The Cold War ended some 22 years ago. But are we better off as individuals and as societies?
eace
interesting question ...and probably no easy answer.
the answer will depend .... some material I have seen indicates that once the cold war was over and there was no need to compete against the USSR for hearts and minds ... in some parts of the developing world, so despite both sides manipulating these regions for their own ends during the cold war, at the end they were faced with indifference. with the legacy of colonialism and cold war rivalries, this contributed to "failed state" scenarios, and new types of wars.
Had the cold war continued, would Afghanistan have been left to fester, providing a haven for terrorists to use as a base?
how might Somalia be today? what about some of the other states in Africa where Islamism (ie political Islam) is on the rise?
Latin America - or at least those countries where internal politics was influenced by the US's desire to stamp out communism, have now become better off, on average. but would argentina and chile have suffered so much without this kind of interference?
When I travelled extensively in Eastern Europe a few years ago, I often met older people who said they were better off before ... and in many places I could see the poverty, so perhaps they were ... many young people seemed desperate to migrate because they saw less opportunity in their own countries. BUT ... they could. unlike my friend who had defected, and who had been unable to return and see her family for decades. Also, while there was incredible poverty, there was also a lot of money, and many seemed to be doing well. Even ordinary people seemed quite comfortable. but for others, the reality of life was also one where there was higher crime rates, greater homelessness, and for many women, prostitution had become the means to earn a living.
In the west ... we don't fear MAD .... but we have had terrorist attacks and developed a fear of a new enemy, and our nations have been involved with long drawn out wars just as they had been during the cold war.
the economy ... probably better, although since the end of the cold war, there has been a greater divergence in income in the west - which to my mind is a bad thing. I am not sure that this isn't somehow related to the absence of a viable "other" economic model - even if it wasn't one we hoped to emulate, it may have helped to keep our excesses in check.
as an individual I cannot say which aspects of my life may be better due to other things, rather than the end of the cold war other than that I would have found it difficult - or impossible - to visit some of the places I have been had the cold war continued.