Cold war (term) explained

A cold war is a state of conflict between nations that does not involve direct military action but is pursued primarily through economic and political actions, propaganda, acts of espionage or proxy wars waged by surrogates. This term is most commonly used to refer to the American-Soviet Cold War of 1947–1989. The surrogates are typically states that are satellites of the conflicting nations, i.e., nations allied to them or under their political influence. Opponents in a cold war will often provide economic or military aid, such as weapons, tactical support or military advisors, to lesser nations involved in conflicts with the opposing country.

Origins of the term

The expression "cold war" was rarely used before 1945. Some writers credit the fourteenth century Spaniard Don Juan Manuel for first using the term (in Spanish) regarding the conflict between Christianity and Islam; however the term employed was "tepid" rather than "cold". The word "cold" first appeared in a faulty translation of his work in the 19th century.[1]

In 1934, the term was used in reference to a faith healer who received medical treatment after being bitten by a snake. The newspaper report referred to medical staff's suggestion that faith had played a role in his survival as a "truce in the cold war between science and religion".[2]

Regarding its contemporary application to a conflict between nation-states, the phrase appears for the first time in English in an anonymous editorial published in The Nation Magazine in March 1938 titled "Hitler's Cold War".[3] [4] The phrase was then used sporadically in newspapers throughout the summer of 1939 to describe the nervous tension and spectre of arms-buildup and mass-conscription prevailing on the European continent (above all in Poland) on the eve of World War II. It was described as either a "cold war" or a "hot peace" in which armies were amassing in many European countries.[5] Graham Hutton, Associate Editor of The Economist used the term in his essay titled "The Next Peace" published in the August 1939 edition of The Atlantic Monthly (today The Atlantic). It elaborated on the notion of cold war perhaps more than any English-language invocation of the term to that point, and garnered a least one sympathetic reaction in a subsequent newspaper column.[6] [7] The Poles claimed that this period involved "provocation by manufactured incidents."[8] It was also speculated that cold war tactics by the Germans could weaken Poland's resistance to invasion.[9]

During the war, the term was also used in less lasting ways, for example to describe the prospect of winter warfare,[10] or in opinion columns encouraging American politicians to make a cool-headed assessment before deciding whether to join the war or not.[11]

At the end of World War II, George Orwell used the term in the essay "You and the Atom Bomb" published on October 19, 1945, in the British magazine Tribune. Contemplating a world living in the shadow of the threat of nuclear war, he warned of a "peace that is no peace", which he called a permanent "cold war".[12] Orwell directly referred to that war as the ideological confrontation between the Soviet Union and the Western powers.[13] Moreover, in The Observer of March 10, 1946, Orwell wrote that "[a]fter the Moscow conference last December, Russia began to make a 'cold war' on Britain and the British Empire."[14]

The definition which has now become fixed is of a war waged through indirect conflict. The first use of the term in this sense, to describe the post–World War II geopolitical tensions between the USSR and its satellites and the United States and its western European allies, is attributed to Bernard Baruch, an American financier and presidential advisor.[15] In South Carolina, on April 16, 1947, he delivered a speech (by journalist Herbert Bayard Swope)[16] saying, "Let us not be deceived: we are today in the midst of a cold war."[17] Newspaper reporter-columnist Walter Lippmann gave the term wide currency, with the book Cold War (1947).[18]

The term "hot war" is also occasionally used by contrast, but remains rare in literature on military theory.[19]

According to academic Covell Meyskens, the term "cold war" was not employed in China during the Maoist era.[20]

Tensions labeled a cold war

Since the US–USSR Cold War (1947 - 1991), a number of global and regional tensions have also been called a cold war.

16th-century England and Spain

In his 1964 article of Francis Drake's New Albion claim, Adolph S. Oko Jr. described certain 16th century tensions between England and Spain as a cold war.[21]

Great Game

The Great Game, a colonial confrontation that occurred between the 19th century British and Russian Empires in Asia, has been variously described as a cold war,[22] [23] [24] [25] though this has also been disputed.[26]

Second Cold War

See main article: Second Cold War. The Second Cold War,[27] [28] [29] also called Cold War II,[30] [31] Cold War 2.0,[32] [33] or the New Cold War,[34] [35] is a term describing post-Cold-War era of political and military tensions between the United States and Russia and/or China.

