QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION (WEEK 8)

What, according to Paterson, et al., explains the U.S. decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan? How might the dropping of the bombs be considered an early blow in the American rivalry with the Soviet Union? Why has the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki inspired so much debate?

In what ways did the United States emerge from World War II as the dominant global power? What was the American vision for the postwar world? How did President Truman further this vision?

Why was the Soviet Union so concerned with Eastern Europe after World War II? What obstacles did it confront? What policies did the United States pursue in Eastern Europe at that time? What was their outcome?

How were U.S.-Soviet relations affected by postwar American lending policies? What events helped reinforce for some American policymakers that the United States needed to be assertive rather than conciliatory with the Soviet Union?

What was the Truman Doctrine? What events inspired it? What were the conflicting pressures that affected U.S. policy in the Middle East?