Beyond the Power Blocs

The cold war has been a demoralizing force in American life, forcing us to concentrate on such questions as security and prestige. It inspired the hysteria of the McCarthy period and the anxiety that has marked our relations with the rest of the world. But the cold war has also been an exhilirating time in American history. It has pushed our frontiers beyond the Western hemisphere to the mainland of Asia and the jungles of Africa. It has made the United States, for the first time in its history, a global power.

Because of the contest with Russia over power and ideology, the United States became involved in countries very remote from traditional American interests and pledged itself to a struggle that knew no territorial limitation...