Civics question 108 of 128
Who was the United States' main rival during the Cold War?
3 accepted answers
- Soviet Union
- USSR
- Russia
You only need to give one of these. The officer accepts any of them.
Source: official USCIS question list for the 2025 version of the civics test. This site is independent and not affiliated with USCIS.
Background
The Soviet Union, also accepted as the USSR or Russia, was the main rival during the Cold War. The confrontation ran from the end of World War II to 1991, when the Soviet Union dissolved into fifteen independent states. It was called cold because the two never fought each other directly, since both held nuclear arsenals large enough to make that unthinkable. The rivalry ran instead through proxy wars in Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan, through an arms race and a race to the moon, and through the opposing alliances of NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Berlin was the sharpest point, divided by a wall from 1961 until 1989. Russia is an accepted answer because it was the largest Soviet republic and the successor state.
This background section is written by US Citizenship Test Practice to explain the civics fact. It is not part of the USCIS question list, and the official answer above is the one to give at the interview.
Where this question sits
It is part of Recent American History and Other Important Historical Information, inside the American History section of the test.