Open AccessThe East Lost the Cold war, but did the West Win?
Author(s) -
Curtis Bauer
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
crossing boundaries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1718-4487
pISSN - 1711-053X
DOI - 10.21971/p71p41
Subject(s) - cold war , ideology , capitalism , democracy , politics , political science , political economy , berlin wall , period (music) , development economics , economic history , history , economics , law , physics , acoustics
Clearly the East lost the Cold War to the West, suffering total economic and political collapse by the late 1980s. Yet it is not entirely clear if or what the West won. Western economies continue to labor under the extensive military commitments. The ideology of liberal democracy, although laudable, is difficult to implement. Capitalism, as an economic system, is torn between the need for perpetual growth and the protection of a fragile environment. Was the end of the Cold War truly "the end of history" as some suggest, or do the lessons of the period stand instead as a cautionary for the future?