Struggles Between Elite Powers and Those Countries Without Below Them.

 It was said that the US only followed the advice from Ambassador Harriman who said the administration should only supply help to the Soviets only if they “played the international gave with us in accordance with our standards.” 2

Another struggle between the Elite powers and the non-elites was between the US and Japan. The decrees that were placed on Japan from the US resulted in five major changes for the country. They included such things as the enfranchisement of Japanese women (where they could vote), the liberation of school instruction, the creation of labor unions, the elimination of institutions and the democratization of Japan’s economic structure. The Japanese embraced the changes but felt that they didn’t need to be pushed into acting on them. They felt that if given enough time, they would have modernized by themselves. 3

The United States was involved in many struggles with the lesser powers. Another example of this is the struggle between the United States and Vietnam. America, while involved in the wars of Indochina, felt that there wasn’t enough force in Vietnam from the French forces, and by 1954, we were paying for nearly 80 percent of their war efforts. After the French ended their involvement in Vietnam, the US saw the land as use for battleground during the Cold War belonging to the Chinese and inevitably the Russians.

This war (which ended in 1975) was not a success for the US. It caused many countries and citizens to rebel against many beliefs that the White House held at the time. The Vietnamese were not in fear of attacks from the Americans, they were outraged against them. 4  In an editorial in the New Yorker, a staff writer wrote “…Something stranger than the victory of one side over the other was going on. Not only was the side supported by the United States collapsing; the world view that had given the war its importance in the eyes of American officialdom was collapsing too. The system of friendships and enmities that had provided the policy with what Secretary of State Henry Kissinger calls its “coherence” was in disarray.” 5 America lost allies after this war as well, including the support from the South Vietnamese president Thieu.

Yet another struggle was between the European powers and Africa who was attempting to de-colonize. The most important consequence that the Africans experienced with decolonization was an ugly flowering into an unmanageable overspending and debt. Whereas, colonialism had a set public expenditure, and investment and borrowing opportunities that were in line with the colony’s capacity to pay. 6  

One last example of these struggles is the struggle in Latin America. The citizens were in a struggle of their own against the communists which is shown in Camilo Torres’ “Christianity, Communism and Revolution in Latin America”. Torres argues that “I have said that I am a revolutionary as a Colombian, as a sociologist, as a Christian and as a priest. I believe that there are elements within the Communist Party which are genuinely revolutionary, Consequently, I cannot be anti-Communist either as a Colombian, as a sociologist, as a Christian or a priest.” 7

The Elite powers in the end, wanted all or nothing to say the least. While the countries below them struggled for recognition (Vietnam, Africa, and Latin America) very few gained all that they wanted. Granted today, they have become more respected; they might never get to a place where they want to be, with the Elites.

1.  James L. Gormly, “Origins of the Cold War,” Dennis Sherman, et al, eds., World Civilizations. Sources, Images, and Interpretations (New York, 2002), II, 317.
2. Ibid., p. 318.
3. Hasegawa Nyozekan, “The Last Japan,” Dennis Sherman, et al, eds., World Civilizations. Sources, Images, and Interpretations (New York, 2002), II 318.
4. James Cameron, “The Vietnam War: A Reporter with the Vietcong,” Dennis Sherman, et al, eds., World Civilizations. Sources, Images, and Interpretations (New York, 2002), II 313.
5. “The War in Vietnam,” Dennis Sherman, et al, eds., World Civilizations. Sources, Images, and Interpretations (New York, 2002), II 323.
6. “Economic Decolonization and Arrested Development in Africa,” Dennis Sherman, et al, eds., World Civilizations. Sources, Images, and Interpretations (New York, 2002), II 321.
7. Camilo Torres, “Christianity, Communism and Revolution in Latin America,” Dennis Sherman, et al, eds., World Civilizations. Sources, Images, and Interpretations (New York, 2002), II 307.