But while high-flown ideological battles between Putinism and Western liberalism have often taken center stage, the outcome of the new global conflict rests largely on economic competition.
In the last cold war, the American economic system proved stronger and more robust than the Soviet-style command economy.
One side of the new cold war is led by countries like China and Russia, whose economic power rests on their control of physical goods.
As in Cold War I, the current conflict has produced a miscellaneous group of “nonaligned” nations that seek to keep their distance from both camps.
Whatever its origins, in Cold War II the Ukraine war represents as dramatic an escalation of hostilities as the Korean War did in Cold War I.
A dependency of the U.S. during Cold War I, Japan has emerged as an important ally of the U.S. against China in today’s Cold War II.
The three world wars that preceded today’s second cold war—World Wars I and II and Cold War I—demonstrate the importance of industrial power for victory. »
