It's always been about control of resources

 

This map was published by the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1956 as part of a Symposium organized by the Committee. It is "a quintessential use of the map as an evidentiary weapon.... A black sickle hovers over Moscow, with militant arrows reaching each continent. Each arrow corresponds to a number in the legend, which indicates Techniques Being Used in Each Red ‘Thrust.'".  The targeted strategic commodities are identified across the globe. Communist "Techniques" identified in the text include subversion in South America, encouragement of nationalist terrorists in Africa, arms shipments in the Middle East and guerrilla warfare in Southeast Asia.

Maps of this kind were used frequently in cold war Congressional Hearings: "To be effective as evidence, the map had to conform to the expectations of its users... to provide simple spatial relationships and arguments about capacity that could be absorbed in quick, visual glances."

The Research Institute of America was an organization founded during World War II to provide tax and other regulatory guidance and intelligence for U.S. businesses. Its founder, Leo Cherne, has been called a "consummate ideologue" who "contributed greatly to the national hysteria of mindless anti-Communism," particularly during the Vietnamese War.

Source: Research Institute of America. 1956. "The New Soviet Strategy: Toughest Challenge Yet." In Walter, Francis E. (Chairman), The Great Pretense: a Symposium on Anti-Stalinism and the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party, May 19, 1956. Washington: Committee on Un-American Activities, U.S. House of Representatives.