A Study On The US Wedge Strategy In The Cold War

The core issue touched upon in this dissertation is how the United States usedwedge strategy to differentiate the socialist camp headed by the Soviet Union duringthe Cold War. The wedge startegy used by the US was not only to differentiate,weaken or dismantle the alliances that the Soviet Union had formed, but also toprevent other countries from keeping in touch or building alliances with the SovietUnion.Through the ages, wedge strategy has been frequently used, but the study on itwith a theoretical and strategical perspective is still inadequate. Wedge strategy isdefined as a macro planning and implementing skill that aims at the realizaiton ofalliances’, state actors’ or sub-state actors’s strategic objectives of detering theformation of potential hostile alliances or differentiating certain existing hostilealliances through a comprehensive utilization of political, economic, and militaryresources and strategic means like accommodation and confrontation. The four aimsof wedge strategy are realignment, dealignment, prealignment and disalignment. Toachieve these goals, actors normally use two means, namely selective accommodationand confrontation. As wedge strategy goes to every expedient, it’s hard to classify allits means.During the Cold War period, the means of wedge strategy used by theUnited States could be divided, based on an ascending intensity scale, into fourcategories, namely linguistic, economic, political and military types. In detail, thelinguistic wedge strategy mainly includes the propaganda warfare and psychologicalwarfare; economic wedge strategy incorporates economic aid and economic sanctions;political wedge strategy involves endorsement and subversion; military wedgestrategy mainly consists of military aid, military sanctions and military conquest. Inaddition, detente and negotiation are also among strategic choices.The means of wedge strategy is basically determined by three factors: strategicinterests, strategic resistance and strategic resources. Besides, domestic preference canalso have an effect. Based on the choice of the means of wedge strategy by the UnitedStates during the Cold War period, we can generally come to the following threeassumptions. First, the more important the strategic interests are, the more possible itis for the United States to take a high-intensity wedge strategy; Second, the greater thestrategic resistance is, the more possible it is for the United States to take alow-intensity wedge strategy; Third, the richer the strategic resources are, the morepossible it is for the United States to take a high-intensity wedge strategy. It can betherefore inferred that the United States primarily takes a middle-intensity wedgestrategy in the Far East, a low-intensity wedge strategy in Eastern Europe, ahigh-intensity wedge strategy in Latin America and a low-intensity wedge strategy inMiddle East and Africa.During the Cold War, wedge strategy was an important strategic choice underU.S’ overall containment strategy, which took effects on the loosing of the relationsbetween the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, division of the Sino-Sovietalliance and limit for the expansion of influence of the Soviet Union in the third world.In order to differentiate the Sino-Soviet alliance, the United States mainly took a confrontational wedge strategy so that the US could build up pressure, mainlyeconomic pressure and nuclear deterrence through which the US could intensify theinternal difficulties and contradictions within the Sino-Soviet alliance, and even causethe alliance to collapse. To break the relations between the Soviet Union and EasternEuropean countries, the United States had instilled and gradually cultivated theinclination of anti-Soviet Union in the Soviet’s Eastern European satellite states andweakened the unity of the socialist camp via psychological warfare and economicwarfare, which had brought unignorable effects on the collapse of the Soviet Unionand Eastern European countries. The United States had also frequently used wedgestrategy in other parts of the world, including the powerful and disruptive wedgestrategy in Latin America, the continuously-aidding wedge strategy in the Middle Eastand the favor-offering wedge strategy in Africa.During the Cold War, the wedge strategy of the United States were mainly usedfor three purposes. First, to limit the expansion of the sphere of influence of the SovietUnion and deter other countries to join in the socialist camp; Second, to differentiatethe socialist camp, exacerbate the difficulties within the Soviet bloc and make internaldestructive impacts; Third, to draw the periphery alliances of the Soviet Union over tothe U.S. strategic side by means of carrot and stick. In general, the wedge strategyused by the United States during the Cold War was primarily aimed at limiting andweakening the socialist camp headed by the Soviet Union. Its action mechanism liedin the elevation of the cost for countries to ally with the socialist camp, or theaggravation of the difficulties within the socialist camp so that targeted countrieswould be less willing to bear their alliance duties.As we look at the future, as long as the power struggle in international relationsremains, wedge strategy is unlikely to disappear from the stage of history. It turnspretty clear that Russia and NATO are competing in Russia’s neighboring regions andUS and China are struggling for influence sphere in the Asian Pacific region. Theresearch and application of wedge strategy should thus turn to areas like competitionsin international influence, regional leadership and regional integration.If China wantsto expand its international influence and gain more international support, it must fullyunderstand the wedge strategy, learn its core mechanism and make use of it for futureand successful diplomatic strategies.