Jockeying for Political Advantages
Since the Korean War was fought for political objectives instead of military objectives, it quickly turned into a stalemate as both sides used the battlefield as a method to jockey for political advantages at the negotiating table. At the beginning of the Korean War, Truman decided that the war should be "limited", he limited the war objectives so the U.S. could avoid nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union. American's concept in taking the path of "limited war" meant that the war was general, more civilized, and less dangerous. The problem with America taking limited war instead of total war was that enemies would likewise be restrained in objectives and means. In other words, what would happen if the Soviet Union would refuse to play by the "limited war" rules, What would happen to the U.S., when they are using limited war objectives, when the Soviet Union are using total war against objectives.
The political advantage that was earlier offered to Truman was no longer there.When China entered the conflict of Korea, Truman and MacArthur knew that when there was a major Chinese intervention and that they would soon declare victory and the war would be over. However, they found it surprised when thousands of Chinese soldiers appeared in the mountains of North Korea causing unprepared Americans to retreat. MacArthur responded by calling the U.S. to redouble the efforts in Korea even thought it would risk a wider war. He decided that they should bomb the bridges crossing Yalu River which was the border between North Korea and China. However, this plan was unsuccessful, some of the bridges were till standing after the bombing and more than 30,00 Chinese troops were already in North Korea. The aggressive measures would have allowed the U.S. to gain victory over North Korea but it would risk another World War.
The U.S. needed to adjust the strategy of fighting a limited war. The disparity of total war against limited came to notice when President Dwight Eisenhower decided to shift from limited war objective means to total war objectives. He therefore ended the Korean War by threatening the Soviet Union that they will use nuclear weapons if they continue to fight in total war objectives.
Implications
The implications of this global muscle flexing point prior to the Korean War is that I think each side wanted to do anything they can to have a political advantage. However, it was not easy to get these advantages, the leaders had to struggle in able to get these political advantages. I think this also gave tension and more competition between the leaders trying to gain a political advantage.