The Cold War is back — 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.