Introduction:
During the Cold War, the world was divided into two blocs. At that time, the two blocs analyzed and dealt with any incident in the international arena as their own. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Bipolar tendency became the Monopolar tendency, as a result of which Western civilization, culture, and opinion prevailed over everything. The United States began to worry about the rest of the world.
As a result, those who protect US interests become cronies or undeclared puppet governments, while those who prioritize national interests find themselves under fire. As a result, most of the affairs of the post-Cold War world are under the control of the United States. Those who want to free themselves from the shackles of this control are becoming either terrorists or allies of terrorism.
Definition of Cold War:
Cold War is known as Cold War in English. The Cold War means the ideological conflict between the East and the West. The Cold War is the conflict arising from the expansion of the United States’ global capitalism (Capitalism) and the spread of communism (Communism) ideologies of the Soviet Union.
According to the International World Book Encyclopedia- “Cold War is the struggle for power and influence between the communist nations and the western allies led by the United States.”
According to Professor Frankel, “The Cold War refers to all events involving the conflict between communism and democratic ideologies and their proponents, the Soviet Union and the United States.”
According to Professor Friedman, “Nervous warfare is a new strategy of warfare. The Cold War created an environment and conditions in which all preparations for war, even if not war continued.
Origins of Cold War:
World War II ended with the onset of two important elements of the Cold War. These two factors were the Russo-US conflict and nuclear proliferation. Following World War II, the defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan as well as the significant loss and devastation of Great Britain and France catalyzed the rise of the United States and the former Soviet Union as global superpowers.
These events also marked the beginning of the Cold War. With the fall of Hitler, the alliance between the two powers began to fray, and mutual suspicion and mistrust eventually escalated into a Cold War.
According to most scholars, the seeds of the Cold War lay in the coming to power of the Communists through the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in October 1917. Some say that the seeds of this lie in the declaration of ‘The Atlantic Charter’ on August 14, 1941.
Nature and Trends of Post-Cold War World Politics The influence of the Cold War on world politics is very extensive. The entire world was divided into two camps due to the impact of the Cold War.
Polarization of all political and economic activities took place during this period. The Soviet Union disintegrated after then-Soviet Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of glasnost (open negotiations) and perestroika (reforms).
As a result, the balance of power of Russia decreases and the single hegemony of the United States increases in the new world and basically, the world becomes unipolar. could not As a result, changes are achieved in various areas of the world. The political nature and trends after the Cold War are discussed below.
1. Socialism on the way out:
Socialism first came to Russia in 1917 through the Bolshevik Revolution. It is gradually fulfilled. Socialism spread to China, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, and some countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. But in the socialist system, the state becomes an unstoppable force under excessive control of the state where only the welfare of the state becomes paramount.
As a result, the people of different countries reacted against it and began to become independent by taking advantage of perestroika and glasnost. The socialist countries of today are gradually sinking towards capitalism and this capitalism will ring the farewell bell of socialism.
2. Spread of Democracy:
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the acceptance of glittering democracy by the people of various countries increased. Democracy appears to the bewildered world with the features of dictatorship or aristocracy, speaking of the sovereignty of the people. The world is swallowing this bait of democracy.
Most countries in the world today are democracies. Although the underdeveloped world and the developing world are burying their rights and dreams of building beautiful and prosperous states on the altar of dictators and elites’ preferences in the name of democracy, democracy is winning and expanding all over the world today
3. Rise of US Hegemony:
After the Cold War, the United States became the single hegemony in the new world politics. The US controls the world with veto power in the UN Security Council and strong political, economic, and military power.
When the country attacks to establish democracy wherever it wants, it destroys thousands of years of history. Countries like Iraq and Afghanistan have destroyed thousands of years of civilization in an instant, turning civilized nations into barbaric nations in a matter of days.
Today they carry out suicide attacks, killing people. The country is constantly working on spying and dominating the world. The poison pot of the Middle East is fueling Israel’s terror day by day. The country is making a single decision in various fields of the world. It is constantly expanding its hegemony by deciding who is a terrorist who is not a terrorist and who is free from terrorism.
4. Beginning of the Muslim Renaissance:
From the sixth to the thirteenth century, the Muslim world achieved unrivaled political, economic, military, and social power. But later on, the power began to fade away, leaving purely unworldly and only religious rituals, through which it was impossible to achieve domination over the Muslim world. In the 20th century, a new Muslim awakening began.
At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, politics based on Islamic values ​​is spreading rapidly in various Muslim countries. After the end of the Cold War, it has developed several times more than before. The politics of Islamic values ​​in today’s world is spreading with a different trend. As a result, politics based on Islamic values ​​(governance policy) is now a widely discussed topic in the international arena.
5. Predominance of Nationalism:
Although the spirit of nationalism emerged from the Renaissance movement of the Middle Ages, the concept developed from the anti-colonial movement. Socialism and Islam being ideological concepts, they do not give place to nationalism, thinking about the interests of global humanity, but in the capitalist world, nationalism is a spirit in a democratic system where free interference in the freedom and sovereignty of different countries of the world is happening only for the welfare of the people of a certain territory.
Thousands of civilians have been killed by drones in Pakistan recently. This narrow sense of nationalism is prevalent all over the world today, although many nation-states today retain this spirit only for self-preservation, especially after the end of the Cold War.
6. Regional Politics:
Political relations between the regional economic and military alliances that have emerged in the world after World War II have also strengthened. As a result, the influence of regional politics in the international world is increasing. Each regional economic organization has increased political contact among itself. As a result, different circles are getting stronger in different parts of the world. e.g.: EU, ASEAN, OAS, AU, GCC, etc.
