If we want to avoid the nightmare of another superpower arising that behaves in that fashion, we would be wise to learn how it was able to amass so much power.

If we want to avoid the nightmare of another superpower arising that behaves in that fashion, we would be wise to learn how it was able to amass so much power. Also, just because part a system is bad doesn't mean there's nothing to learn from it. The Soviets had some truly amazing technological achievements, especially in physics, and they often did their work on a shoestring budget. Learning and debating alternative systems is a good thing. Even if those systems were evil as a whole, there might be valuable insights somewhere within them.