The Cold War has no clear winner, it has just impacted many places for better and for worse. Places like East Germany, Poland, and Estonia have benefitted by being far richer now, and being able to have rights and freedoms. The United States army would have gotten smaller after World War II, because we are in peace. The Cold War kept the army large, in attempt to protect against communism. The entire army needed food and supplies, so taxes were raised. The U.S. is richer than when the Cold War started, but income taxes got higher. The Soviet Union broke up, ending the Cold War. In perspective, you could say the United States won because our enemies (Soviet Union) no longer exists.