Whatever Vladimir Putin does in Ukraine, or decides not to do, we are now once again in a Cold War. We were already in it when his forces seized the Crimea, but we chose to look the other way. That is getting harder to do, since it is now clear that Putin will exploit every opportunity to win territory or other concessions.. It’s also likely that Russia and China will work together, with Russia trying to recover all the territory of the old Soviet Union, and China targeting Taiwan.
This is the new geopolitical reality and it’s not likely to go way soon, no matter what happens in Ukraine. And, like its predecessor. the first Cold War (1945 – 1991), Cold War Two poses a constant danger of turning into a hot war, fought with atomic weapons.
The economic and social effects of another Cold War also need to be taken very seriously. The war took the form of a vastly expensive arms race. The old Soviet empire disintegrated under such pressure, but huge, often unmentioned, effects damaged the United States as well. As Cold War One rolled on through the , ‘70s and ‘80s. a consensus emerged in the US that certain things were out of reach, We never argued it out, but with military spending at a high level, a consensus emerged that the US couldn’t afford to do what needed to be done in several crucial areas -- ramping up educational, housing and job opportunities for black citizens, providing universal health care, nipping climate change in its ugly bud. These were casualties of Cold War One, and we are still trying to deal with their consequences.
Cold Wars raise big questions, in this case can democracy stand up against autocracy? In 1945 we had every reason to be confident in democratic governance, American style. We had won victories against the Nazis in Europe and the warlords of Japan in the Pacific. We had beaten back a great depression. Our democracy had worked pretty well, and we had every reason to believe it could solve persistent problems here and abroad. In education that meant that the study of democracy in its historical context , with roots going back through the Enlightenment to the ancient Greeks deserved a central place in education. It was, after all, what Americans and their allies had fought for. That provided focus and purpose in what might otherwise be a technocratic or a smorgasbord education.
Does anyone want to argue that today?
This is the new geopolitical reality and it’s not likely to go way soon, no matter what happens in Ukraine. And, like its predecessor. the first Cold War (1945 – 1991), Cold War Two poses a constant danger of turning into a hot war, fought with atomic weapons.
The economic and social effects of another Cold War also need to be taken very seriously. The war took the form of a vastly expensive arms race. The old Soviet empire disintegrated under such pressure, but huge, often unmentioned, effects damaged the United States as well. As Cold War One rolled on through the , ‘70s and ‘80s. a consensus emerged in the US that certain things were out of reach, We never argued it out, but with military spending at a high level, a consensus emerged that the US couldn’t afford to do what needed to be done in several crucial areas -- ramping up educational, housing and job opportunities for black citizens, providing universal health care, nipping climate change in its ugly bud. These were casualties of Cold War One, and we are still trying to deal with their consequences.
Cold Wars raise big questions, in this case can democracy stand up against autocracy? In 1945 we had every reason to be confident in democratic governance, American style. We had won victories against the Nazis in Europe and the warlords of Japan in the Pacific. We had beaten back a great depression. Our democracy had worked pretty well, and we had every reason to believe it could solve persistent problems here and abroad. In education that meant that the study of democracy in its historical context , with roots going back through the Enlightenment to the ancient Greeks deserved a central place in education. It was, after all, what Americans and their allies had fought for. That provided focus and purpose in what might otherwise be a technocratic or a smorgasbord education.
Does anyone want to argue that today?