Cold War | RCP Story Stream

The New Cold War Mindset February 10, 2025

The geopolitical landscape has undergone a seismic shift since the Cold War. The world, once divided into two ideological blocs, has navigated a complex tapestry of alliances and rivalries in the post-Cold War era with the U.S. as the dominant presen...

cold war

The U.S. Cannot Ignore China's Desire for a Naval Base in South Africa February 08, 2025

The Trump administration’s Monroe Doctrine inspired pursuit of a sphere of hegemonic influence in the Western hemisphere faces the vulnerability that it has left the entry point to the South Atlantic, the literal backdoor to that sphere, unguarded. ...

South Africa

The World Needs To Strengthen the U.S.-Led Order February 04, 2025

The return of Donald Trump to the White House has been cast by many observers as the end of an era. The U.S.-led order, variously described as the rules-based order or the liberal international order, which rose to its feet after World War II and str...

United States

Safer, Stronger and More Prosperous February 04, 2025

In his first official message to the Department of State’s (DoS) workforce, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it clear that all the employees will focus on three questions when assessing U.S. foreign policy decisions - How does the action proposed ...

Ukraine

Suriname, China, and the New Cold War February 01, 2025

Although Suriname is one of the smallest countries in the Western Hemisphere, it is gaining importance as it heads in the same direction as neighboring Guyana in becoming one of the world’s newest oil producers. This is a development that both Washin...

china

The Cold War Putin Wants January 23, 2025

Three years after launching his “special military operation” in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin faces a looming choice. In public, he exudes optimism. ...

cold war

Russia

Europe as the Cold War Order Dies January 22, 2025

Out of the many actions President Donald Trump took on his first day in office, two caught the eyes of Europeans: his announced withdrawal from both the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organization (WHO). ...

cold war

Geopolitics of the GIUK Gap January 20, 2025

The GIUK Gap—stretching between Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom—has long been a critical maritime chokepoint. Throughout the 20th century, it shaped naval strategy, from protecting Allied supply lines in both World Wars to serving as a fro...

Greenland

The Last Gasp of Post-Cold War Internationalism January 18, 2025

Whether with neoliberalism or neoconservatism, the last four presidents helped to squander the peace. And now a new era begins. ...

Joe Biden

Toward a New Russia Policy January 18, 2025

With U.S.-Russian relations at their most strained since the Cold War, reducing the risk of direct military confrontation and stabilizing global security, the United States must balance firm deterrence with strategic diplomacy to turn a bitter rivalr...

China’s Stumbling March Toward Markets January 17, 2025

Market forces may have changed China after the Cold War, but the Communist Party still clings to power. ...

china

TikTok Refugees Flee to RedNote January 17, 2025

US user migration from TikTok to yet another Chinese app being touted as ‘Western awakening movement’ in China ...

TikTok

Trump Inherits a Planet on Fire January 14, 2025

When Donald Trump first took office in 2017, the world he inherited—while grappling with challenges like the Islamic State—was relatively stable compared to the inferno awaiting him in 2025. ISIS was on the verge of collapse, major powers were locked...

Donald Trump

Trump May Get Russia and Ukraine to the Table January 13, 2025

American statesmanship has been largely dormant since the Cold War. The new White House must be serious about reviving it. ...

Ukraine

Trump Sees the Need for a Broader American Future January 09, 2025

Recently, NASA satellite imagery discovered the ruins of an old US nuclear weapons base, Camp Century, under the permafrost in Greenland, an abandoned relic of the Cold War. Its resurfacing is an apt metaphor for Donald Trump’s proposal to expand US ...

Greenland

How to Win the New Cold War January 09, 2025

Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign very deliberately echoed the one that Ronald Reagan ran in 1980. “Peace through strength” and “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” are the two Reagan slogans that are best remembered today...

Donald Trump

Transforming Russia from Spoiler to Pivot Player January 08, 2025

The invasion of Ukraine has underscored Russia’s enduring capacity to disrupt global stability. Yet, as the United States navigates an increasingly competitive geopolitical environment dominated by China’s ascendancy, we must recalibrate our strategy...

Russia

history

china

America’s Post-Cold War Mistakes December 27, 2024

Once in a great while, a diplomatic memorandum—the outline of a proposed change in policy sent from a foreign service officer to his political masters back in Washington—has momentous impact. The most famous of these is George Kennan’s “Long Telegram...

cold war

Russia’s Invasion Has Drawn in Dozens of Countries. December 18, 2024

If you had walked the front lines in the early weeks of the war in Ukraine, you might have heard shouts in Ukrainian and Russian, perhaps mingled with voices speaking regional languages such as Buryat and Chechen. ...

Russia

Ukraine

The U.S. Must Revisit the Basics of Geostrategy December 16, 2024

It has become something of a cliché in Washington policy debates that the world today is more unstable and dangerous than at any time since the end of the Cold War. But even this statement doesn’t fully capture the gravity of the situation, for the r...

United States

Leveraging Competitive Strategies to Pivot North Korea in the Contest with China December 11, 2024

It is time for the US to shift from its long-standing position demanding North Korean denuclearization and embrace diplomacy underpinned by the framework of competitive strategies pioneered by Andrew Marshall, the founder and long-time leader of the ...

America Must Get Its Mind Right to Defeat China December 02, 2024

As the U.S. Navy faces the return of great power competition, especially with China's maritime rise, it must overcome decades of post-Cold War neglect and reforge its strategic and operational capabilities. ...

china

Trump’s Foreign Policy Must Look Beyond Old Cold War November 14, 2024

Russia’s relevance is a figment of America’s imagination while the real challenge of the century is and will be China ...

Donald Trump

cold war

Trump’s Cabinet Picks Put Beijing on Notice November 13, 2024

A second Trump administration will coincide with the ascent of new China hawks to increasing levels of influence, one of whom previously told RealClearPolitics that the United States is already engaged in a new “Cold War” with the Chinese Communists....

Donald Trump

The U.S. Now Wants European Strategic Autonomy November 12, 2024

The election of Donald Trump for a second term will likely initiate a transformation in transatlantic relations. The administration’s agenda will mark a massive shift in U.S. post–Cold War policy toward Europe. Instead of seeking to preserve and main...

NATO