Cold War
The Cold War began after the World War Two. The conflict was between the United States and The Soviet Union. It was the major force in world politics for most of the second half of the twentieth century. The United States and the Soviet Union were the only two superpowers following the Second World War. The Cold War world was separated into three groups. The United States led the West. This group included countries with democratic political systems. The Soviet Union led the East. Cold War tensions increased, then eased, then increased again over the years. There were some changes when both sides tried to influence political and economic developments around the world. The Cold War also affected the middle east. In the 1950s, both east and west offered aid to Egypt to build the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River. The west canceled its offer, however, after Egypt bought weapons from a communist government. Perhaps the most central conflict of the Cold War, probably the defining conflict, was the division of Germany. Over all, the major events of this period including; the development of the hydrogen bomb, the nuclear arms race, détente, nuclear proliferation and the nuclear world after the end of the Cold War.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/cold_war.htm