The World-System after the Cold War

The story of the US hegemonic era is the easiest to tell. At the end of World War II, the USA found itself in an exceptional position. Its basic economic forces had been growing steadily stronger in terms of technology, competitiveness, and quantitative share of world production for 100 years. World War II resulted in enormous physical destruction throughout the Eurasian land mass, and thus among all the potential economic rivals of the USA, both those who had been allies and those who had been foes during the war. The USA was thus able to establish a new world order, a pax americana, after the long disorder of 1914-45. The pax americana had four pillars. The first was the reconstruction of the major industrial powers, not only its long-time allies in western Europe, but its recent foes, Germany and Japan. Tne motives were multiple. The world-economy needed the reentry of these countries both as major producers and as major customers for US production. The USA needed a network of associates to maintain the world order. And, ideologically, the USA needed to propagate the idea of a 'free world' that was prosperous as a symbol of hope and therefore of moderation for the world's lower strata. The second pillar was an arrangement with the only other serious military power in the world, the USSR. The Soviet Union was ostensibly an ideological rival and potentially an expanding power. In fact, it was quite easy to come to an arrangement in which the Soviet Union had its reserved zone (the 'socialist bloc'). There were four conditions to the deal: there would be absolute peace in Europe; the two blocs would be territorially fixed; the two great powers would maintain internal order in their blocs; the socialist bloc would expect no help in reconstruction from the USA. There were, to be sure, many noisy quarrels, but since none of them ended in breaking the arrangement, we may assume that their purpose was largely for show. The third pillar was US internal unity built around the acceptance of US 'responsibility' in the world-system, anti-Communism at home and abroad, and the end of racial segregation. The fourth pillar was the slow political decolonization of the Third World and modest