Paul J Bolt ^*

• United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, United States

It is popular to refer to current international rivalries as a new Cold War. This is apt in that geopolitical tensions are at their highest level since the United States and Soviet Union faced off in a manner that threatened the world with nuclear destruction. However, the comparison is also misleading as the current situation is more complex. For example, the American economy is intertwined with China's economy in ways it was never integrated with the Soviet economy.Many American allies are even more dependent on China and desperately hope to avoid having to choose between the two countries. More importantly, the nuclear balance today is becoming more complicated and less stable than the Cold War. The Cold War entailed all-out strategic competition between the United States and Soviet Union as each side amassed thousands of nuclear warheads and delivery systems. While Britain, France, and China also developed nuclear weapons during this era, their arsenals played relatively minor roles in the conflict.The Co