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GEO 3001 – GEOGRAPHIES OF GLOBAL CHANGE

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What do different visions of development (colonial, Cold War, neoliberal) identify as the threat to

the status quo?

European countries came to North American to increase their wealth and extend their influence

over world affairs. Research shows that the Spanish were among the first Europeans to explore the New

World (Bacon & Norton, 2019). The vision of colonial development enabled the European colonies to

continue strategic offensive across North America in violation of the status quo. This was achieved

through the use of a combination of coercion and co-option. This can be seen as a way of threatening US

power, influence, and interests. The colonial development vision was to overcome the status quo without

unacceptable risks, tools aside from the presence or use of troops. These troops showed force as a means

to undermine America’s status quo, and their actions were in breach of the status quo. This breach was

not defended by the US. It resulted in greater influence for a patron whose interest often conflicted with

those of the US within the system, making North America uneasy by the continued assertion of an

ultimate intention to overthrow the system.

The Cold War developed identified security dilemma as a threat where global conflict sprung

from the status quo. This was not a result of powers like the United States looking for ways to maximize

security but of revisionists powers such as the Soviet Union's interest in maximizing power. Research

evidence shows that the security dilemma fits well with the competition between the US and the Soviet

Union during the Cold War. According to Jervis (2001), security was the foundation on which efforts to

accomplish any further goals were mounted, with some countries willing to risk their own survival to

attain the chance to influence the rest of the world based on their values. At the time, both the US and the

Soviet Union sought to improve their status quo. However, some scholars do not consider security as

being tied to a particular historical era. Instead, in their perspective, it accounts for the fundamentally

tragic nature of international life where leaders seek for peace and stability but result in military conflict.
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Neoliberal ideology refers to a configuration of socio-economic and politico-cultural relations

that have become a significant component of the status quo. In the US, there are numerous histories of

neoliberalism. For example, the Clinton Administrate promoted neoliberal ideology by signing the North

American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law (Glass, 2018). Neoliberal visions of development

identify as the threat to the status quo the ability to obscure systemic social relations of powers as means

of crowing every person as the master of their own fate. In the process, neoliberalism becomes a

meaningful discourse that convinces individuals to refute their interdependence with each other. In

achieving this, neoliberal ideology becomes a threat to the status quo because it allows Americans to

develop an understanding that competition along with the suffering of the poor is natural and necessary.

When taken as a whole, it becomes apparent that the visions of neoliberal ideology area configuration of

discursive and material practices globalizing individualism as means of transforming the world into a

market (Springer, 2012).

How have different styles of development (colonial, Cold War, neoliberal) sought to regulate or

control this threat?

Colonial development sought to control the threat to America's status quo by resisting the

imposition of what people considered illegitimate authority structures. The cold war era helped regulate

the threat to America's assertive status quo by allowing policymakers to formulate strategies on a national

level that would limit what America could accomplish. In the process, this resulted in the US coexisting

with the Soviet Union through diplomacy. The acceptance of the Soviet's Union's status quo throughout

the world resulted in good relations. It is evident that the Cold War ended following crucial changes that

took place within the Soviet Union. Accepting the status quo was instrumental in working collectively to

find the best way to solve disputes within the international order (Collins, 2010). Neoliberal ideology has

changed the threat to the American status quo by allowing government intervention. For example, instead

of paying much attention to neoliberal priorities, there have been numerous cuts in social insurance
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programs in the US, including scaling back the health reform. Besides, reforms in financial regulation

have also been implemented (Polivka, 2012).

What do these histories of development tell us about the politics of development in the era of the

Anthropocene? Who does development benefit, and how does it benefit these people rather than

others?

Today, we live in an age of unparalleled human impact on the planet, sometimes referred to as the

Anthropocene. The histories of development show that the colonial era planted the seeds for the profound

current prosperity and development in the US. Besides, the histories of development also tell us about the

politics of development in the era of Anthropocene that the development of countries supported by the

economic viewpoint of growth prompts the need to implement development policies. This will include

promoting social norms that encourage nature-friendly behaviors. Patrick (2020) argues that education

can promote the values of sustainable development. The histories of development also emphasize the

need to deploy incentives and regulations to make development nature-friendly, including activities like

carbon pricing. They also demonstrate the importance of harnessing nature itself as a way of promoting

human development. One way to achieve this is to consider investing in nature-based solutions that will

play a critical role in advancing social progress and in helping restore the balance between people and the

planet. Some of those activities might include reforestation and the restoration of wetlands. The histories

of development tell us that development politics helps to design new types of international relationships

that assume formal sovereignty but distributed power. According to Engerman (2016), this plays a crucial

role in giving rise to a novel institutional environment where organizations without any single authority

might gain influence and control. Those histories also tell us that development politics reflects a growing

need to examine the actions of those outside the US, including international and no-governmental

organizations. This is the only way we can develop a better understanding of development occurring

within and beyond the UN and the impacts that those organizations might have on development politics.

In other terms, this will involve studying transnational networks that continue to shape development.
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References

Bacon, J. M., & Norton, M. (2019). Colonial America Today: US Empire and the Political Status of

Native American Nations. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 61(2), 301–331.

Colins, B. (2010, October 7). USA: Status Quo or Revisionist Power? https://www.e-

ir.info/2010/10/07/usa-status-quo-or-revisionist-power/

Engerman, D. C. (2016). Development Politics and the Cold War. Diplomatic History, 41(1), 1–19.

Glass, A. (2018, August 12). Clinton signs NAFTA into law, Dec. 8, 1993. Politico.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/08/clinton-signs-nafta-into-law-dec-8-1993-1040789

Jervis, R. (2001). Was the Cold War Security Dilemma. Journal of Cold War Studies, 3(1), 36-60.

Patrick, S.M. (2020, December 21). It’s Time for a New Concept of Development Adapted to the

Anthropocene. https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/29303/it-s-time-for-a-new-concept-

of-development-adapted-to-the-anthropocene

Polivka, L. (2012). The Growing Neoliberal Threat to the Economic Security of Workers and Retirees.

The Gerontologist, 52(1), 133–144.

Springer, S. (2012). Springer, S. (2012). Neoliberalism as Discourse: Between Foucauldian Political

Economy and Marxian Poststructuralism. Critical Discourse Studies, 9(2), 133-147.