Food for leverage : United States food aid as a political weapon of the Cold War

Abstract

As World War II came to an end, the United States of America had boosted its food production to such a level, that they could be seen as having a food regime, a dominating status in the world market for food. During the Cold War, The United States of America used its massive quantities of food surplus to create a system of global food aid to countries in need, under the program known as Public Law 480. This program was used to provide food aid assisting these countries to fight famine and poverty, but simultaneously it was used to persuade, blackmail, and force them into political and economic dependency of the United States during the Cold War era.

The purpose of this thesis was to study how Public Law 480 came to be, and how it was used during the Cold War as a political tool to influence other nations. This study covers the founding of Public Law 480 and how that ties in with the American food regime, how American food aid effected the recipient countries development and economy, in what ways was food aid used to gain political leverage and dependency, and how this all ties into the larger picture of the Cold War. This goal was achieved by studying food aid delivered under Public Law 480 to different countries, and the decision making behind those deals, and then looking into how the food delivered from these deals impacted the recipient nations in different cases.

The findings of the study showed that Public Law 480 food aid was in many cases continued far beyond the initial goal of famine prevention, and used to create dependency, and influence political behavior, decision making and development of the recipient countries in order to serve Cold War goals of U.S. foreign politics. This was most blatant in Asian countries, as their strategic value during the Cold War was high, and food aid was an effective tool considering these countries developmental state and need for food aid. The overflow of American food delivered to the recipient countries in most cases caused them to neglect their local food production, as the recourse freed up by American food was in most cases directed towards industrialization or military projects, depending on the individual country’s current needs. This strategic leverage gained from Public Law 480 food aid was used to block Soviet or other communist influence in these countries and to make these countries align themselves more strongly to the U.S.

The study shows that food aid deals done under Public Law 480 during the era of American food regime that lasted until the 1970’s were used in multiple ways to achieve political goals of the United States during the Cold War. Public Law 480 deals were used to either directly influence the policies and decision making of the recipient country, or to create a relationship of dependency towards the United States, that would affect the recipient’s behavior in a more naturally evolving way. Public Law 480 food aid deals also had a long lasting and a significant impact on the recipient countries development and industrialization, altering much of the geopolitical landscape of Asia. Public Law 480 food deals were used to create and uphold multiple nations alliance status towards the United States, therefore playing a role in the Cold War era global politics, and how our world politics would be in the modern era.