Second Cold War
Term referring to heightened tensions in the 21st century
Summary
The terms Second Cold War, Cold War II, and New Cold War have been used by scholars and journalists to describe heightened geopolitical tensions in the 21st century post–Cold War era, usually between the United States on one side and Russia and/or China on the other. Russia is regarded as the successor state to the Soviet Union, which led the Eastern Bloc during the original Cold War. The terms are sometimes used to describe tensions in multilateral relations, including China–Russia relations, or in the context of international conflicts. Some commentators have used the terms as a comparison to the original Cold War, while others have discouraged their use to refer to any ongoing tensions.
Originally created by Antonian Sapphire
8/7/2014, 3:54:19 PM
Modified
5/14/2026, 6:01:41 AM
Recent revisions
[[WP:INFOBOXUSE]] allows implicitly case-by-case basis. also, possible misuse of JWB tool
[[WP:BADHIDDENTEXT]] - [[WP:INFOBOXUSE]] says they are neither required nor prohibited
/* Before 2021 */ hmm... [[WP:HEADLINE]] says article headlines are unreliable. Nevertheless, "revived" the days of the original Cold War... okay... unsure whether it implies. Tagging as "relevant?", just in case
/* Before 2021 */
/* Further reading */ dabfx
/* Further reading */ +1
/* Usage in the context of China–United States tensions */
clean up spacing around commas and other punctuation, replaced: ; → ;, . → .
Reverted 1 edit by [[Special:Contributions/~2026-21968-10|~2026-21968-10]] ([[User talk:~2026-21968-10|talk]]): Rv, discuss if you want it changed
Removed silly us bias
removed biased opinion/view.
citation templates, wikilinks
fixed CS1 errors, updated See also links; logical quotation ([[MOS:LQ]])
Russo– → Russo- (it's a combining form, see [[MOS:DUALNATIONALITIES]])
[[Wikipedia:OABOT|Open access bot]]: doi, url-access=subscription updated in citation with #oabot.
/* Second Trump presidency (2025–present) */
clean up, [[WP:AWB/T|typo(s) fixed]]: President → president
Reverted 1 edit by [[Special:Contributions/~2026-18067-67|~2026-18067-67]] ([[User talk:~2026-18067-67|talk]]): No sources provided.
Its started
forgot to merge/absorb one section into another, but used the source differently