Middle East

See also: Arab Cold War, Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, Qatar–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict and Iran–Israel proxy conflict. Malcolm H. Kerr first coined the term "Arab Cold War" to refer to a political conflict inside the Arab world between Nasserist republics defending Arab socialism, Pan-Arabism, and Arab nationalism led by Nasser's Egypt, against traditionalist monarchies led by Saudi Arabia.[36]

An Atlantic Council member Bilal Y. Saab,[37] an About.com writer Primoz Manfreda,[38] an Iranian scholar Seyyed Hossein Mousavian and a Princeton University scholar Sina Toossi,[39] journalist Kim Ghattas,[40] Foreign Policy journalist Yochi Dreazen,[41] Brookings Institution researcher Sultan Barakat,[42] and Newsweek journalist Jonathan Broder[43] use the term "cold war" to refer to tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.In February 2016, a University of Isfahan professor Ali Omidi dismissed the assumptions that the conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia would grow tense.[44]

South Asia

Commentator Ehsan Ahrari,[45] writer Bruce Riedel,[46] political commentator Sanjaya Baru[47] and Princeton University academic Zia Mian[48] have used the term "cold war" since 2002 to refer to long-term tensions between India and Pakistan, which were part of British India until its partition in 1947.

East Asia

See also: Korean conflict. Naval Postgraduate School academic Edward A. Olsen,[49] [50] British politician David Alton,[51] York University professor Hyun Ok Park,[52] and University of Southern California professor David C. Kang[53] used the term to refer to tensions between North Korea and South Korea, which have been divided since the end of World War II in 1945. They interchangeably called it the "Korean Cold War". In August 2019, the North Korean government said that further US–South Korean military cooperation would prompt North Korea to "trigger a new cold war on the Korean Peninsula and in the region."[54]

China's Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng,[55] The Diplomat editor Shannon Tiezzi,[56] and The Guardian columnist Simon Tisdall[57] used the term to refer to tensions between China and Japan.

China and the Soviet Union

British writer Edward Crankshaw used the term to also refer to the Sino-Soviet relations after the Sino-Soviet split.[58] "Spy wars" also occurred between the USSR and China.[59]

China and India

Imran Ali Sandano of the University of Sindh,[60] Arup K. Chatterjee of the Jindal Global Law School,[61] journalist Bertil Lintner,[62] writer Bruno Maçães,[63] politician-lawyer P. Chidambaram,[64] politician and journalist Sanjay Jha,[65] and some others[66] [67] use the terms like "new cold war" to refer to growing tensions between China and India.

US cold civil war

In spring 2017, professor emeritus Angelo Codevilla used the term "cold civil war" to criticize "the ruling class—government bureaucracies, the judiciary, academia, media, associated client groups, Democratic officials, and Democrat-controlled jurisdictions"—and what Codevilla considered "against a majority of the American people and their way of life."[68]

In 2017 and 2019, journalist Carl Bernstein criticized then-President Donald Trump, whom he called in 2019 "a sham, a con, a grifter [...] president of the United States", for exacerbating what Bernstein considered "cold civil war", citing in 2017 Trump administration's scapegoating of Hillary Clinton amid the Mueller special counsel investigation and in 2019 his efforts to appeal "prejudices" of his supporters toward "the other side" whom they wanted "wiped out".[69] [70]

The Washington Post columnist Matt Bai in January 2021 used "a Cold Civil War" in reference to the US "imminent disunion", especially by rural Americans who "live increasingly in their own reality, nourished by their own 'alternative facts' and led by their own reckless leaders" and "separate themselves from [American] urban culture and establishment media".[71]

A media studies professor David A. Love in March 2021 criticized the US Republican Party for instigating "a cold civil war by pushing for unprecedented voter suppression measures targeting minority and marginalised communities".[72]

