In what ways do you think that by looking at the Cold War through the conventional wisdom, the U.S. may have missed opportunities to shape the world

In what ways do you think that by looking at the Cold War through the conventional wisdom, the U.S. may have missed opportunities to shape the world in other directions?  Was that ever a possibility?  (What I mean here, is by seeing the world in black and white or capitalist/communist, did the U.S. miss some connections that may have been communist or socialist and yet supported U.S. interests?)