World War II through the 1970s Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

World War II through the 1970s - Research Paper Example This is not to say that the bipolar nature of the world, exhibited during the Cold War years did not have an impact upon whether or not the United States continued to grow as a global superpower. Rather, the following analysis to discuss leverage a greater level of understanding with regards to how the United States ultimately came to be the superpower that it is today and continues to exhibit a high degree of leverage and strength with regards decisions that are made throughout. It is the hope of this author that such a level of understanding will useful with regards to allowing the reader to have a more firm grasp of how global dynamics of power are illustrated and the degree and extent to which the United States actively access to retain as global superpower. Firstly, in order to understand why the United States came to be a global superpower, one must realize that ever since 1948, the Bretton Woods Agreement had delineated the United States dollar as the international currency of global exchange. This, in tandem with the fact that the greatest economic competitors the United States had been reduced to smoldering ruins as a result of the Second World War, proved to be the fundamental boost that the United States required in order to dominate global politics. Whereas prior transactions had been based upon a litany of different currencies and exchange rates, with trade delineated in United States dollars, the degree and extent to which the United States could price set and gain a degree of advantage within trade interaction was maximize. As such, with the United States any unique position to benefit from global trade, regardless of where the origin or destination of that trade might be, the United States experienced a unique advantage over all other nations within the system (Gartner, 2013). However, as briefly discussed above, the results of the Second World War meant that the nations of Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, and a litany of other s were ultimately in shambles. As such, the only real competition that existed for the United States within an economic realm was with respect to the Soviet Union. However, due to the fact that the Soviet Union was ultimately a communist nation, it was only a threat with regards to trade and international exchange between themselves and other socialist/communist sympathizing nations (Saull, 2013). As such, the United States ultimately found itself in a position in which it could not only dominate global trade but remain in a position of command and control over this trade with respect to the fact that all trade was carried out by the United States dollar. At face value, it may seem as if the Cold War was ultimately a period in time in which the United States was struggling, both militarily and economically, against another global superpower – the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. However, upon closer inspection, this struggle in and of itself did not necessarily weaken the extent to which the United States could experience a level of benefit and maximize its position as a global superpower. As a result of the nature of the conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States, the entire world was ultimately forced into two distinct camps; those that supported the United States and its allies and those that support the Soviet Union and its allies. As such, the United States was presented with the situation which something of a captive market was for global dominance and. Within this captive market, the United States was able to dominate decision-making, military contracts, the right