7. Clash of Civilizations:
In 1993 Professor Samuel P. Huntington wrote an essay in which he clarified the conflict between civilizations that exist today and expressed his opinion by foreshadowing the conflict in the future. He identified a total of eight civilizations around the world.
Most notable are the three civilizations he juxtaposes into two blocs, a Western civilization that includes Western Europe, North America, and Australia, New Zealand. The other two are Islamic civilization and Confucian civilization. Which includes the Muslim world and the socialist world.
This is certainly reflected in the current picture of the world. The Muslim world is being attacked by Western powers and the socialist world is facing various threats.
8. Welfare State:
Rather than being a single capitalist state, states are also playing the role of welfare state in the world system today. The state is trying to develop the individual, family, and social welfare as much as possible.
As a result, the state is not merely functioning as a capitalist or totalitarian state. Even some monarchical states in the Middle East are playing the role of this welfare state. (On the one hand, the welfare state opposes free competition and rejects the extreme control of the state.
The state extends its service by imposing necessary controls in the fields of agriculture, education, industry, commerce, etc.) As a result of the development of the democratic system in the post-Cold War period, political parties presented various welfare manifestos for the people. Various activities of the welfare state are increasing as it strives for power.
9. Expansion of Capitalist Economy for Political Control:
The monopoly of capitalism in the post-Cold War world has prevented the poor countries of the world from escaping the curse of poverty. These countries are unable to protect themselves from the vicious cycle of poverty (can’t invest because of poverty and can’t get out of poverty because of not being able to invest).
The developed countries of the world are taking advantage of poverty to control these countries through economic support and political relations. Spreading capitalism is spreading democratic politics. As a result, the Western world is taking advantage of political control.
10. Strengthening military alliances:
Military alliances that were supposed to disappear in the post-Cold War period seem to be getting stronger today. The hegemonic Western world is increasing its military power. New alliances are forming between military alliances, pouncing on the world’s weakest states. As a result, the importance of military alliance to them is increasing rather than decreasing.
11. Rise in Capitalist Exploitation:
While the terrible claws of Cold War capitalism could not engulf the entire world, the world has since become a single sphere of capitalist exploitation. The World Bank, controlled by the developed world, dominates the economies of LDCs and the developing world in the name of intervention and grants in the name of cooperation.
The developed world is looting the resources of the underdeveloped world by enacting rich-nation-friendly trade policies through the WTO. As a result, economic colonization is being created instead of the earlier geographical colonialism.
12. Development of EU:
After the end of the Cold War, the European Union was formed by the Treaty of Maastricht on February 7, 1992, in the city of Maastricht, Netherlands, to create a unified Europe. As a result, a kind of consensus was created throughout Europe that took Europe to the peak of prosperity. From 1st January 1999, the single European currency came into circulation in Europe. This in turn facilitated economic transactions across Europe. Which makes Europe the second emerging superpower in the world.
13. Cultural Invasion:
Information technology advances in the post-Cold War world. As a result of the widespread of print and electronic media, cultural unity has been developed all over the world, on the one hand, and the other hand, various underdeveloped countries are suffering from cultural aggression.
As a result, these countries are worried about the loss of their history, heritage, and culture. Developed countries are taking over the markets of the developing world through cultural aggression. The developed world’s political ideology is being propagated and expanded through cultural aggression. As a result, Western values ​​are spreading all over the world, which is a major threat to the survival of different cultures.
14. Use of Technology in Politics:
The use of technology in politics has grown exponentially since the Cold War. As a result, technology is controlling people’s political thinking. Nowadays the use of (Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter), etc. during elections has added a different dimension to politics.
15. Disarmament:
Disarmament continued in the post-Cold War period. Beyond bilateral disarmament, global disarmament efforts continued during this time. In continuation of this
👉In 1993, the Chemical Weapons Agreement was signed in which the development, production, and stockpiling of all types of chemical weapons were prohibited and the destruction of these weapons was promised.
👉In 1997, the Ottawa Convention banned the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of landmines.
👉Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed in 2010.
👉Besides, START-2, START-3, and START-4 agreements were executed in 1993, 1997, and 2010 respectively.
16. Spread of Capitalism in Socialist Countries:
After the Cold War, Capitalism spread worldwide. The wave of capitalism is breaking in socialist countries. In the once-revolutionary People’s China, numerous privately owned enterprises have been established today. Russia has also developed privately owned enterprises. Even in hardline socialist Cuba in recent times private ownership of money has been allowed. As a result, capitalism is developing rapidly in socialist countries and is attacking the basic spirit of communism.
17. New Forms in Military Financing:
Military financing during the Cold War was dominated by two camps. After the end of the Cold War, various developing countries with a multipolar potential increased military financing. Many countries are financing the military sector to protect their existence. For example: Iran is funding its military more than ever to counter Western powers. Similarly, India, China, and Pakistan are producing and buying weapons in large quantities to counter the threat.
18. State Concerns on Environment:
After the Cold War, the environment emerged as a major factor in world politics. 1992, the Rio Summit in 2002, the Kyoto Conference in 1997, the Hague Conference in 2000, the Bali Conference in 2007, the Copenhagen Conference in 2009, the Cancun Conference in 2010, and Durban Conference in 2011 Doha Conference in 2012, the Warsaw Conference in 2013, and the Lima Conference in 2014 produced numerous policies on the global environment. National and social concerns about the greenhouse effect, carbon emissions, and environmental pollution have increased in countries.
Conclusion:
The end of the Cold War radically changed the face of the world, giving rise to new principles in politics and culture. Everything has been added to a new dimension. This pot change seems to have brought about the most changes in the political sphere. The single hegemony of the United States was created as a result of the POT change. In short, political, economic, and cultural changes have taken place in the world at a rapid pace.