The Cold War-era Between Communism and Capitalism - Term Paper Example

The Cold War and its Aftermath The Cold War or the tension between the Western and the Eastern blocs defined the world order after theWWII. During the WWII, the Western and the Eastern nations were ready to co-operate with each other. But the defeat of Germany and its allies in the WWII did not lead the world to long-lasting peace and co-operation. Instead, political, economical, and ideological differences among the world nations eventually led to the formation of two distinct blocs, the Western and the Eastern. Eventually, the whole world became under the threat of an imminent war between these blocs. But both the Western and Eastern blocs did not try to indulge in a direct fight. Instead, global arm race and ideological conflict became the focal point of the Cold War. Thesis statement: The Cold War resulted in political conflict, military conflict, ideological conflict and global arms race, and eventually led to the decline of communism, growth of capitalism, growth of the U.S. as a global superpower, and the rapid spread of democracy. Cold War: This section is broadly divided into four: Political conflict, Military conflict, Ideological conflict, and Global arms race. Political conflict One can easily identify the fact that the political ideologies of the Western and Eastern blocs were entirely different. To be specific, the political ideology of the Western bloc was democracy. On the other side, the Eastern bloc was deeply influenced by Communist ideology. This fundamental difference eventually led to political propaganda and political conflict. Richard Saull states that “The Cold War, then, was not a genuine international conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, but primarily a relationship that facilitated each side in its attempts to realize its goals within its own sphere of influence; for the United States, this was the dominance of the postwar capitalist order and for the USSR the internal security of the rule of the CPSU.”1 To be specific, both the blocs considered that political propaganda is an easy way to influence nonaligned nations. The Eastern bloc under USSR began to influence the neighboring nations and considered that the Western bloc is an imminent threat to their political interest. On the other side, the Western bloc under the U.S. began to influence the European nations. This initiative to divide the whole world nations into two blocs resulted in long lasting political conflict in America, Europe, and Asia. Military conflict The military conflict within the context of Cold War was limited to the context of threatening each other by exhibiting military superiority because both the sides possessed nuclear arms. Besides, both the sides were aware of the possibility of large scale destruction and its economic burden. So, the Western and the Eastern blocs strengthened their military forces, but did not try to attack each other. But the Suez Crisis (say, in the year 1956) the Cuban Missile Crisis (say, in the year 1962) and the “Able Archer” NATO military exercises (say, in the year 1983) led the whole world to suspect the possibility of military conflict during the Cold War. In short, military coalition and deployment of military forces was common during the Cold War era. Ideological conflict As pointed out, ideological difference was one among the grass root level reasons behind the Cold War. To be specific, the ideological conflict during the Cold War era was between communism and capitalism. Raymond P. Ojserkis makes clear that “A wide variety of other disagreements existed as well, many stemming from the Soviet distaste for the American vision of a postwar world dominated by relatively free trade (with currencies pegged to dollar) and elected governments.”2 One can see that the communist nations under the leadership of USSR tried to install the spirit of communism among their allies. This eventually led to the global propaganda against capitalism. On the other side, the Western bloc under the leadership of the U.S. considered that communism is an imminent threat to the whole world and started the ideological conflict against the same. Besides, the Western bloc considered that communism hinders the spread of democracy. So, one can see that the difference between communism and capitalism eventually led to the ideological conflict between the Western and the Eastern blocs during the Cold War era. Global arms race The Cold War resulted in global arms race between the Western and the Eastern blocs. Within this scenario, the competition between the U.S. and the USSR was more important because both the nations considered that military supremacy is crucial to win the war. So, both the nations developed nuclear weaponry. At the same time, both the nations did not neglect the scope of conventional warfare and military weaponry. This competition between Western and the Eastern blocs resulted in the invention of lethal weapons, especially nuclear weapons. Besides, the Western and the Eastern blocs helped their allied nations to develop their military forces. For instance, the USSR helped Cuba by deciding to install deadly weapons in Cuba. One can see that Cuba supported the Eastern bloc including USSR. This infuriated the Western bloc and resulted in Cuban Missile Crisis. But both the Eastern and the Western blocs did not use their nuclear weapons. In short, global arms race was an important problem faced by the world during the Cold War era. After effects: This section is broadly divided into four: decline of communism, growth of capitalism, the growth of the U.S. as a global superpower, and rapid spread of democracy. Decline of communism During the Cold War era, the Eastern bloc tried to spread communist ideology among the different nations in Europe. For instance, the USSR under Joseph Stalin tried to control Europe by forming the Union Republics. This initiative to install communist ideology in Europe is generally known as the policy of Iron Curtain. But the urge of