Chaning the importance of military power: The Cold War example

During the Cold War, the state and defense against military challenges, risks and threats were at the center of the concept of security. Increasing military capabilities was an imperative to step up security. There was a constant drive to strengthen military capabilities, which turned into an arms race. During the Cold War it became apparent that military power would not be enough to win that conflict. The armed component of the war was absent, while other, non-military aspects of the war dominated. Economic and military power had a significant impact on the final outcome of the war. Culture, political values and foreign policy credibility became the main contents of power and influence. For the first time in history, a major war ended without a shot being fired and the victory was not the result of the use of military power. The high military costs of the USSR in the Cold War, especially the high cost of the arms race, produced economic stagnation and reduced the technological level of the general development of society, as the basis on which the country's foreign policy success is achieved. A country's economic growth must be balanced against its goals in military engagements, including those in which major powers have expansionist goals beyond their borders. When great powers tend to expand too much, their internal strength weakens. The excessive expansion and excessive goals of the USSR led to the allocation of over 25% of the national product for the needs of military expenses, which slowed down and eventually stopped economic growth. The allocation of a large part of the national income for military purposes produced great consequences to the development of other forms of power necessary for commercial purposes. Military power lost its importance during the Cold War. With the development of capitalism, states developed other types of power with which they could relativize the importance and diminish the role of military power in relation to their opponent. Strong and powerful states primarily have such opportunities due to their high capacities of total power that they can convert and use adequately at a given moment. Military power has by no means been overcome, but it has proven to be effective and usable in interaction with other forms of power, as a suitable support for smart power, when it has the ability to lead to the desired outcome.