The United States was subjected to a global counterattack against the Soviet Union, a food war
Kissinger once said that whoever controls the oil controls the country; And whoever masters the grain controls all the people. Therefore, as the world's largest agricultural country and grain exporter, the United States has regarded grain as an important tool to control the world, which is the so-called food hegemony.
Food hegemony is the double-edged sword of the United States, the carrot is to encircle other countries through food aid, and the big stick is to suppress opponents through food embargo. From 1950 to 1985, there were 10 global food embargoes, eight of which were initiated by the United States, but they did not succeed in every case.
The most unsuccessful was the 1980 grain embargo on the Soviet Union, which not only failed to achieve the desired effect, but instead plunged the United States into a state of rebellion, which was restored many years later.
In this issue, we share the conditions that need to be met to successfully launch a food embargo, using the example of the Soviet Union. In 1979, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the United States began to plan against the soft underbelly of the Soviet Union, food.
The Soviet Union's agricultural technology has always been backward, and there is a large annual food shortage, with imports reaching 25 million tons in the 70s, making it one of the largest grain importers in the world. In 1979, due to climatic reasons, the Soviet Union's grain harvest failed again, and imports in 1980 were expected to reach 34 million to 37 million tons, an increase of 50 percent over previous years.
Worst of all, the United States happened to be the largest grain importer of the Soviet Union, and 65% of domestic imports of wheat and 83% of coarse grains were imported from the United States. Moreover, before the start of the war, the Soviet Union had signed an agreement with the United States to import 25 million tons of grain from the United States, of which 8 million tons were long-term agreements and 17 million tons were commercial orders.
The United States immediately co-opted Argentina, the European Community, Canada, Australia and other major exporters, held a meeting in Washington, and decided to form a head and initiate a grain embargo against the Soviet Union, hoping to starve the Soviet Union and force the Soviet Union to withdraw its troops.
In addition to the past long-term agreement, the remaining 17 million tons of grain are not sold, and other exporting countries are also required to control it within "reasonable limits". In this way, the Soviet Union is dead this time.
However, in 1976, Carter made it clear that the United States would not impose a food embargo on other countries, so this decision was considered a betrayal.
However, despite the severe blow to the Soviet Union, in the end they negotiated with the United States and reached a compromise.
The global food market has been turned upside down in a single embargo. Argentina, the world's second largest feed exporter, took the lead in refusing to enforce the embargo, and quickly reached a grain deal with the Soviet Union, resulting in a sharp increase in international food prices.
Other countries have followed suit, including Canada, Australia, Spain and other countries have expanded their grain exports to the Soviet Union, which has seriously threatened the position of the United States in the international grain market.
At the same time, the embargo has also hit domestic farmers hard, as domestic food prices have begun to fall, business credibility has been damaged, and market share has been stolen by other countries.
The end of this embargo incident cost the United States a huge price, but it also allowed Reagan to seize the opportunity to successfully end Carter's embargo policy and achieve his political goals.
The United States originally wanted to use the food embargo strategy against its own little brother, but it ended up being tricked by everyone, and other countries benefited from it. Ironically, the United States, in order to sell goods, even proposed to the USSR to export grain, but the USSR did not respond.
The United States did not give up on this, assuring the Soviet Union that it would no longer use the food embargo as a diplomatic means, and finally signed a grain agreement with the Soviet Union in 1983. However, the United States did not take advantage of this farce, but became the loser.
Although the Soviet Union was able to obtain a large amount of food, it was ultimately unable to solve the problem of food self-sufficiency due to its economic problems. Therefore, for a successful food embargo to be initiated, three conditions must be met: there is a food shortage in the embargoed country that cannot be resolved; The embargoed countries have financial problems and are unable to pay for the cost of importing food; Embargoed countries are unable to find alternative channels of purchase.
The U.S. food embargo on Chile was successful because it cut off loans to Chile from international financial institutions. However, once the embargoed countries are able to find other sources of purchase, then capital will be profit-seeking, and international grain merchants and other countries will find ways to deliver to their doors, thereby raising the price of food and leading to the financial depletion of the embargoed countries.
Therefore, China must firmly grasp its own grain ** and have no illusions. China is well prepared to not be threatened by other food-importing countries even if there is a food crisis.
So, let's eat our meals and let the outside comments go.