A New Cold War? Great Power Relations and Competition in the 21st Century

Thirty years ago, the Cold War ended. Today, great power competition is back – or so it seems – with many describing our present era as a "New Cold War" between the United States and China (and Russia). But is this label an illuminating or distorting analogy? More importantly, what should the U.S. do to meet the challengers of great power competition in the 21st century?

In analyzing contemporary relations, we must trace the historical origins of the U.S.-China and U.S.-Russia relationships, then assess the similarities and differences between the Cold War and both U.S.-China relations and U.S.-Russia relations today -- along dimensions such as power, ideology, and multilateralism -- in order to effectively devise unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral policy prescriptions for U.S. policymakers.

Michael McFaul is a professor of international studies, director and senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, all at Stanford University. He is also an analyst for NBC News and a contributing columnist to The Washington Post. Mr. McFaul served in the Obama administration, first as special assistant to the President and senior director for Russian and Eurasian affairs at the National Security Council at the White House, and then as U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation. He has authored several books, most recently the New York Times bestseller From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin's Russia. He received his B.A. in international relations and Slavic languages and his M.A. in Soviet and East European Studies from Stanford University. As a Rhodes Scholar, he completed his D. Phil. in international relations at Oxford University.