The Cold War is back ¡ª or at least its rhetoric. U.S. President Joe Biden wants to forge an ¡°alliance of democracies¡± against the world¡¯s ¡°autocracies.¡± The New York Times isn¡¯t alone in thinking that ¡°the world is increasingly dividing into distinct if not purely ideological camps, with both China and the United States hoping to lure supporters.¡±
This would be a profoundly disturbing development if true. The real danger ahead, however, is not so much a new cold war as binary modes of thinking that see stark divisions and antagonisms where none exist.
Politicians and journalists might find it useful to define the world through oppositions; doing so might even appear to help a polarized society such as the U.S. unite against a perceived enemy. But, as in the U.S.-Soviet rivalry, such either-or thinking can cause a fatal disconnection with reality.
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