Bretton Woods Smart Power
Jack Gross
With the deal at Bretton Woods, the United States began to establish smart power. What the United States did was they ensured that they would help Europe recover from World War II. What they promised is that they would not establish tariffs and trade duties. In fact what they promised was quite the opposite, the United States agreed to provide full security for all maritime trade in a new global trading system, and that others would have full access to a massive consumer market and under only the idea that participants would open their markets to American goods. This was an exercise in smart power as the United states was using its Navy (Hard Power) in order to help other economies recover (Soft Power) and to establish global trade. Immediately everyone agreed to it and as the war came to a conclusion, American markets opened up and bought up practically anything that Western Europeans produced, boosting their economy back into one of influence. The deal however was not just one for its allies, the U.S. Navy protected all trade, even that not including it at all. As the worlds markets grew the cost of this rose and it continues to do so, but America is not slipping, we have maintained the same portion of global GDP as it did when the deal was made, and the same proportion of global defense outlays. The Bretton Woods deal was an exercise in smart power as it utilized both Hard and Soft power.
With the deal at Bretton Woods, the United States began to establish smart power. What the United States did was they ensured that they would help Europe recover from World War II. What they promised is that they would not establish tariffs and trade duties. In fact what they promised was quite the opposite, the United States agreed to provide full security for all maritime trade in a new global trading system, and that others would have full access to a massive consumer market and under only the idea that participants would open their markets to American goods. This was an exercise in smart power as the United states was using its Navy (Hard Power) in order to help other economies recover (Soft Power) and to establish global trade. Immediately everyone agreed to it and as the war came to a conclusion, American markets opened up and bought up practically anything that Western Europeans produced, boosting their economy back into one of influence. The deal however was not just one for its allies, the U.S. Navy protected all trade, even that not including it at all. As the worlds markets grew the cost of this rose and it continues to do so, but America is not slipping, we have maintained the same portion of global GDP as it did when the deal was made, and the same proportion of global defense outlays. The Bretton Woods deal was an exercise in smart power as it utilized both Hard and Soft power.
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