The Bipolar World Order and Its Aftermath
The goal was to create decent living conditions for all people, from birth to death. This meant the creation of mechanisms to protect the public from disease, old age, accidents, and unemployment. The states that supported these systems were called welfare states.
Bipolar Order in a Cold War World (1945-1973)
One major consequence of World War II was the shift of the international center of power away from Europe. The USA and the Soviet Union rose as new world powers, extending their control over large parts of the planet. Just after the war, profound differences emerged between these two powers and their allied blocs. The defeat of their common enemy, fascism, revealed the extent of the gaps that separated the capitalist system, supported by the USA, and the socialist model, implemented by the Soviet Union.
Under the label of the Cold War, conflicts dominated the international scene between 1946 and 1991. These conflicts stemmed from the opposition between antagonistic blocs, monopolized by the new powers in a new international order called bipolar. While there was no direct military conflict between the two blocs, mutual suspicions and hostilities led to permanent tension amid a dangerous arms race.
The leaders of both groups held considerable power and expressed through their propaganda systems that the conflict between capitalism and socialism was an ideological struggle between two opposing and incompatible political and social conceptions. It was a fight between two economic systems and between two vast armies, equipped with an unprecedented potential for destruction. The constant tension characteristic of this period carried the risk of a clash between the powers that could lead to humanity’s suicide.
Characteristics of the Bipolar Confrontation:
- Armed nations organized into two major blocs led by the postwar superpowers: the USA and the USSR.
- Each superpower established a buffer zone to prevent any military or ideological deviation. Respecting these zones was a basic rule.
- Tension was not only military but also ideological, giving great importance to hostile propaganda, espionage, and diplomatic and economic pressure.
- Competition between the two powers reached significant relevance in science and technology, especially in the space race.
The Cold War’s Global Impact
The Cold War, with its focus on defining and protecting the spheres of influence of the USA and the USSR, spread almost worldwide. On every continent, the powers confronted their interests with varying intensity and degrees of danger to world peace. However, their approach differed according to the strategic, economic, and political importance each superpower assigned to each region. Consequently, the Cold War had different impacts; some regions benefited, overcoming the postwar economic crisis, while others suffered invasion, death, and destruction.
Militarily, the conflict manifested through the formation of alliances. In 1949, the Americans led the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a defensive alliance of mostly capitalist countries committed to mutual assistance in case of aggression. In 1955, the Soviets responded with the Warsaw Pact, a military organization of communist countries.
Much of the Cold War tension in Europe related to the Berlin crisis of 1947, a dispute over the city’s control and occupation by both powers.
Technological Competition
In the context of the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were locked in permanent competition for prestige and power. One area where this competition manifested was in scientific and technological advancements. In 1957, the Soviets became the first to send an artificial satellite (Sputnik I) into space and later put the first living creature, the dog Laika, into orbit. In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space.
The Americans responded by creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958 and launching an aggressive space policy culminating in the 1969 moon landing of the Apollo XI astronauts. By 1968, over 80% of research and development funds in the U.S. and over 60% in Britain and France were concentrated in atomic research, space, and defense.
The Decline of the Bipolar Order: An Age of Uncertainty (1973-1991)
In the early 1970s, the certainties of the post-World War II world began to unravel. Domestic and international factors led to a marked slowdown in economic growth rates in advanced capitalist countries, coupled with higher inflation and rising unemployment. The USSR’s economy showed signs of deterioration, forcing it to engage more with the capitalist world and experience the impact of its crises. The significant gap in living conditions between the two models became increasingly apparent.
This process culminated in the early 1990s with the collapse of the socialist world. The rapid transformation of the international and local economies from the early 1970s onward brought about the end of the bipolar order. A new order emerged, where multiple powers shared leadership of the global economy. The expansion of information technology, changing work patterns, and the liberalization and growth of financial markets profoundly changed the economic and social functioning of most of the planet.
The stagnation of traditional capitalist powers, the collapse of socialist economies, and the emerging new world order ushered in a period defined by uncertainty.
Decolonization
The world wars not only left Europe in ruins but also led to the loss of its colonies in Asia and Africa. World War I sparked nationalist movements against colonial rule, and World War II accelerated the process. After 1945, European states lacked the strength and wealth to sustain their empires, leading to a wave of decolonization.
The Three Worlds
By 1955, almost all Asian colonies had gained independence, and twenty years later, the same happened in Africa. Between 1945 and 1975, sixty new states emerged, representing a third of the world’s population. While expectations were high, these new states faced serious problems, including extreme poverty and inter-tribal antagonisms within artificially created borders. These new states became known as the Third World. The First World comprised advanced industrialized countries: Japan, the USA, Canada, and Western European states. The Second World included the USSR and its satellite states.
Their underdeveloped status led many Third World countries to pursue modernization through Western technology and industrialization, often resulting in unprecedented levels of Westernization.
The Great Depression (1929)
The New York Stock Exchange crash followed a decline in agricultural product prices and a decrease in American loans to Europe. Overproduction led to a large accumulation of unsold goods, devaluing shares and triggering the crisis. Hundreds of industries closed, and hundreds of thousands of workers lost their jobs.
American capitalism, which had previously demanded high amounts of raw materials from underdeveloped countries, was severely affected. After World War I, the U.S. had become the leading economic power. To confront the crisis, it stopped financing the world and demanded repayment of loans, creating significant difficulties.
Effects of the 1929 Crisis:
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