developed enough nuclear weapons to destroy the other.

  This development was an

important aspect of the Cold War, as the stockpiles of nuclear weapons acted as a
means of defense.  Essentially, each nation was deterred from going to war with
other, or from escalation tensions, due to the fear of a nuclear war.  Historians refer
to this idea as Mutual Assured Destruction (M.A.D.) since any escalation to war
could result in the total destruction of both countries.  Regardless, this nuclear arms
race between the two nations showed the growing divide between the two nations. 
As such, the initial development of nuclear weapons in the 1940s and 1950s is
considered to be a cause of the Cold War because it increased the tensions
between the United States and the Soviet Union and caused them to enter into a
dangerous nuclear arms race.
The third main cause of the Cold War was the ideological conflict that existed
between the United States and Soviet Union.  At the time, the Soviet Union was a
communist nation that was based on the principles of collectivism or socialism, while
the United States was a modern liberal democracy nation based primarily on the
principles of individualism.  This means that the Soviet Union was positioned on the
far-left side of the economic spectrum, while the United States was position on the
right side.  This difference in ideology was a major source of the conflict between the
two nations because throughout the Cold War, the Soviet Union sought to expand
communism to other regions and the United States sought to stop it with its policy of
containment.  As such, many people now view the Cold War as a conflict of the left
and right sides of the spectrum, among other things.
To better understand the ideological conflict of the Cold War it is first important to
understand the main principles of capitalism, communism, democracy and
dictatorship.  During the Cold War, the United States was based upon capitalism
and democracy while the Soviet Union was based upon communism and
dictatorship.

At its heart, capitalism is an economic system based upon the values of

individualism and promotes individual liberty over government regulation and
control.  For example, laissez-faire capitalism is a form of the ideology that
translates to “leave us alone” meaning that the government should remain out of the
economy and instead allow individuals to freely carry out their own economic affairs.
The development of capitalism as an economic system, sought to reject the idea of
government control of the economy and instead put the focus on individuals. On the
economic spectrum, capitalism is a right-wing ideology that is fundamentally based
on: private ownership, competition, free trade, self-reliance, self-interest, and the
principles of supply and demand.  Capitalist societies are often based on free-
market economies.  This system differs from communism wherein the government
usually controls the means of production and makes all important economic
decisions.
Democracy is a political system that is associated with the idea that power or
authority in a society rests with the people.  In general, the people exercise their
authority through elections in which they choose others to represent their interests in
a formal