The Yalta Conference in 1945, where Allied leaders met to discuss the postwar world, is widely seen as the beginning of the Cold War.

The Cold War was primarily driven by the ideological conflict between capitalism, as espoused by the United States, and socialism, as espoused by the Soviet Union.

The Truman Doctrine, announced in 1947, pledged U.S. support for countries threatened by communism.

The Marshall Plan, launched in 1948, provided billions of dollars in aid to Western European countries to help them rebuild after the war.

The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

President Richard Nixon pursued a policy of détente with the Soviet Union, seeking to reduce tensions and establish diplomatic relations.

The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I), signed in 1972, was the first major arms control agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union.

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is widely seen as the symbolic end of the Cold War.

Mikhail Gorbachev, who became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985, introduced the policies of perestroika (economic restructuring) and glasnost (openness).

The Soviet Union officially dissolved on December 26, 1991, marking the end of the Cold War era.

President George H.W. Bush declared the Cold War over in a speech in 1992, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

The United States emerged as the dominant global superpower after the end of the Cold War, with its economic and military strength.

The Clinton Doctrine, articulated by President Bill Clinton, emphasized the promotion of democracy and human rights as key U.S. foreign policy objectives.

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is widely seen as the symbolic beginning of the post-Cold War era.

President George H.W. Bush authorized the use of military force in the Gulf War in 1991, following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.