The Cold War, as it is known by title, was anything but cold. The conflict began just as WWII (world war two) closed and by the opinion of many, is still going on. At the end of WWII Germany that had begun as a great protagonist was confronted by a coalition of countries, who together pounded the Atlantic wall to dust and begun the push into Germany. In the meantime, Hitler's army had set their sites on the Soviets (current day Russia). A terrible strategic decision which cost Germany not only the war, but over a million of German Soldiers (combined forces).
As the allies entered Germany and occupation set in. Germans was divided into sectors and the Berlin wall was built. It was at this time that the Cold War as we know it began in earnest. But to say that the Cold War was a bloodless conflict in which not a single shot was fired, or a war in which no one died as a result, is simply incorrect.
The cold war conflict was (and still is) clash of the two concerned political systems. The democratic west and the various communist countries throughout the world. Socialism, a system which stands in direct conflict with western democratic philosophy. The ongoing conflict as brought the two systems together in many parts of the world and in many cases, failed diplomacy resulted in open conflict. Two such hot conflicts were the Korean War and the Viet Nam war. Both conflicts share a common thread as both were classified as "police actions" though both wars (which is what the really were), were large scale attempts to contain the spread of communism. There were however many other lower level and high profile incidents which made up the cold war, including the rebellion in Hungary which was put down by the former Soviets, the Cuban missile crisis, small conflicts in Central America and in recent times the small and swift invasion on Grenada. These are but a small slice of proactive responses to the stop spread of communism in out world.
Then suddenly, without warning, the former Soviet Union seemed to dissolve overnight as the Berlin wall fell and internal strife seemed to change the way that the so-called former communists lived in the world. During this same time the British turned over control of Hong Kong (a major financial powerhouse) back to China. A change that seemed to change China as well. But despite these changes and the fact that these communist super powers suddenly found themselves going to the bank and experiencing capitalism at it's best, no one ever said that the Russia or China were no longer communist countries. On the contrary, both China and Russia are still communist countries, as are North Korea, Cuba, Viet Nam, Venezuela and Laos.
THE THREAT
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/20/tactical-advantage-russian-military-shows-off-impr/
Since the fall of the former Soviet Union, many westerners assumed that relations had warmed between the west and other communist nations, with the "new Russia" being on the top of the nice guys list. Though those soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen know all to well that warming trend with the current and so-called former communist states is a matter of civilian perception and not supported by the evidence and/or observation.
Over the last few weeks we have observed as the former soviets (the Russians) have begun a military invasion of the Crimea and the Ukraine. The Russians have taken the liberty of massing a huge number of troops around Ukraine, and upon taking one look at these Russian Soldiers on TV, it becomes blatantly obvious that the russian military is wearing new uniforms, using new equipment and carrying new weapons. When the west went to sleep and had sweet dreams of a new Mother Russia being a great neighbor, they were actually re-equipping and realigning their military. All this while the other big communist powerhouse, China, transformed itself into a financial juggernaut. China just launched it's first aircraft carrier... a power projecting weapon.
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