had been breaching Twitter accounts of US Defense Department workers. The hack disguised itself as an innocent link within a twitter chat that took users to a russian-controlled server when clicked. The server allowed hackers to take control of the users phone and personal data. US officials believe that the 2016 election breach was only one of the more visible Russian hacks that has taken place. This new issue has planted fear into many US citizens, and tensions between the two nations is dangerously high.

Global Ambitions and Grudges

This article features the accounts of Russian citizens about US/Russia relations and the Cold War. They claim to have been treated unfairly in most situations since the Cold War, and that relations with the US have never been repaired despite Russia’s best attempts.

Sarah Topol is a US reporter who traveled to Russia to understand more about Russian concerns and opinions about US/Russia relations. First she visited the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, MGIMO for short. There she interviewed Russian students and staff. She spoke to a man named Andrey Baykov, who shared his opinions on Russia’s goals. Russia wants to be considered a global superpower once more, and feels that they have been betrayed. He states that in most political scuffles with the US, Russia was framed or misinterpreted. The sentiment of betrayal was repeated countless times by other Russian students and staff. Since the Cold War, Russia has been viewed as a threat to the US, and that description has been impossible to shake off.

The Intergenerational Effects of War on the Health of Children

War effects everyone and everything, especially children. The study shows the effects of war on unborn children, families, and future relationships.

The Cold War devastated families, countries, the environment, and caused complex PTSD issues. The war took an entire generation of men in the US and destroyed them. It devastated areas like Mozambique and Cuba, stripping them of their resources. While the War officially ended in the 1990s, the effects are still being seen today. In Vietnam, children were forced to be soldiers, their homes were burned down and they were mentally scarred. Children who survived the violence in the Cold War are still suffering. War causes trauma and leads to poverty, and poverty leads to more war and violence. This article is about how war never goes away. Whenever a person who experienced war reproduces, their children experience war as well, even if they live in a safe place.

The Longest War, Battling Poverty in Vietnam

The Cold War devastated Vietnam, 250 thousand Vietnamese soldiers died, some being children. Despite this, Vietnam is pushing to rise out of poverty.

Twenty years after the Cold War officially ended, Vietnam is still struggling to escape poverty. Thankfully, the economy has improved drastically since 2015, experts from the World Bank say that the only thing needed to boost Vietnam’s economy is a largest domestic private sector. As of now, the Vietnamese government controls the majority of Veitnamese products and business, a tactic that has been around since the rise of communism in Vietnam. Vietnam ranks well on the Business Index, but their main issue is failing infrastructure and high poverty rates.

Atomic Bombs and Nuclear Testing, the Devastating Environmental Consequences that Followed

Many new weapons of destruction were created and tested during the Cold War. Nuclear testing caused the most damage to the environment and living organisms, causing birth defects and health issues.

Nuclear Testing in Central and Eastern Europe and in parts of the former Soviet Union has caused horrific heath and environmental effects. Nuclear waste and radiation pollutes the ground, water, air, and all organisms in effected areas. Organisms like plants, animals, and humans are being born with birth defects and genetic issues. These issues began during WWII, and got progressively worse during the Arms Race in the Cold War.The effects of nuclear radiation were unknown during the height of the testing, and now the people who currently live in those areas pay the price.

The Nuclear Budget: How the US is still Paying for the Cold War

The Cold War caused poverty, bankruptcy, and overspending for everyone involved. The US spent 5481.1 billiondollars, and is still in debt from the war.

Every country involved in the Cold War lost something. Everyone lost lives, money, and power. The US lost $5,481.1 billion, which infuriated US taxpayers. The US lost the Cold War and racked up tremendous amounts of debt to other nations. A large amount of the spendings were from the machines build to carry the nuclear weapons, dropping and targeting the bomb cost hundreds of millions as well. The Air Force, particularly the Strategic Air Command, received most of the military budget. Currently, the US spends 4.7 billion dollars annually maintaining and storing the nuclear stockpile.

Conclusion

Twenty years after the Cold War, the world is still dealing with the consequences. Tensions between the US and Russia are as high as they were during the Arms Race, and neither nation is backing down. Children are still suffering from the effects of war, being born with genetic disabilities and inheriting trauma from their parents. Russia is interfering with US internet space, which is causing a fear in Americans that replicates the fear felt during the Cold War too closely. More vulnerable countries like Mozambique and Vietnam are still being taken advantage of by global superpowers. Money lost in the Cold War continues to hurt compromised communities and cause tensions between large countries. The Cold War is still cold, and things are starting to heat up.