ABSTRACT
AFTER THE FALL OF Berlin to the Allied forces in 1945, two superpowers emerged. Once standing together against Nazi Germany, the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) soon began to have signifi cant political, economic and social diff erences. Th e tension concerning these two countries between 1947 and 1991 has been known historically as the Cold War, as direct active fi ghting between the two foes never took place. Nevertheless, they tested their forces by supporting and taking opposite sides in regional wars such as Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan and to a lesser extent in Latin America and Africa. Th e Cold War took place at a militaristic, scientifi c and economic level. Both countries had nuclear weapons, and while the Russians were the fi rst to travel outside planet Earth, the Americans were the fi rst to step on the moon. Th e Americans exported a capitalistic economic model while the Soviets proposed a Marxist-Leninist one.
