The Name of the School
Cold War Ideology and Third World Conflict
The Cold War was an ideological, political and military (proxy wars) between the United States and the Soviet Union. It has been termed ‘Cold’ War as there were no large scale wars between the two countries but their battles were instead fought through other countries in different parts of the world. The main reason for the conflict was ideological-between the capitalist United States and the Communist Soviet Union. However it can also be said that the cold war was a result of the race for resources and market domination. Although there are no specific dates as to when the Cold War started, it can be said that the war started around 1947, when both the powers were armed with nuclear capabilities and ended with the dismantling of the Soviet Union in 1991. The end of WWII brought an end to the colonial domination of the European powers and left a power vacuum which the United States and the Soviet Union sought to fill. Thus began a series of political maneuvers, proxy wars, diplomatic missions and arms race that would engulf the world for over four decades. The United States and the Soviet Union could not engage in a full fledged war because both of them were armed with nuclear weapons and a conventional war between them would have had devastating consequences.
The term Third World was also a product of the Cold War. The creation of the third world happened as a result of political, economic and cultural reasons. The first world was taken to be the capitalist, western countries, aligned with NATO, the second world were the countries of the Soviet Bloc, China, Cuba and their respective allies from the war. The third world countries, mainly former colonies in Africa, Asia and latin America remained outside of the warring factions. The countries that were part of NAM or Non-Aligned Movement were also taken to be part of the third world. Another definition of the third world countries came out of the dependency theories proposed by political scholars such as Raul Prebisch, Walter Rodney, Theotonio dos Santos, and Andre Gunder Frank who identified the third world countries as periphery countries that were outside of the economic development of the ‘core’ countries (Tomlinson, 2003). Although there were a lot of behind the scenes political maneuverings and deals during the cold war, there were also actual battles, called proxy wars that the two superpowers were engaged in. The Vietnam War and the Korean War are two examples where the US and Soviet Union fought proxy wars. other conflicts such as the Arab-Israeli conflict was not a proxy war even though both the US and Soviet Union were involved in the issues surrounding the conflict through their support to the opposing factions.
The Middle East was an important part of the Cold War even though there was no proxy wars in this region. The US and Soviet Union played a part in the Arab-Israeli conflict, the remnants of which still echoes. The Arab-Israeli conflict which started with the creation of Israel in 1948 was the result of a power struggle not only between the Jews and the Arab Muslims over the holy land of Jerusalem or the support of the US and Soviet Union to the different actors in the conflict but also the result of the intervention of the European powers in the region for many years. Two opposing movements happened simultaneously that led to the eventual birth of the Israeli state and the conflict. Increasing persecution of the Jews in Europe after the rise of Hitler and the return to Holy Land or homeland belief of the Jews resulted in their desire to form a state of their own. Zionism soon became a political manifestation which was combined with the return to the homeland as well as a reaction to the anti-semitism in Europe. Theodore Herzl (1986), in his Der Judenstaat argued that only the creation of a Jewish state would protect the interests of the Jewish people. Political Zionism soon gained traction among the Jews of the world and a World Zionist Organization was formed in 1897 after the Zionist conference in Basel. Naguib Azoury in his book, “ The Awakening of the Arab Nation (1905)” writes that, “Two important phenomena, of the same nature but opposed, emerged at this moment in Asiatic Turkey- the awakening of the Arab nation and the latent effort of the Jews to reconstitute on a very large scale the ancient kingdom of Israel. These two movements are destined to fight each other continuously, until one of them wins.”
The result of this two opposing movements resulted in a conflict which drew the European powers. The Ottomans were allied with the Germans and the jews fought against the Germans with the British. However in the Middle East the Jews were against the British because of failed promises to create a country for them and started guerilla attacks against the British. Britain could not antagonize the Jews owing to the strong Jewish lobby in America. Unable to deal with the rising conflict and the ravages of war, the issue was given over to the United Nations. On the 29th of November 1947, the United Nations approved the partition of Palestine over the rejection of the Arab states. Israel declared independence and the country was formed on 14th May 1948. Although the Cold War had started around this time, the Middle East did not play a big role. There were no proxy wars fought here. However the two superpowers did try to influence political events in the region in order to gain a foothold. When Israel was created, both the US and the Soviet Union recognized the new country. The Soviet Union was a huge ally for Israel as it supplied it with weapons. In 1956, the US took slight to the military action of Israel in the Suez canal crisis. But their respective positions were to change in the following years. The creation of Israel saw the disintegration of Palestine as the remaining territories were divided up by the Arab states. Around this time, there were also revolutions within the Arab countries, which had a decidedly communist flavor. US Presidents, Johnson and Nixon decided that the Soviet union was trying to exert its influence in the region by its support for the communist parties in the Arab countries such as Yemen and Iraq. The election of Communist party into power in 1958 brought an end to the Baghdad Pact of 1955 which was done to check Soviet expansion in the region. American influence in the Arab region took a hit through its continued support for Israel. America now had a strong ally in Israel and had also stationed a fleet in the region. The Soviet Union was disturbed by this and chose to get close to Syria in order to balance the power. Thus even though the two superpowers were not fighting proxy wars in the region, they both supported the local governments in the Middle Eastern countries in order to maintain a presence in the region,check each other’s growth as well as to maintain balance of power. The conflict in this region was largely stoked by the cold war tactics of the two superpowers and the long colonial history.
