How did widespread decolonization contribute to the Cold War?

Question

How did widespread decolonization contribute to the Cold War?

A.
Newly independent governments wanted nothing to do with either the United States or the Soviet Union and so banded together to form NATO.

B.
Former colonial powers became angry at the United States–Soviet Union power plays for newly independent governments and united against them.

C.
Newly independent governments used the United States and the Soviet Union to gain the most economic aid possible without committing ideologically to either.

D.
The United States feared that the Soviet Union would entice newly independent governments to communism and countered with economic and military aid.

Answer 1

D. The United States feared that the Soviet Union would entice newly independent governments to communism and countered with economic and military aid. Widespread decolonization created many new independent countries that were vulnerable to influence from the two superpowers. The United States and the Soviet Union competed for these countries' allegiance. The United States, fearing the spread of communism, offered economic and military aid to newly independent countries to keep them from falling into the Soviet sphere of influence. This competition for influence contributed to the tensions of the Cold War.