The Principal Contradiction by Torkil Lauesen

Author:Torkil Lauesen [Lauesen, Torkil]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Kersplebedeb Publishing
Published: 2020-07-10T04:00:00+00:00

3. USA vs. the Third World

Finally, there was the contradiction “USA vs. the Third World.” This contradiction wasn’t new. The USA had long played an imperialist role in Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the Philippines. But with decolonization and neocolonialism, this contradiction became more pronounced. The global network of US navy and air force bases was not only established to combat communism but also to increase the USA’s influence in the Third World. At the same time, the situation in the Third World was changing. This was the beginning of the era of decolonization and national liberation movements. At the Bandung Conference in 1955, many Asian and African countries stressed the importance of independence from both East and West and the development of their national economies. Iran nationalized its oil industry in 1951; Egypt took control of the Suez Canal in 1956; Iraq experienced a nationalist revolution and the nationalization of its oil industry in 1958. From Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines to Angola, Cuba, and Guatemala, anti-imperialist liberation movements were on the offensive. Had they been victorious, imperialism’s reach would have shrunk even further than the third of the globe already lost to the socialist bloc. In other words, they had to be fought.

If we are trying to identify the principal contradiction at a certain point in history, we must consider more than the general, abstract contradictions of “capital vs. labor,” “imperialism vs. anti-imperialism,” and so forth. Principal contradictions can be seen, felt, and traced very concretely. They are tangible in economic developments and political conditions. Actors can be identified in the form of governments, parties, corporations, and social movements. Let us look at the interactions of the three contradictions sketched above to bring us closer to identifying the principal contradictions during different phases between 1945 and the end of the century.

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