Running Head: AMERICA: POST WORLD WAR II 1

How World War II Transformed the Role of America in the World.

Name

Institution
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The aftermath World War II led to the establishment of the United States as a global

muscle rather than an isolationist. It explicitly placed America as an economic powerhouse

overcoming the Soviet Union and Great Britain. One of the driving factors was the easily

accessible, available, and reliable American dollar, which was now considered the most valuable

currency in the international market (Burton, 2020). The economic recession orchestrated due to

World War II saw Britain lose its position as a global leader. The U.S, armed with the notion of

America as the land of the free, which offered liberty in all aspects of life, insured and stamped

the position of America as an emerging global leader (Chafe, 2003).

With the prospects of avoiding another world war, the U.S oversaw the creation of

institutes such as the United Nations; established through the United Nations Charter, the

International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization. They all

aimed to cushion and help alleviate the effects of World War II on different countries. Hampson

(2015) opines that both events during and the aftermath of the war established the U.S as a global

leader in scientific innovations such as medicine, e.g., the invention of Penicillin, the invention

of military equipment, e.g., stealth fighter jets, and the championing of America as a democratic

and economic powerhouse. He adds that "It is during the final summer of the war, 1945, the

seedlings of a new United States of America were sown."

The years preceding the First World War saw the U.S adopt a neutral stand. It isolated

itself from interfering in the affairs of other countries. The emerging situation in World War II

necessitated the U.S to change its stand and position itself as an actual world new order (Jeffries,

2018). The war had social and cultural effects; for instance, the defining role of women in

society, the selling of the American culture through movies, i.e., Hollywood, and the presence of
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American goods such as Coca-Cola in the global market. The U.S defined the liberal modern

way of life.

Referencing

Burton, Kristen D. (2020). Great Responsibilities and New Global Power. Retrieved 28 June

2022, from https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/new-global-power-after-

world-war-ii-1945#:~:text=World%20War%20II%20transformed%20the,of%20the

%20%22American%20era.%22

Chafe, W. H. (2003). The unfinished journey: America since World War II. Oxford University

Press, USA.

Hampson, Rick. (2015) 70 years later: How World War II Changed America. USA TODAY.

Retrieved 28 June 2022, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/18/70-

years-later-how-world-war-ii-changed-america/30334203/.

Jeffries, J. W. (2018). Wartime America: The World War II Home Front. Rowman & Littlefield.