Great-Power Competition Is Bad for Democracy
▻https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2022-07-14/great-power-competition-bad-democracy
The Washington establishment’s view that great-power conflict is a net good for the United States derives from a tortured reading of Cold War history. In this view, Soviet rivalry provoked the passage of civil rights legislation, the space race led to innovations in technology and computerization, and the Cold War economy created affluence and enabled homeownership for many Americans. This historical interpretation of the Cold War lies behind recent legislation, including the 2021 Strategic Competition Act and the 2022 America COMPETES Act, both of which seek to marshal federal resources to spur economic development and job creation, all in an effort to compete with China.
But the Cold War’s influence is much more complicated—and grimmer—than policymakers’ standard telling of it.