Question

Sometimes it is said that the Cold War was a simple struggle for power and that ideology had nothing to do with it. Do you agree with this? Give one example to support your position.

Answer 1

The end of the Second World War brought about a major transformation in the global scenario with the emergence of the US and the USSR as superpowers and with growing tensions between the two, resulting in the rise of the Cold War that determined much of the contemporary world history.

One would not agree with the above statement that the Cold War was a simple struggle for power and that ideology had nothing to do with it. The following points justify the same:

a. The Cold War has been referred as a situation where acute tensions and hostilities prevailed between the two superpowers, the US and the USSR, which was more of a diplomatic war, an ideological conflict that did not escalate into a full-fledged war or hot war.
b. A situation which is often referred to as ‘war of words’ between the two power blocs, where both the blocs tried to create ideological hatred against each other’s beliefs.
c. We may cite the example of how the Western alliance, which was headed by the US, represented liberal capitalist ideology and how the Eastern alliance led by the Soviet Union represented the Socialist and Communist ideology.
d. In their war of ideas, both the blocs criticised each other’s distinct ideologies and attempted to expand their respective spheres of influence by propagating their beliefs.
e. The US, for instance, dubbed the Soviet ideology of communism as against individuals’ freedom, which had used force to establish communist regimes in East European countries.
f. The USSR, on the other hand, projected the American ideology of capitalism as exploitative in nature.

Thus, both the alliances tried to win this ideological battle by containing each other’s ideas, spreading their beliefs and forming alliances with smaller nations.