During cold war, both US and USSR wanted to surpass the other in technology and economy and there was a race of weapons, space satellites, nuclear tests and every other such performance which can show one’s superiority over the other. However, there was no direct combat between these two powers; rather there were indirect and proxy wars. They both were supported by their nationalist allies; Soviet Union was supported by Asians which include the Eastern Bloc and Warsaw Pact countries and US was supported by Europeans. Hence it can be rightly argued that it is nationalism that is the driving force for humans who share a same ethnicity, traditions, language and heritage. However, it is not allowed by any state that some other from the same commonalities try to indulge in its internal affairs or to take over it entirely. The phenomenon of nationalism can be readily found during the entire period of cold war since the countries having same political, economical and cultural factors were in the support of each other, thereby supporting their own nationalities and countries (Knight, 2012).
If only the perspective of Asia is taken under consideration, it would become vivid that US considered itself in big trouble after the formation of People’s Republic of China in 1949. China, being a communist state like Soviet Union was of great threat for US, which did not want a spread of communism in Asian countries so that they might support USSR by all means. Both USSR and China were huge in sizes and with respect to population, and therefore, many nearby territories were under their communist influence, spreading the wave from Korea to the borders of Japan, which was at that time occupied by US and they have set up a westernized culture there. A non-communist Korea was in the favor of US, therefore, a war broke between communist North Korea and non-communist South Korea. Nationalism was provoked when China sent its troops to safe North Korea while West and US troops assisted South Korea. Hence a war was developed not between the two countries, but their allies, and Asia suffered the most as North Korea became completely devastated. However, USSR and China became more close allies after the Korean War and extended their bilateral terms in context of economy and trade (Harris, 2009).
Thus it can be concluded that it is nationalism which propels countries and nations to either support or disregard each other for their own national interest. Not only limited to confinements, it is nationalism which motivates a nation to seek for its autonomy and independence; just as British colonies get rid of the long lasting British rule over them and the thrones of dictators have been over thrown. Also, during the cold war era, the two super powers did not undergo any direct conflict but their intentions lead incidents such as Korean War, Berlin Crisis and Suez Crisis etc. Almost all the world suffered from that period of cold war, which eventually end by the fall of Soviet Union in 1991 (Walt, 2011).
References
Harris, E. (2009). Nationalism: Theories and cases. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Knight, R. (2012). Ethnicity, nationalism and the European Cold War. London: Continuum.
Walt, S.M. (July 15, 2011). Nationalism Rules. Foreign Policy. May 22, 2013. Retrieved from <http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/07/15/the_enduring_power_of_nationalism>
