The Soviets have an uninterrupted history of conquest under the banner of liberation and control under the banner of independence. Communist wars of liberation have succeeded in the postwar era because the United States, the only Western power that could have played a leadership role, ignored the plight of the Third World. The key mistake of the West after World War II was its unwillingness to support national liberation movements. In case after case, the United States either stayed neutral in wars of national liberation or took the side of the colonialists.