<p><ins class="ice-ins ice-cts-1" data-changedata="" data-cid="2" data-last-change-time="1524855164398" data-time="1524855164398" data-userid="162" data-username="Author">World War&nbsp;II changed the political alignment and social structure of the world. The&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations">United Nations</a>&nbsp;(UN) was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_power" title="Great power">great powers</a>&mdash;China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States&mdash;became the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_members_of_the_United_Nations_Security_Council" title="Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council">permanent members</a>&nbsp;of the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council" title="United Nations Security Council">United Nations Security Council</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-The_UN_Security_Council_9-0"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II#cite_note-The_UN_Security_Council-9">[7]</a></sup>&nbsp;The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superpower" title="Superpower">superpowers</a>, setting the stage for the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War" title="">Cold War</a>, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decolonisation_of_Africa" title="Decolonisation of Africa">decolonisation of Africa</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decolonisation_of_Asia" title="Decolonisation of Asia">Asia</a>began. Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post%E2%80%93World_War_II_economic_expansion" title="Post–World War II economic expansion">economic recovery</a>. Political integration, especially&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_integration" title="European integration">in Europe</a>, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities and to create a common identity.</ins></p>
