Session 14: Ideology and its importance during the Cold War.

An ideology is a hypothetical illustration of a society's political, economic and social structures by an individual or a group based on the views and the perceptions that illustrate what that individual or the group view a structured, an organised and a stable society as. 

The importance of political ideologies may have faded in the twenty first century but these political ideologies played an integral role during the Cold War.

The Cold War commenced informally in 1945, the end of the World War Two when the two Cold War enemies were actually allies and friends. Within two years however, by 1947, these two World War allies emerged as the two Cold War rivals to such an extent that the reasons for their rivalry established the world as bipolar where the United States(US) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic ( USSR), the two world powers got engaged in a rigorous struggle to extent their borders, views and ideas initially in their areas and then globally. With regard to this struggl, ideological differences played a very important role. 

On one hand the US was involved in promoting capitalism that dealt with promoting market principles,  individual freedom and equality of wealth and income. The idealogy of capitalism focused primarily on a democratic style of government and the application of market principles that accumulated on the idea of freedom. The ideology of communism was on the other hand, totally different. It dealt with a totalitarian system of a government with a centralized system of decision making paying very less emphasis on the freedom of individuals and other institutions.

This stark difference between the ideological beliefs of the two superpowers increased the hostility between the two groups and contributed a lot in making the Cold War global as the two superpowers engaged in a rigorous attempt to roll back the influence of their rival and promote their own influence.