I think the myth of the nature of Western victory in the Cold War is as dangerous to us as the "victors" as the actual loss was to the Russians.

We never give the Russians credit where credit is due. Certainly not for their role in the defeat of the Germans in WWII; nor for the role of Gorbachav as a visionary leader who's policies served to empower the people of Eastern Europe to stand up, and who's decision to not crush those who led the revolutionary actions that led to the collapse of the deeply flawed Soviet system in truly leading to our victory.

But the Cold War was not war, and most of our most troubling baggage coming out of that time is from those places where we opted to conduct operations in a war-like manner. It will be generations before we overcome the negative side effects of our decision to employ a containment strategy, and certainly how men like the Dulles brothers opted to implement the same.