The Reorganisation of the Postwar World System and the Imposition of ‘Benevolent’ Hegemony

Abstract

The chaotic situation which arose as a consequence of the Second World War contributed to the creation of an association of core nations. This so-called ‘Western alliance’ was to endure longer than its historical predecessor, the Holy Alliance of the nineteenth century. The postwar arrangements transformed the relationship of the countries involved. Under American leadership, friends and defeated foes became united in a new alliance, while the former wartime ally, the Soviet Union, became the adversary.