The Soviet Union lost the Cold War, but China is now giving the West a run for its money in the sequel. And, as with the twentieth century's decades-long superpower conflict, Southeast Asia is once again emerging as a major theater.
BANGKOK – Few parts of the world paid as high a cost during the Cold War as Southeast Asia. The superpower conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union divided the region into pro- and anti-communist camps, spawning five wars in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam over four decades. Today, US-China competition is fueling a so-called “new cold war” with familiar structural characteristics.
BANGKOK – Few parts of the world paid as high a cost during the Cold War as Southeast Asia. The superpower conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union divided the region into pro- and anti-communist camps, spawning five wars in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam over four decades. Today, US-China competition is fueling a so-called “new cold war” with familiar structural characteristics.