The World after the Cold War: More or Less Stable - Essay Example

Is the world more or less stable after the Cold War? A Brief History on Cold War It is apparent that, the end of the Cold War had an enormous impact on the world. It is worth noting that Cold War emerged immediately after the end of World War II as a result of ideological difference and aims that were present between the Soviet Union and the western powers particularly the United States. According to Hogan (1994), Cold War was based on the struggle on some of the universal values such as military and economic powers. On one hand, the West was concerned with the market economy and multi party democracy as the most crucial ingredient of future development. On the other hand, the East concentrated more on a single party system, and an economy that was closely controlled and administered As a result, it was clear that the conflict revolved around ideas. Additionally, the conflict was based on those who had won the World War II and were determined in opposing each other’s ideologies. Once the battlefield had been established then it was evident that Cold War had begun although there were no casualties. Consequently, the Cold War continued with high level of armed race until there was no more cause for the conflict of ideologies. In fact, it is argued that as the War came to a conclusion, shortly after, the fall of the Berlin Wall. It has been documented that Gorbachev took up power in the Soviet Union in the year 1985 although no one was able to predict the kind of revolution that he was likely to undertake (Scott 2000).As a matter of facts, Gorbachev introduced the policies of glasnost and perestroika. In terms of glasnost, Gorbacev expected openness that meant that there was willingness from the Soviet officials to permit the entry of goods and ideas into USSR. On the other hand, Gorbachev expected the perestroika to act as an initiative in which limited market incentives would be permitted to citizens in the Soviet (Buzan 2004). In a general sense, Gorbachev believed that his political ideas would work towards benefiting the Soviet people but that did not happen. Instead, there was immersing demand for freedom from most parts of the Soviet Union. Moreover, the Baltic States of Latvia, Estonia and Lithunia were declared independent. Gorbachev was put under house arrest although he was later released, but it was clear that he had been left with little legitimacy. Doyle (1986) argues that people in the United States were extremely shocked by the turn of events since there were no previous signs of the likelihood to have the Soviet collapse. On the other hand, people in the United States found it difficult to contemplate that the Cold War had come to an end since most of them had been brought up during that Era and as such, they were used to some of associated events of the war such as space race, missile crisis among others. In fact, at a point, the United States used trillions of dollars armed at making direct confrontation with the Soviet, but the mission was not successful (Ledeen 1992). States after the Cold War According to Doyle (1986), the end of the Cold War bought with it numerous impacts pertaining to states, international states and the world as a whole. To begin with, it is argued that some states become polarize, others gained stability and other witnessed anarchy depending on the state and the level of impact from the post Cold War period. Impact of Post Cold War Era in Third World According to Scott (2000), it was clear the Third World became one of the major challenges after the Cold War due to prospect of instability and conflict. For instance, there were intra state wars, inter –state wars, and regions also had varying difference that resulted to conflict. In fact, there were assumptions that there would be reemergence of conflict for members of the Third World countries. To begin with, after the post Cold War period the world super power withdrew from the necessity of acting in favour of altering regional balance that was found in the Third World countries. This was because the western strategies were perceived to encourage Third World countries in filling the alleged geo political vacuum. In addition, the Third World was detached from the super power in terms of military assistance and other related programs, a situation that forced them to begin fighting for their own survival (Simitses and Hodges 2006). Similarly, the end of Cold War also facilitated the possibility of greater regime instability. Political scholars have argued that, as soon as, the Cold War come to an end, many authoritarian regimes such as Cuba, El Salvador and Somalia were alleged to have fallen out of power immediately after their military and economic power came to an end. Instead, the already existing regional instability that had emanated from the loss of aid from the super powers was redesigned by the western donor nations dictating that the African nations would only receive economic assistance through the new world order on condition that they had to have political systems that were democratic (Volkem and Fleck 2012). As a result, the most Third World countries have gained political governance and democracies although they continue bring political turmoil to date. For instance, in Latin America, losing Soviet support for leftists and end of American backing for the right wing facilitated democratic transitions. Keohane (1993) argue that Asia become one of the victims of Post Cold War through the increment of tension in region as compared to the tension that was decreasing between East – West in Europe. Apparently the decrease of the alliance system and alignment that were created by the superpower rivalry, and numerous conflict that were previously suppressed by large entities such as US -Soviet stability have been able to continuously grow and intensify. For instance there has been a continuous state to state conflict in most parts of Asia, which have been demonstrated through organisations such Association of Southeast Asian Nation(ASEAN), the ASEA Regional Forum (ARF) among other motivations that are aimed at seeking peace and reconciliation as opposed to conflict. In addition, there has been the collapse of bipolarity leading to negative results affecting regional stability and security. According to Hogan (1994), it is also worth noting that, apart from bringing forth instability, Post Cold War era furthered its