Contrary to the Arab- Israeli conflict, the Vietnam War was definitely a proxy war that was fought between the US and the Soviet Union. After the WWII, calls for independence soon arose in the former colonies. Vietnam was under French rule before the Japanese occupation. When Japan lost the war, France chose to maintain its rule over Vietnam which were opposed by the Viet Minh, the Vietnamese communist party who declared Independence in 1945. The United States at the beginning refused to get involved in the conflict between the French and the Vietnamese claiming it to be a colonial war. But increasing success of Communist forces in China and Korea, neighboring Vietnam forced the US to rethink its policy on Vietnam. China, now communist and an ally of the Soviet union funded the communists fighting against the French while the US funded the French. In spite of the US support for the French the French lost a decisive battle in Dien Bien Phu and peace talks were called for. As a result of the peace talks, Vietnam was divided into North and South Vietnam. With the separation, there was now a communist North Vietnam and a capitalist South Vietnam. The Vietnamese problem for the US was based on the Domino theory, where the fall of one non-communist state would result in the neighboring countries becoming communist. Although he never used the term directly, Eisenhower in 1954 referencing Communism in IndoChina and the communist takeover of Vietnam stated that, “Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the "falling domino" principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences (The Quotable).” The Domino theory was used as a justification for US interventions in many countries.
This theory justified its role in the Vietnam war. The US deployed massive forces in Vietnam and also suffered heavy casualties. Millions of Vietnamese were also killed during the war. Although the Chinese were the main supporters of North Vietnamese forces, the conflict was seen as a struggle between communism and the capitalist values of democracy. The Soviet Union denied any direct involvement in the war although it sent soldiers to fight the American forces as well as spread communism (USSR, 2008). America suffered huge losses and it create conflicts within the American society. Public opinion against the war was strong and America was forced to concede defeat. Vietnam was united in 1975. However the effects of the Vietnam War had other consequences around the world. The victory of the communist forces in Vietnam gave a boost to communist forces around the world.
A radical communist government took over power in Afghanistan in 1978. this was a military coup against the ruler who was pro-US and capitalist. The newly installed communist government went about implementing reforms which went against the ethos of the conservative Afghan society. The problem soon blew up with a revolution in the country in 1979, when the Islamic forces took over and the communist government in Kabul asked the USSR for help. The Soviet Union spent millions of roubles and also sent thousands of soldiers to fight the Afghan insurgents. They also installed a moderate government hoping this would help them win international support as well as the support of the Afghan citizens. However the Afghan Mujahideen involved in guerilla warfare proved to be too strong for the Soviets. The soviet problem was compounded by the involvement of the US forces in the war between the Afghans and the Soviets. The US trained the Mujahideens and supplied arms and other strategy for them. The US got involved in Afghanistan to contain the Soviet influence in the region.
Thus, the cold war saw a series of proxy wars, meddling with the local government's, financial and military aid given to supporters and an ideological warfare between the two superpowers. This conflict between two ideologies and the fight over political and economic dominance over the rest of the world resulted in conflicts in the third world countries which were newly independent as well as emerging markets. The cold war resulted in many problems in these countries and they fought wars which had very little to do with their pertinent problems. The third world conflicts around this time could thus be understood through the cold war ideology. These countries were divided into capitalist and communist blocs and went to war to fight for ideologies that were not entirely theirs.
References
Azoury, Nejib, 1905. The Awakening of the Arab Nation. Paris: Plon-Nourrit.
Beker, Avi, 2008. The Chosen: The History of an Idea and the Anatomy of an Obsession. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Herzl, Theodor, 1896. The Jewish State. [Online] (n.d) Available at : http://www.mercazusa.org/pdf/The-Jewish-State.pdf.
Tomlinson, B.R, 2003. What was the Third World, Journal of Contemporary History, 38(2): 307–321.
The Quotable Quotes of Dwight D. Eisenhower. [Online] (n.d). Available at : http://www.nps.gov/features/eise/jrranger/quotes2.htm.
USSR ‘secret' Vietnam Soldiers Speak Out. [Online] (16 Feb 2008). Available at: https://www.rt.com/news/ussr-secret-vietnam-soldiers-speak-out/.
