Cold War Propaganda (gabriel-chetcuti.wordpress.com)
With one of the core defining aspects of the aftermath of the Cold War being the significant failures of the US during the Second World War and the Cold War having developed as sense of comparative instability and sociopolitical insecurity, it is clear that they desired change through economic prosperity. This was the core driving force behind their advocacy for globalism through neocolonial and expansionist agenda, so as to achieve this, all the while maintaining mutual symbiotic relations with their core allies, establishing links to resource rich and economically valuable regions that would be crucial in their development, and ultimately avoiding any potential threats with their communist opposition. However, it is only through analysing the tensions remaining between the Eastern and Western Worlds that one can realise this as heavily Western centric perception of these events, and the potential argument that this engagement in globalist agenda was merely a means of substantiating claims of overriding emphasis on the preservation of the US' superpower status to support their own individual ideals.
The US' strong support for capitalism and their own individualist agenda taking centre stage in political and economic decision making after the Cold War is clearly observed when reflecting on the implementation of the Marshall Plan, This was done after the Second World War, and there was seen to be a noticeable rise in support by the US for the principles set about through this agreement during and after the Cold War. This agreement was devised by President Truman on April 3rd 1948 with the key motive that the US provides economic support to assist the redevelopment and rebuilding of economic infrastructure in Europe, leading to the appropriation of $13.3 billion to be directed towards assisting this recovery, through the provision of the required resources and capital to facilitate this to affected European nations. This was also a core turning point in the revival of historic Western colonial globalist agenda in that it in turn reflected the neo-colonial undertones of much of the US' supposed progression in their internationalist agenda.
Equally, similar reasoning and intentions to maintain law and order in a functioning global political system that puts emphasis on peace, stability and security through the preservation of colonialist superpower influence is observed with the establishment of the Bretton Woods agreement and the strong advocacy for this amongst not just the US, but also by many of the recovering European nations. It is important to note the considerable delays in the initiation of this agreement, this having been largely due to there having been significant unexpected economic costs having arisen for these nations when working around the still felt impacts of the Cold War in its aftermath, which led to the expansion and establishment of new forms of polycrises. Equally, the strong economic dominance of the US overall in the management of global financial systems could be argued to have somewhat led to conditions of underdevelopment being further exacerbated and attempts for affected nations struggling to recover and rebuild their infrastructure appearing to have been sabotaged. This is reflected through the US dollar having remained as the dominant global currency and the basis of all international exchange and use of financial action. Greater pressure for these nations to pay reparations to the US in relation to their involvement in the Cold War had also drained a lot of their reserves of income, thus reducing the amount they could invest into this recovery, and that attempts to close the dollar gap having failed had meant that socioeconomic disparities within these regions had been exacerbated. It is through this that one can reflect on the overriding US capitalist influence and its ever present dominance within global political systems, as continues to be the case for much of today's spheres of influence dominated by Western interests.
However, it is also through reflecting on and drawing comparisons with the growth and cultural change observed for Europe during the period of the Soviet union, North Korea and Vietnam, with regard to, not just their presence within the Cold War, but the expansion and redefinition of their spheres of influence and international presence. This appears clear considering the aforementioned failures of the US during the Cold War. The Soviet Union sought to avoid potential invasion by the US and thus preserve independence and individual international presence with the European nations within maintaining their autonomy and sovereignty so as to separate from the US' influence and avoid future neocolonial exploitation. Similar methods of governance and ideals to build society on were adopted by Vietnam, as a means of countering past imperial activity within the region, and liberate all in a struggle against freedom from this form of oppression by the US and Europe. However, it can also be argued that this is not necessarily a truly communist principle as many may have historically referred to it as, but merely a desire for greater stability and security. It could thus be seen that the description of the Vietnamese National Liberation Front (NLF), which facilitated this change, as communist in nature, and that the term communist was perhaps likely a derogatory means of referring to any opposition by the US during this period, if they went against or were a threat to the US' individual aims.
It is through an understanding of the sociopolitical and economic dimension of the ongoing colonial and neocolonial Western superpower influence after the COld war that continued to have a high profile and remain clearly prevalent on much of the international globalist and expansionist agenda of the time, that one can notice the overriding dominance of capitalism in modern society, and its ongoing legacy. It is therefore important that an effective distinction between the core principles of communism and any anti-colonial sentiment (with these not always functioning in a mutual and effective manner alongside each other in society). It can then be clearly concluded that, in spite of the failings of the US in the Cold War, there was arguably no particularly noticeable turning point in the redefinition of communist ideology and its presence in global systems having been observed during this time, and that this merely acted as an opportunity for settler colonial exploitation to only be exacerbated, thus foreshadowing potential future conflict and unlawful abuse and exploitation of international influence.
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