negative impact toward the emergence of ethnic conflict. A survey conducted on the world’ conflict articulated that around 75% of the world’s refugees were as a result of the ethno political conflict. Thus, the end of Cold War has continually been linked to ethnic conflict. It is imperative to note that out of the documented 13 countries that have been assisted by UN in peace keeping, 8 of them are extreme cases of ethno political conflict. Over and above, the post Cold War raised serious concerns about territorial conflicts in the Third World. For instance, In Europe and Central Asia, immediately after Soviet Empire failed, there emerged territorial claims that were accompanied by conflict and territorial disputes that had existed for a considerable amount of time. In addition, it has been argued that if the first and second worlds have experienced territorial related conflicts, then it is possible that the third world is no exception. Impact of Post Cold War on the Developing World Apparently, the end of Cold War is documented as one that led to the disappearance of the USSR as the US was declared the super power in the world. Nevertheless, more than twenty years after the Cold War ended, the next era in reference to the world is still not clear although different scholars have argued that the United States may retain the superiority although it may reduced to a particular level. In fact, some political analyst have argued that unipolar moment witnessed by United State was covered by excessive exaggeration as an affirmation of how powerful it was all over the world (Ledeen 1992). In addition, its economic dominance was not as strong as that of the military in reference to the defeat of the USSR. Similarly, China is argued to have benefited from the end of the Cold War hugely as a result of the legacy of the quasi – alliance with the United States. Its political and economic aspects grew continuously to the level of intimidating the strength of the United States. Of importance to note that after the end of the Cold War, the only country that benefited more was China while countries such as Japan and Britain improved slightly in term of politics and economic power. The world is arguably less stable after the end of the Cold War Consequently, the continuous debate pertain to whether the end of the Cold War was capable of a making the third world more or less stable might not be validated because, there has not been any single or unified effect that has been documented as having facilitated stability. To begin with, it is alleged that some of the Third World parts such as Sub- Saharan Africa experienced great domestic disorder as a result of the end of the Cold War. In contrast to this, Southeast Asia experienced an increase in domestic tranquility and regional disorder still facilitated by the end of Cold War. In the same way, the end of Cold War resulted to a huge decrease in the arm imports whereas, in East Asia, there was creation of fear of the prevailing arm race among other diverse reasons for instability. In regard to the developing world, it is clear that only the United States and China, Japan could be given as examples of countries that have experience adverse stability (Keohane 1993). None the less, political scholars have argued that the world is arguably less stable as a result of factors such as, complex international system, soft power, and growing dissent. Basically, the end of the Cold War as one of the wars that was fought with not causalities left million surprised, and there were more legacies that they had to contemplate with although they played a huge role making the world instable. For instance, it is believed that immediately the Cold War ended, there emerged the change from hard power that had been witnessed in the past to ‘soft power’ where states would dictate to other states based on their intended interests and further impose sanctions in order to fulfill their target. According to Jackson and Sørensen (2012), the world today is made up of the developed world and the developing world or better known as the Third World. Thus, the world must constitute aspects from both worlds in order to affirm the possibility of being stable or otherwise. Williams and Allison(1990), articulate that the world in less stable after the end of the Cold War because most impacts brought about by the war were negative especially those that related to Third World. As a matter of fact, some of the Third World countries still retain the impact over two decades after the Cold War. Equally, a certain percentage of the developed countries have experienced negative impact related to politics and economic factors. Conclusion As stipulated in most of the argument brought about by political scholars, the question as to whether the world is more or less stable after the end of the Cold War may not have definite answer because both positive and negative effects of war vary depending on developed and developing worlds. Nevertheless, more facts have pointed towards a world that is less stable at present. Bibliography: Buzan, B.2004. The United States and the great powers: world politics in the twenty-first century. Cambridge [u.a.] : Polity. Doyle, 1986.Liberalism and world politics. The American Political Science Review, 80, 4:1151- 1169. Hogan, M.1994.The end of the Cold War: its meaning and implications. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. Jackson, R and Sørensen, G.2012. Introduction to international relations : theories and approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Keohane, R .1993.After the Cold War: international institutions and state strategies in Europe, 1989-1991.Cambridge, Mass. u.a. : Harvard Univ. Press Ledeen, M.1992.Superpower dilemmas: the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. at centurys end.New Brunswick, U.S.A. : Transaction Publishers Scott, J.2000. After the end: making U.S. foreign policy in the post-Cold War. Durham [u.a.] : Duke Univ. Press. Simitses, G. and Hodges, D.2006.Fundamentals of structural stability. Burlington, MA : Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. Volkema, R and Fleck, D.2012.Understanding propensity to negotiate: an examination of the effects of culture and personality. International Journal Of Conflict Management, 23,3:266-289 . Williams, P and Allison, R.1990. Superpower competition and crisis prevention in the Third World. Cambridge; New York : Cambridge University Press Read More