THE COLD WAR AND NEOLIBERALISM
COMPARATIVE COLONIALISM

In the wake of a post WWII world, the United States remained as the last power that was relatively unscathed. WWII had been one of the devastating wars that the planet had endured to date. The uniqueness of WWII was the introduction of aerial military power and tactical bombings of major metropolitan areas. These bombings included the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed a quarter of a million people. The result left many imperial powers with extensive destruction of political, economic, and military infrastructures. With no other power with the strength to contest, the United States rose to benefit from the war. From the manufacturing of weapons and supplies used for the military, these infrastructures aided in lifting the US economy out of the great depression of the 1930s. European countries with any last remaining power, struggled to keep the tension down within their colonies. As a result, many European powers conceded into granting independence to many of their colonies such as the British in India, The Americas in the Philippians, the Dutch in Indonesia, and the French in Indochina. With Europe still in devastation, the rise of the “third world” developed. The US was then left with the task of reconstructing the world in an image that would support their endeavors. The Marshal Plan aided in rebuilding Western Europe. This then set the foreground for many allied countries to develop a military alliance system called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Both measures ensured that Western Europe would remain within the sphere of influence of the US, rather than ally with the only remaining dominant power aside from the US, The Communist Soviet Union.

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The plans also had hopes of turning former enemies of WWII, into friends. Occupying places like Germany and Japan for many years to come, the US also took to rebuilding their states, cleansed them of their fascist elements, and rewrote their constitutions. Yet the greatest US contribution came in the form of economic aid to assist countries to rebuild their markets. With an emerging third-world still on the rise, the US took to influencing these countries through covert and overt means. These were extended and not limited to the promotion of scholarly exchange programs, the construction of military bases, as well as rigging elections for pro-US candidates, spying on politicians, spreading propaganda among the people, and sponsoring assassinations. The post WWII era left the US uncontested by any other power, other than the Communist Soviet Union. The contest to dominating the world between the imperial systems of the US and Russia is known as the Cold War.

Operating under secret intelligence agencies, the US and USSR launched a series of covert and overt proxy wars and global shows of force, to establish military might. The cold war was fought on several fronts, but most notably, the arms race. Both countries executed their programs differently, which reflected in very different outcomes. In the US, government subsidized research and development projects aided large research universities like UW and Harvard to produce experts, who in turn built industries that could meet the US demand for new weapons. At the same time, this allowed for the private sector to develop industries that found ways of applying military technologies for civilian use. Many things like the US highway and even the internet, were developed with military use in mind. In the USSR however, the Soviet Army became under state control. The command economy emphasized isolated industries with the main focus being on cooperatives and collective for the basic parts of production. Yet, suffering most from the lacking free market were entrepreneurship and innovation. This created a chronic economic crisis for the Soviet Union. Shortages of basic commodities were common. The repression crisis inspired many revolts that lasted from the 1950s to the 1960s. Yet in 1989, the USSR was in such devastation, they hadn’t any other choice but to give up Afganistan. But it was the fall of the Berlin Wall that led to final resend of Soviet rule.

This US victory served as a “triumph” for democracy and capitalism, it did not mean the end to empire. Rather this triumph set the stage for the dominance of capitalistic markets. While capitalism breeds innovation, it takes on new application when coupled with government style. This style of governing, that stages relationships between social and political concerns as the framework of the market, is what we know as neo-liberalism. Neo-liberalism empires speak to the various nodes that makes up their networks, some having more influence than others. This style of governing has two major effects. Firstly, neoliberalism greatly impact labor and how it is utilized, but more often how it is exploited. With the rise in technology, it’s changed the very nature of work, making it more mobile and flexible, however this also instigates job insecurity. The search for cheaper labor causes many companies to outsource it to other countries, often times exploiting the work of those from the third world. This dependence on work creates an inhospitable environment for the worker, who are often time forced to work in slave-like conditions. Secondly, neoliberalism governance effects the transfer of wealth amoungst the already wealthy. The continued privatization of goods that are generally offered socially in other countries, like education, healthcare, and social services, often end up benefitting big business without providing any progress to those who are needing them. This ends up creating an environment that only favors those in power. Thirdly, the expansion of Imperialism governance changes how a citizenship is viewed. In the US a citizen is known as a human endowed with inalienable rights. Under neoliberalism, a citizen is seen as customers and consumers. Hyper-capitalism. This means, cooperations are equal to humans. The individual right to spend our money freely is synonymous with the freedom of speech. This aspect of neoliberalism comes at the expense of freedom, and encourages corruption. As a result, fourth, neoliberalism encourages resistance. This sense of resistance inspires social movements that mirror the disparity between classes. Progressive movements like “Occupy Wall Street” seek to re-regulate capitalism, and scale back the globalization aspects. While Conservative movements attack social issues, while brushing over their real agendas. These four factors contribute to the decentralized empire we knew pre WWII.

In its preliminary stages, neoliberalism contributed to many industries inspired by innovation. In addition, neoliberalism has contributed to the development to many technologies we use today. However, despite its constitutions, neoliberalism has adopted new characteristics that have greater influence now that it has become uncontested. The 1% have the greatest influence over both industry and profits, leaving the remaining 99% to play as pawns in their shifting hands of money. With the rise of many, many progressive movements against a global neoliberalistic market, the tipping point at which neoliberalism hits its limit, could be the beginning of a world-wide revolution.