The complex and unpredictable nature of post-Cold War conflicts has not only altered traditional practices of warfare but has changed the foreign policy instruments used in conflict resolution. Conflict in Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis acted as prime illustration of the style of conflict, leadership and the conventional foreign policy instruments used to resolve conflict between countries steeped in Cold War ideology. The end of the Cold War delivered a new foreign policy environment. This environment was dramatically different to the archetypal Cold War philosophy. New styles of leadership emerged, along with distinctively different applications of foreign policy instruments and inevitably the resolution of conflict has changed as seen in the invasion of Iraq under George W Bush in 2003.

Contention No. 1

The ideological focus of the Cold War has been replaced by a world policeman - America. The maintenance of the balance of power was ensured...