Student Question
Who won the Cold War?
Quick answer:
The Cold War did not end with a formal victory, but it is generally accepted that the United States and its allies won. This ideological conflict pitted communism against democratic and free-market systems. Today, communism has largely disappeared, with only a few small countries remaining truly communist. While China remains nominally communist, it does not adhere to traditional communist principles. Thus, the democratic and free-market systems prevailed, marking a victory for the West.
Since the Cold War was not a real war, it did not end with a peace treaty and a formal winner. However, the only way to answer this is to say that the US and its allies won the Cold War.
The Cold War was a contest to see whether communism would dominate the world or whether a more democratic and free market system would dominate. Today, communism is essentially gone. There is no communist state that has any credible hope of spreading its ideology around the world. China is a very strong country and is nominally communist, but it is not truly a communist country.
Not all of the world is democratic. However, only a couple of small countries are truly communist. Communism is essentially dead, which means the West won the Cold War.
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