New Cold Wars

June 15, 2024
A study of the unexpected reemergence of superpower conflict after the supposed reign of peace following the end of the old Cold War. As New York Times White House and national security correspondent Sanger notes, it's miraculous that the protagonists of the old Cold War, extending four decades, managed to keep the war cold instead of hot. We may not be so lucky with the new Cold War: Putin's frustrated project in Ukraine may lead to his reaching for the nuclear button. Against the rise of Russia and China, the U.S. has not developed a coordinated response. While the Biden administration's policy of engagement with China is largely positive, it is poorly articulated: "Biden's own cabinet members do not share a common understanding of what 'engagement' with China means." The West views Russia either as a failing giant that no longer plays much of a role on the world stage or as an emergent threat with designs on invading not just Ukraine, but also retaking and remaking the old Soviet Empire. (The latter view, Sanger notes, is a little off: Putin wants to be Peter the Great, not Stalin.) In whatever instance, the U.S. has lost some of its suzerainty in the world; even Henry Kissinger, toward the end of his life, conceded that the time when it set the rules for the world order was over. That does not mean the U.S. should not stand up to Russia and China, especially now that the latter's rapid rise seems to have slowed down in a kind of malaise. Regardless, Sanger warns that America's leadership has been damaged in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and the Trump administration's policy of disengagement, which threatens to resume with the next election. A provocative treatise for foreign-policy wonks, calling for both engagement and peaceful competition.

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