Free World
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The Free World is a Cold War-era term often used to describe states not under the rule of the Soviet Union, its European allies, China, Vietnam, Cuba, and other communist nations. The term often referred to states such as the United States, Canada, and democratic European states such as the United Kingdom, France, and Federal Republic of Germany (all members of NATO). In addition, it also sometimes included anti-communist states of the British Commonwealth, Japan, Israel, India, and undemocratic anti-communist states such as Spain under Francisco Franco, South Africa under apartheid, Greece under the military junta (1967-74), Chile under Pinochet, Brazil under military rule (1964-85), and Taiwan under Chiang Kai-Shek (see also "Free China"). It often refers to 1st World countries.
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[edit] "Leader of the Free World"
The Leader of the Free World is a colloquialism, originally used during the Cold War, to describe either the United States or the President of the United States. The term implies that the US is the principal democratic superpower of the time, and its president is, by extension, the leader of all of the world's democratic states: the "Free World."[citation needed] This notion began between 1947 and 1950 and became stronger from 1950. It was heavily used in US foreign policy until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.[1]
During World War II, the United States viewed itself as the de facto leader of the Allies. After the war, the US Cold War conception of the Free World implicitly viewed only capitalist, particularly anti-communist nations as free. People in nations with no formal alliance with the United States viewed the claim of leadership as grandiose and illegitimate.[2]
Although it had a Cold War origin, the phrase is still sometimes used to describe the U.S. President today.[3] The phrase is also used by those who do not approve of America's foreign policy, specifically as a critique of American imperialism[citation needed].
[edit] Cultural influence
- Singer songwriter Neil Young referenced the term in his hit 1989 rock song and protest anthem "Rockin' in the Free World." In the song's verses, a litany of injustices found in industrialized nations, most notably the United States, are contrasted with the flowery rhetoric of politicians such as then-U.S. President and "Leader of the Free World" George H. W. Bush. This is followed by the chorus, "keep on rockin' in the free world," which has been seen as both ironic and empowering. Young recorded two versions of the song- acoustic folk rock and electric hard rock- for his 1989 album Freedom, and in years since, other musicians have covered it widely.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ John Fousek (2000). To lead the free world. UNC Press Books. p. 130. ISBN 0807825255. http://books.google.com/books?id=qGGGt-ui9sgC&pg=PA130.
- ^ Wills, Garry (March-April 1999). "Bully of the free world". Foreign Affairs 78 (2): 50–59.
- ^ "It's time". The Economist. 2008-10-30. http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12516666&source=features_box_main. Retrieved 2008-11-08. "America should take a chance and make Barack Obama the next leader of the free world"
