How bipolar competition narrowed military roles

The Cold War's simplified red-versus-blue framework differed from the more complicated multipolar world that preceded and followed it. Political, economic, and military choices were organised around two blocs and one principal European theatre. A navy could claim global reach while being heavily specialised for anti-submarine warfare, and an army could possess many units without balanced formations, because allies were expected to cover the missing roles. This institutional inheritance still hampers leaders trained by generations for whom every other contingency was secondary.