Relations between Russia and the West are at a new low. But how should we describe the current situation?
There's a lot of loose talk about a new "Cold War" - a comparison of present-day tensions to the bitter ideological and military rivalry that existed between the Soviet Union and the West from the 1950s to the end of the 1980s.
But such comparisons may be misleading.
"The Cold War," says Michael Kofman, a senior research scientist at the CNA Corporation and a fellow at the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute, "was a competition resulting from a bipolar system, where two superpowers, both with economic and military advantages, were competing to shape international politics.
"Their universalist ideologies made this competition inevitable, as did the distribution of power at the time."
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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- April 1, 2018
Why this round of expulsions may bring US, Russia to breaking point -- Fred Weir, CSM
What does Seoul think of Kim Jong-un's landmark visit to China? -- Se-Woong Koo, Al Jazeera
What we know—and don’t—about the meeting between Kim Jong-un and Xi Jinping -- Ryan Hass, Bookings
EU Money Helped Fortify Turkey's Border -- Maximilian Popp, Spiegel Online
Don't Expect Trump's New Hawks to Save the War in Syria -- Eli Lake, Bloomberg
The master plan to stop Brexit -- Charlie Cooper, Politico
Russia raises its head in Indonesia -- John McBeth, Asia Times
Mohamed Nasheed on the Maldives Crisis -- Aaquib Khan, The Diplomat
After the Strongman in Zimbabwe -- Karan Mahajan, The New Republic
Sisi's Control of Egypt Is Absolute -- H.A. Hellyer, The Atlantic
Leftist populist could be Mexico’s next president -- Gulf News/LAT
Mexico, A Republic Of Corruption -- Fernando Chávez, World Crunch
Trump is winning the trade war — for now -- Hans von der Burchard and Jakob Hanke. Politico
This Is How Trump Can Successfully Navigate the China Trade Trap -- Peter Harrell, National Interest
Who Made the Worst Decision of the Iraq War? -- Fred Kaplan, Slate
China’s AI ambitions are driving US innovation. So what’s America’s hold up? -- Joe Gould
The skies are raining junk, but there’s lots of safe space -- Brad E. Tucker. Asia Times
