THE COLD WAR AND THE WEST
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the alternative is nuclear war. I am not thinking of the next five
years, but of something like ten to twenty years ahead. I believe that
if there were such disarmament, the West's prospects could be rela–
tively good. That is, I can imagine the whole American continent,
Western Europe, perhaps India and parts of Africa, surviving as
good societies even when the Communist societies are much further
along the road.
7. No.
DENNIS H. WRONG
The cold war both in fact and in name originated in
Europe as a result of the presence of Soviet power in the heart of
the continent after the Second World War.
It
shortly acquired a
world-wide aspect, something that was easily forseeable, especially
after the victory of the Chinese Communists, but which still sur–
prises and horrifies the short-sighted as first Africa and then Latin
America are apparently drawn into its orbit. Insofar as the cold war
means "peaceful" competition between rival social and political sys–
tems, the West is not merely winning but has already won in Europe.
The Soviet leaders have recently resorted to crude nuclear diplomacy
in the hope of reversing the outcome of the political and economic
struggle.
If
they succeed, the intrinsic appeal of Soviet Communism
will have had little to do with the result, although this may be small
consolation. The very features of Communist totalitarianism which
account for its failures in peaceful competition enable it to exploit
the fear of nuclear war in ways that cannot be matched by the
United States and its allies. Consideration of Europe, raises the chil–
ling issues of arms and nuclear policy rather than "winning the cold
war," which has relevance only to the underdeveloped countries.
The Communists obviously possess immense advantages in Asia.
Africa and Latin America. Their ideological messianism, the reality
of their achievements in forcibly and brutally modernizing backward
countries, and the lack of an overseas imperialist past on the part
of Russia and China combine to permit a many-sided appeal to
