Haase_UZ_x007E_DTh (2).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

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the second postmodern wave, which corresponds with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
It is crucial to understand that there is an intricate and real relationship between
colonialism, the Cold War, and the rise of the postmodern climate in the West -- which
are extremely complex dynamics that will no doubt be better understood via future
historical consideration. Anti-modernist and postcolonial cultural reactions have also
deeply affected former Soviet nations. B.S. Turner suggests that the fall of Communism
directly coincides with the rise of postmodernism: “These two changes, are without doubt
closely interconnected in cultural and social terms” (Turner, 1994:11). Turner adds that
“the consequence has been that there is no significant political or economic alternative to
organized socialism as the antagonist of Western Capitalism, but it may be that this gap in
the world system will be filled by either Islam or postmodernism” (Turner, 1994:11).
From the end of WWII (1945) to the collapse of the Soviet Union (c.1990), the Cold
War dominated the world scene, involving the Western nations on one side, and on the
other, those nations that had to varying degrees embraced the Communist manifesto (e.g.,
China, Viet Nam). When the Cold War ended, so did the Soviet grip on buffer nations,
which had been incorporated into the Soviet bloc following WWII. In the vacuum that
followed the end of the Cold War, many changes transpired, but two of particular interest
to our discussion: (1) postmodern uncertainties peaked in the West; and (2), global
tensions have shifted, almost predictably, to those between the Islamic world and the
former major players in the Cold War. The obvious reason for these tensions centre
around Middle Eastern crude oil, which has been in high demand since WWII. Islamic
nations (Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc.) control most of the world’s oil reserves, while the
largest consumers are all former Cold War combatants (China, Russia, US, Germany,
etc.). The historic relationship between these major civilizations has often been tense, yet
the demand for limited world oil supplies grows as supplies [naturally] diminish, making
one wonder how much more volatile global relations will be in coming years.
The Cold War period produced two distinct postmodern cultural waves. The first
wave was rooted in frustration with the two world wars and the limited regional conflicts
of the Cold War (i.e., Korea, Viet Nam). The second wave directly concerned the threat
of global nuclear war, which was all too real during the Cold War. Recently declassified
University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa