With the end of WWII, a multitude of new issues and struggles were brought to the World's attention. The world population was growing dramatically triggering increasing demands for food. At the same time, increasing tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union led to a political and economic Cold War. By the 50s agricultural innovation in the form of high-yield variety crops (HYVs), could increase crop yields across the world and quickly became a key component of American agricultural aid. With this innovation, the two most prominent issues of the period, the Cold War and worries about food security,  were connected. The invention of HYVs acted as a turning point in American History, as it ultimately gave the U.S. a major advantage over the Soviets during the Cold War. American agricultural aid in the form of HYVs was the sole reason many developing nations could achieve food security, which reaffirmed their faith in democracy and capitalism, and prevented these countries from falling to communism.