Old Cold War – New Cold War – Comparisions and Contrasts

1. Both superpowers in the old cold war wanted ideological supremacy, however, in the case of the new cold war, ideological considerations are absent. China wants to gain economic supremacy while Russia wants to overcome the military dominance of the USA in global politics.
2. Both USA and USSR were having matching strength and powers in economic and military fields during the cold war. The race for development of science and technology particularly space technology, star wars etc. was an integral part of the cold war. Whereas, presently there is no similarity between USA and Russia when it comes to economics and similarities are lacking between USA and China when it comes to military dominance though China is trying vigorously to match the military capabilities with the USA.
3. Events of the cold war were including proxy wars, confrontations like the one during Cuban missile crisis, race for development of nuclear weapons etc. However presently, with the emergence of non-conventional warfare techniques, trade and hacking and other nonconventional warfare devices are used to overcome each other’s power and strength in new cold war.
4. During the cold war there were two distinct military groupings, viz., NATO-led by USA and Warsaw Pact led by USSR. However such two distinct military groupings with such strength and power are absent in the new cold war.