the Eastern Bloc to inculcate communism eventually led to human rights violation. During the Cold War era, the people in communist nations faced threat from their governments. This eventually led to the hatred among the people towards communism and rejection of communism in 1990s. Rennay Craats states that “Communism was chased out of the Soviet Union in August 1991 after a group of hard-line communists tried to oust the Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev.”3 During the Cold War era, the communist governments tried to develop and exhibit their military power. On the other side, the communist initiative to gain military supremacy resulted in poverty and related problems. The USSR faced economic problems In 1980s, because revenue was used to develop the military forces and to help the allied nations. So, the Cold War resulted in the decline of communism in USSR and its allied nations in 1990s. Growth of capitalism During the Cold War era, the Eastern bloc embraced communism and rejected capitalism. So, the new world order reduced the future scope of communism and its influence on world nations. To be specific, communism supported the government ownership of the production of goods, but this reduced the scope of capitalism or private ownership. In this modern era, globalization and privatization increased the scope of capitalism in the international context. The formation of World Trade Organization in 1990s (say, after the Cold War era) increased the scope of capitalism and ensure the smooth functioning of trade and commerce among the world nations. Ruud Van Dijk opines that “The end of the Cold War has seen a general abandonment of command economies throughout the world and the adoption of market-based economies.” 4 One can see that the formation of different trade groups, for instance, the creation of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), increase the smooth functioning of international trade relations. In short, the change in world order after the Cold War resulted in the growth of capitalism. Growth of the US as a global superpower During the Cold War era, the US gained supremacy over other nations because Europe was badly affected by the WWII. Besides, the leadership during the Cold War was fully vested upon the U.S. and it helped the U.S. to be an economic superpower. On the other side, the later rulers of the USSR like Boris Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev considered that the policy of Iron Curtain led the USSR to face economic problems and curtailed the process of development. Besides, the decline of the communist regime in the USSR helped the growth of the U.S. as a global superpower. This change helped the Western bloc to gain more importance in the international context. On the other side, the dissolution of the Eastern bloc reduced the scope of a bipolar world. In addition, the economic and military supremacy of the U.S. helped to be gain support from the world nations. To be specific, economic and military supremacy gained by the U.S. after the Cold War era helped to increase its influence on other nations. On the other side, communism failed to meet the basic needs of the mass. So this eventually led to the rapid rejection of communism by the people and the growth of the U.S. as a global superpower. Rapid spread of democracy As pointed out, the Cold War resulted in the rejection of communist ideology by most of the world nations. But terrorism based on religious fundamentalism became an imminent threat to the world nations. Within this context, spread of democracy can be considered as the best possible way to hinder the rapid growth of international terrorism. To be specific, the lack of democracy in the Middle East is the grass root level reason behind the rapid growth of international terrorism and terrorist plots. So, the interference of the U.S. forces in the Middle East after the Cold War era can be regarded as an initiative to spread democracy in this region. At the same time, some of the nations in the Middle East Asia, which embraced democracy, enjoy the benefits of the same. On the other side, the U.S. initiative to spread democracy to different parts of the world increases the scope of co-operation among the world nations. Peter J. Schraeder states that “To its credit, the Bush administration identified global democratization as a key element of the “new world order” and specified democracy promotion as a central foreign policy goal.”5 In short, the rapid spread of democracy is deeply indebted to the U.S. initiative after the Cold War era. Summing, the after effects of the Cold War is still influencing the world nations because the same is interconnected with changes in international politics and the origin of a new world order. The political and military conflicts during the Cold War era were due to the differences in political ideologies and military aims between the Western and the Eastern blocs. Besides, ideological conflict between the U.S. and the USSR resulted in global arms race and related issues. On the other side, the decline of communism towards the end of the Cold War resulted in the growth of capitalism and the growth of the U.S. as a global superpower. In short, all these factors eventually led most of the world nations towards democracy. So, one can see that the end result of Cold War era is the origin of a new world order with full of hope originating from democratic ideas. Bibliography Craats, Rennay. 1990s. Mankato: Weigl Publishers, 2001. Dijk, Ruud Van. Encyclopedia of the Cold War. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2008. Ojserkis, Raymond P. Beginnings of the Cold War Arms Race: The Truman Administration and the U.S. Arms Build-Up. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003. Saull, Richard. Rethinking Theory and History in the Cold War: The State, Military Power, and Social Revolution. London: Routledge, 2001. Schraeder, Peter J. Exporting Democracy: Rhetoric Vs. Reality. Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002. Read More