Causes of the Cold War: Ideology, Power, and Resources

Running Head: COLD WAR
COLD WAR
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After the end of the Second World War, a gulf between Eastern Europe under the
leadership of USSR and the Western Europe under the influence of Britain and America
specifically unleashed the threat of a third world war on the basis of ideological differences or
sheer power to control the world. This power struggle albeit avoided the cataclysm of a next war
but the political tension had been growing in an escalating trend that is identified as the Cold
War. As far as the notion of Cold War situation is concerned, Dodds and Funnell opined that in
1950s both the Eastern bloc and the Western bloc was in the brink of a war that never happened1.
However, the continuous tension of a third world war was inevitable due to the difference of
ideology. Based on this understanding, this essay aims to evaluate the actual cause behind the
Cold War it terms of struggle over ideas, over power or over resources.
As per the ideological differences between communism and capitalism, it can be stated
that the Cold War was a result of such ideological difference. From the research of Roberts it can
be defined that the communist ideas were developed in Russia with a legacy of social
movements2. With the emergence of the Bolshevik Revolution and the communist manifesto
written by Karl Marx in 1848, the theoretical explanation of a class less society found its way to
make the concept practical. The theory of communism rightly pointed out towards the notion of
dictatorship of proletariat. It condemned the practice of capitalism where the communist
paradigm thought that a tool of exploitation3. As a result of that right from the very beginning
there was always a hostile relationship between capitalism and communism. The Marxian theory
1 Dodds, K. and Funnell, L., 2019. Going Atmospheric and Elemental: Roger Moore’s and Timothy Dalton’s James
Bond and Cold War Geo-Politics. In Media and the Cold War in the 1980s (pp. 63-85). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
2 Roberts, G., 2005. The Soviet Union in World Politics: Coexistence, Revolution and Cold War, 1945–1991.
Routledge.
3 Gould-Davies, N., 1999. Rethinking the role of ideology in international politics during the Cold War. Journal of
Cold War Studies, 1(1), pp.90-109.

2COLD WAR
was strongly opposed the role of the industrialisation in national development. Moreover, the
Marxist-Leninist theory also claimed that the presence or prevalence of capitalism never able to
bring liberty and equality to the people rather it intensified the practice of exploitation on the
labour class by suppressing their voices4. His was the core concept of USSR at that time under
the guidance of Stalin, the successor of Lenin.
On the contrary, America and his Western European allies possessed a completely
different outlook by claiming the forbearer of democratic principles. It was greatly resonated in
the Iron Curtain Speech of Churchill where he symbolised United States as the founder of
democracy. He also argued that it was the wisdom of the western European power to take the
responsibility to preserving and safeguarding the paradigm of safety and welfare or freedom and
progress of all homes and families5. From this point of view, Shaw argued that the motive of the
western powers was to deliver a strong image across the world so that the impact of capitalism
remained existed6. Moreover, the practice of condemning USSR was also incorporated into the
propaganda of America and its allies by stating that the rule of communism in Eastern bloc was
full of mistrust and malpractices. The egalitarian practices were guillotined by the authoritarian
regime of Stalin. In this context, the Long Telegram of George Kennan was a watershed in the
prolonged conflict between USSR and America7. The sceptical mind-set of Kennan portrayed
Russia as an immediate threat to refurbish the effort of peace. From this understanding, it can be
4 Www2.gwu.edu, 1946. George Kennan's "Long Telegram". [online] Www2.gwu.edu. Available at:
http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/documents/episode-1/kennan.htm [Accessed 13 May 2019].
5 Dunning, T., 2004. Conditioning the effects of aid: Cold War politics, donor credibility, and democracy in
Africa. International organization, 58(2), pp.409-423.
6 Shaw, T., 2001. The politics of Cold War culture. Journal of Cold War Studies, 3(3), pp.59-76.
7 Www2.gwu.edu, 1946. George Kennan's "Long Telegram". [online] Www2.gwu.edu. Available at:
http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/documents/episode-1/kennan.htm [Accessed 13 May 2019].