Discovering the Dimensions of a New Cold War

The document argues that while conflicts in the Middle East drew significant attention in 2025, the primary strategic challenge for the United States in 2026 is great-power competition with autocratic China and Russia. It highlights parallels and differences with the Cold War, noting U.S. advantages (especially with allies), the rise of mid-level powers unwilling to align exclusively with either bloc, and a less intense ideological struggle in which China has not aggressively exported its governance model, while Russia is more revisionist but lacks comparable capabilities.