Globalisation and the Cold War

"We don't mistrust each other because we're armed - we're armed because we mistrust each other" - Ronald Reagan.

The Cold War (1946 - 1991) is seen as a war of politics, or more specifically, a war of ideologies. Throughout these years no actual fighting took place, more so a collection of proxy wars. Tensions between the USA and the USSR rose after the Bolshvik party took charge in 1917, and later both countries were deemed 'superpowers', a term used to describe a country or nation that has the ability to project dominating power and can influence anywhere in the world.
Similarly, globalisation is the process by which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected, mainly due to increased trade  and cultural exchange, The effects of globalisation can be seen through language, with 29% of the English language having a french origin, and even through cultural traditions, For example, Christmas Trees, which are as seen as very British, were brought over from Germany under Prince Albert in the late 1800's. Since then, globalisation has become more prominent and  ( mostly ) conducive for developing societies.

During the 45-ish year war, it wasn't rare for nations to form pacts with one another. This was to essentially gain allies, thus increasing protection. Throughout the Cold War, pacts and treaties such as the Baghdad pact (its success - debatable), the Warsaw pact, the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) and the North Atlantic Treaty (which established NATO ) were agreed upon. Such pacts highlighted the importance of socialisation and comprising differences to ensure their countries safety during potential war.  They encourage nations to communicate and discuss strategies, therefore becoming interconnected over similar agreements, leading to even slight globalisation.

Though no actual fighting occurred during the Cold War, it is seen as a war of ideologies - the capitalist west versus the socialist east. Socialism began to spread, with the help of the red army, across eastern Europe to countries such as Poland, Romania, Lithuania and Estonia. These countries, along with others, became known as the 'Eastern Bloc', leading to the the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (1939) . This was a pact between the USSR and Nazi Germany which divided these Eastern Bloc counties into spheres of either German or Soviet influence. This showed a clear spread of socialism, with it popping up in China in 1949 with the leadership of Mao. The countries following and adopting socialist ideals is an example of globalisation, as different nations are becoming connected through the same ideology. If it wasn't for the globalisation of socialism, the results of the Cold War would of certainty been far more different.

Finally, USA and the USSR faced direct competition in the arms race as well as the space race. As tensions continued to grow, both sides began to develop their military supplies in fear of an all out war. As one side built a bomb, the other would make a bomb 10 times as powerful, then the other would create one 100 times more destructive, and this would continue, along with the growing likelihood  of Mutual Assured Destruction (M.A.D.), This basically insured that in the event of a nuclear attack, both sides would be totally annihilated
By the end of the 60's, both sides developed the Anti-Ballistic Missile System (ABM) to counter the threat of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), first tested by the USA in 1957.This race went on to directly affect the civilians of both sides, as military employment opportunities grew to match the growing demand fore weapons.
This fierce and direct struggle for supreme power passed into the days of the space race, where this time both nations aimed to send the first man into space. This race produced huge scientific advancements for mankind, including missions such as Spuntik 2, the formation of the National Areonantics and Space Administration (NASA), Luna 10 and then Apollo 11. If it wasn't for the tensions between the USA and USSR, such rapid progress on space exploration may not have been achieved.
In both these races, 2 nations shared a goal after being influenced by one another. Although the countries were working more against each other instead of with each other, the 2 races showed slight themes of globalisation; the countries would develop technology similar to their competitor, and then work on a new piece of machinery in response to the other.
Nonetheless, despite a lack of human communication, it can be seen that the 2 nations  could be communicating through their space missions and weapons: the USA and USSR were interconnected through the face that they were essentially competitors.

To conclude, globalisation is the reason socialism spread across Eastern Europe so much, leading to tensions between the east and the west. Therefore, globalisation lead to the popularity of both capitalism and socialism across the world, and it could be seen that the USA and USSR were connected throughout the whole war because they had directly conflicting ideologies. Marx predicted that Socialism will eventually face capitalism, and that such a confrontation is necessary for the world to progress - some even saw the Cold War as the end of history.




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