Cold War 1.0 and Cold War 2.0: Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Many international experts believe that the world has entered a new Cold War. There are, however, significant differences between Cold War 1.0 and Cold War 2.0. Firstly, while the first Cold War (1945-1991) was fought in a bipolar world, the world is now polycentric – and this is an objective reality. Secondly, the nature of the ideological struggle has changed. During Cold War 1.0, it was a struggle between liberal globalism and Marxism-Leninism. Now we can talk about a confrontation between liberal globalism and the bourgeois nationalisms of the leading non-Western centers of power (Russia, China, etc.). Thirdly, during the first Cold War, it was the Soviet-American dialogue on strategic nuclear arms control that became the driving force behind the easing of international tensions (1970s-1980s). Today, the changing strategic nuclear balance does not give ground to believe that the dialogue on strategic weapons between Moscow and Washington will become the locomotive of a new détente. A new détente of the 21st century (like the first détente of the 20th century) will become possible only under conditions of weakening of the ideological struggle in the international arena.