Free World " Free World " is a Cold War – era term often used by the U . S . and its allies to describe those countries that were not in the sphere of influence of , or allied with communist states , particularly the Soviet Union or the People ' s Republic of China , but which showed a strong commitment to ideologies of liberalism and capitalism . It is often used interchangeably with " First World " . The term usually refers to countries such as the United States , the United Kingdom , France , West Germany , and organizations such as the European Union and NATO . In addition , the " Free World " occasionally includes the Commonwealth realms , Japan , Israel , and India . Authoritarian and dictatorial states were also included in the " Free World " , provided that they were either capitalistic or anti - communist . Notable examples include Spain under Francisco Franco , apartheid - era South Africa , and Greece under the military junta of the late 1960s and early 1970s . Origins . During World War II , the Allied powers viewed themselves as opposing the oppression and fascism of the Axis powers , thus making them " free " . Following the end of World War II , the Cold War conception of the " Free World " included only capitalist and particularly anti - communist states as being " free " . In World War II , the term " free world " was used to refer to the nations fighting against the Axis Powers . Such use would have included the Soviet Union , contrary to the later , " Cold War " definition of the term . Recent usage . Although the " Free World " had its origins in the Cold War , the phrase is still occasionally used after the end of the Cold War , as recently as the early 2010s . According to Samuel P . Huntington the term has been replaced by the concept of the World community which he argues " has become the euphemistic collective noun ( replacing " the Free World " ) to give global legitimacy to actions reflecting the interests of the United States and other Western powers . " Organizations such as Freedom House release a Freedom in the World report every year rating countries based on a scale of free to not - free . Criticism . During the Cold War , many neutral countries , namely those in what is considered the Third World , or those having no formal alliance with either the United States or the Soviet Union , viewed the claim of " Free World " leadership by the United States as somewhat grandiose and illegitimate . The phrase has also used in a negative manner , usually in an anti - American context , by those who do not approve of either United States foreign policy , or the United States as a whole . One of the earliest uses of the term " Free World " as a politically significant term occurs in Frank Capra ' s World War II propaganda film series " Why We Fight " . In " Prelude to War " , the first film of that series , the " free world " is portrayed as a white planet , directly contrasted with the black planet called the " slave world " . The film depicts the free world as the Western Hemisphere , led by the United States and Western Europe , and the slave world as the Eastern Hemisphere , dominated by Nazi Germany and the Japanese Empire . " Leader of the Free World " . The " Leader of the Free World " is a colloquialism , first used during the Cold War , to describe either the United States or the President of the United States . The term , when used in this context , suggests that the United States is the principal democratic superpower , and the U . S . President is , by extension , the leader of the world ' s democratic states , i . e . the " Free World " . The phrase had its origin in the late 1940s , and has become more widely used since the early 1950s . It was heavily referenced in American foreign policy up until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991 , and has since fallen out of use , in part due to its usage in anti - American rhetoric . In popular culture . Canadian singer Neil Young referenced the term in his 1989 song " Rockin ' in the Free World " . In the song , he points out the irony of the many injustices in the " Free World " , especially the United States . British alternative rock band Elbow refer to the term in both their 2005 album name ' Leaders of the Free World ' and their single of the same name . The song criticises Western foreign leaders in the early 21st century , in particular George W . Bush .