From 1945-1995, more countries were added to the world map than in any other period. While it may seem that pressure from Cold War countries deterred European colonizers from defending their territories, a more practical theory is that they no longer benefited as much economically from keeping them. Vast stores of energy were needed to keep resources moving and natives subdued. As World War 2 changed the European landscape, it also dismantled jingoism as the main political motivator. Countries in Europe were no longer interested in destroying each other; they wanted to cooperate with each other more. Organizations like the UN, EU, IMF, etc. made it easier for them to trade with each other, thus securing the resources they needed closer to home. That opened the door to many colonial uprisings, which the Cold War superpowers were quick to support or deter, depending on the momentum of their economic position. So, it was economics, not power or nationalism or war, that revolutionized the world map.
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