Second Cold War

Proper noun

Cold War II

1. The ongoing tensions between the United States of America alongside its European allies and the Russian Federation since the mid-2010s and especially since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022; sometimes called the new US–Russian Cold War.
   • And what are the causes of the emerging Cold War II? Comes the retort: Putin has put nuclear-capable missiles in the Kaliningrad enclave between Poland and Lithuania. True, but who began this escalation?2017 January 3, Patrick J. Buchanan, “How to Avoid a New Cold War”, in The American Conservative
2. The ongoing tensions between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China since the mid-2010s.
   • Perhaps he will be proved right. Few critics dispute the need for some form of engagement with Beijing. The alternative is bleak: to cut off ties, possibly start Cold War II and make a lot of U.S. exporters very unhappy., “Beijing's Secret Wish List”, in Newsweek
3. (dated) The later (mostly 1970s–1980s) phase of the Cold War.
   • A second school, common amongst liberal writers, locates the conflict at the level of policy mistakes, missed opportunities and misperceptions on both sides: in this view, the conflict was avoidable- better communication in the period after 1945 or in the late 1970S could have avoided both Cold War...1990 March, Fred Halliday, “The Ends of Cold War”, in New Left Review, volume 0, number 189