[seydor]

> to help them contain the Soviets.

Why would they want to contain the soviets if not to benefit from global trade? The benefits outweigh the costs very much, thats why they did it.

Surely the US stands to come out safe, it is a very safe country, but if it won't be richer anymore, it will also stop being an immigration hotspot. Immigration, globalization and empire building go hand in hand, and the past century was America's turn. But this construction seems to be dissolving.

[DennisP]

I think you're drastically underestimating how much the US feared an expansionist USSR during the Cold War, and the worries just after WWII that the Soviets might just roll across Europe.

If things play out as Zeihan expects, the US will be a bit less rich, but will be far better off than anyone else in the world.