7.2B Indirect control

• Post WWII:

  • The role of the UK in WWI and WWII, together with the Great Depression led to the collapse of the UK as a superpower
  • The period after WWII saw the rise of the USA and USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) to form a bi-polar world
  • The result of this was the 'cold war'.

  
• The superpowers maintained power in four main ways

  • Military
  • Political
  • Economic
  • Cultural
• Military

  • Military alliances developed with other countries supporting the USA or USSR
  • Members of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) were the countries supporting the USA
  • A collective treaty was established by the USSR this is known as the Warsaw Pact
  • The nuclear arms race in which both countries spent millions increasing their nuclear arsenal
• Political 

  • Political methods included diplomacy and political influence on other countries
  • The Cold War divided many parts of the world into communist and capitalist ideologies
  • Europe was divided into the countries of the east which were mainly communist and those in the west which were capitalist - the two were divided by the 'Iron Curtain'
  • During the 1950s the McCarthy hearings led to investigations of alleged communists as Senator Joe McCarthy alleged hundreds of communists had infiltrated the State Department and Hollywood
• Economic

  • Economic factors were used to gain additional support from developing and emerging countries including:
  • Giving aid to countries:
  • American aid to Europe via the Marshall plan to rebuild
  • Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been used more recently to influence countries such as India and Singapore

  
• Cultural

  • The use of cultural mediums such as TV, film and books was used throughout the Cold War to influence people's views and beliefs
  • Anti-communist and pro-American values were widely promoted
  • 'How to spot a communist' was a video shown in US schools
  • Reports of the McCarthy hearings were broadcast daily in 1954
  • The US boycotted the 1980 Olympics which was held in Moscow and the USSR boycotted the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles
  • The space race was an extension of the rivalry between the USA and USSR and used as propaganda
• Post Cold War

  • The Cold War ended in the 1991
  • The use of indirect methods to influence other countries and exert power has continued to increase
• Neo-colonialism

  • An indirect mechanism of control
  • Used by Western nations to exert influence and control over ex-colonies
  • Tied aid which means that developing countries have to spend money on goods or services with the donor country
  • Uneven trade where countries are paid little for their resources 
• Rise of China

  • Since 2000 China has been an emerging power and is identified as the main challenger to the USA hegemon status

  -> It is not yet a superpower for a number of reasons including:

  • The limited reach of its military 
  • It only has one overseas base
  • The navy rarely leaves the Indo-Pacific region
  • Its economic output is still lower than the USA
  • Approximately 25% of China's population live in poverty (less than US$5.50 a day)
• China profile