SOLVED. To prevent another World War, the U.S. and Russia agree to stage small battles with equally armed soldiers every 10 years. [s]

[Susan]

The winning side is declared the world's economic powerhouse for the next ten years. The battle is to the death, so the U.S. rewards the winning soldier anything he wants for the rest of his life.

This book was read in 1980.

[Andy]

Mack Reynolds has a series of stories about this. Checking...

[Andy]

Mercenary from Tomorrow by Mack Reynolds Joe Mauser: Mercenary From Tomorrow

[Andy]

Ah. But wait. The bit about the survivor getting everything he wants for the rest of his life means that this is Walter Moudy's "The Survivor" - see description here https://scifi.stackexchange.com/quest...

[Andy]

Here's a list of places where "The Survivor" is collected
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cg... . If you read it in 1980, you might have read it in 1974's "Political Science Fiction: An Introductory Reader" Political science fiction;: An introductory reader

[Andy]

And the whole text of The Survivor is here https://like-the-hunger-games.blogspo...

[Susan]

I bet that's it. Thank you so much, Andy! You're fabulous. I’m going to check with the patron before marking this solved, but I believe you’ve figured out what our entire reference staff at the library I work at couldn’t!

[Andy]

Great! Glad to help.

[Kris]

Goodreads link for Andy's suggestion - The Survivor by Walter F. Moudy

[Susan]

SOLVED! It is indeed the short story "The Survivor" by Walter F. Moudy, Thank you again, Andy.

[Andy]

Great news. Come back with more questions I can answer!

(P.S. You can move this to the Solved folder by clicking on the tiny "edit" button at the end of the thread title)

[Susan]

Andy wrote: "Great news. Come back with more questions I can answer!

(P.S. You can move this to the Solved folder by clicking on the tiny "edit" button at the end of the thread title)"
Ah. Thank you! I read the instructions but obviously not thoroughly enough. Greatly appreciate your assistance!