A Governing magazine contributor Tony Woodlief in October 2021 criticized "political pundits", their use of the term, and their emphases of political class divide for "overlook[ing] ample data illuminating substantial common ground among Americans."[73]

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Book: Simon Dalby. Gearoid O.u Tuathail. Rethinking Geopolitics. 2002. Routledge. 67. 9781134692132.
  2. News: 1934-08-12. Teester;s Belief Held Very Helpful to Him (1934). 2. The News and Observer. 2022-02-12.
  3. Web site: The Nation 1938-03-26: Vol 146 Iss 3795. 26 March 1938. Nation Company L.P..
  4. Book: The Yale book of quotations. 9780300107982. 2006.
  5. News: 1939-08-11. Nine Million Men Now Under Arms!(1939). 4. The Chattanooga News. 2022-02-12.
  6. News: 1939-08-01. The Next Peace (1939). The Atlantic. 2022-11-11.
  7. News: 1939-07-28. Phrases for Europe of Today; A Hot Peace and a Cold War (1939). 4. The Chattanooga News. 2022-02-12.
  8. News: 1939-08-06. Seaport of Danzig Quiet (1939). 33. The Cincinnati Enquirer. 2022-02-12.
  9. News: 1939-08-06. Poland Shows United Front on Danzig Issue (1939). 17. The Miami News. 2022-02-12.
  10. News: 1939-11-15. The "Cold War" - How Long? (1939). 8. The Des Moines Register. 2022-02-12.
  11. News: 1939-09-16. Cold War Reason (1939). 6. The Indianapolis News. 2022-02-12.
  12. Book: Kort, Michael. The Columbia Guide to the Cold War. Columbia University Press. 2001. 3.
  13. Book: Geiger, Till. Britain and the Economic Problem of the Cold War. Ashgate Publishing. 2004. 7.
  14. Orwell, George, The Observer, March 10, 1946
  15. Book: Gaddis, John Lewis . The Cold War: A New History . 2005 . Penguin Press . 978-1-59420-062-5 . 54.
  16. News: William. Safire. Islamofascism Anyone?. The New York Times. October 1, 2006. December 25, 2008.
  17. Web site: History.com Staff. This Day on History - April 16, 1947: Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War". A+E Networks. August 23, 2016. 2009. Full quote in the context of industrial labor problems in the United States of America in 1947 which could only solved, according to Bernard Baruch, through "unity" between labor and management which in return would give the United States the power to play its role as the major force by which, in the words of Baruch, "the world can renew itself physically or spiritually.": "Let us not be deceived-we are today in the midst of a cold war. Our enemies are to be found abroad and at home. Let us never forget this: Our unrest is the heart of their success. The peace of the world is the hope and the goal of our political system; it is the despair and defeat of those who stand against us. We can depend only on ourselves.".
  18. Book: Cold War. Lippmann, Walter. 2008-09-02. Harper. 1947. 9780598864048.
  19. Book: Marks, M.P.. 2011. Metaphors of International Security. Metaphors in International Relations Theory. 107–135. Palgrave Macmillan. New York. 10.1057/9780230339187_6. 978-1-349-29493-0.
  20. Web site: Meyskens . Covell . 2023-08-23 . China's Strategic Space in the Mao Era . 2023-08-26 . . en-US.
  21. Oko. Captain Adolf S. Jr. . Captain Adolph S. Oko, Jr.. Francis Drake and Nova Albion. California Historical Society Quarterly. XLIII. 2. June 1964. 135–158. 10.2307/25155641. 25155641.
  22. Web site: BRITAIN AND RUSSIA FOUGHT A 19TH CENTURY COLD WAR . 2022-08-08 . Chicago Tribune . 30 September 1992 . Like the Cold War, the Great Game was largely a proxy battle whose protagonists rarely confronted each other directly..
  23. Share . Michael . 2004-10-01 . Along the fringes of 'the great game': imperial Russia and Hong Kong, 1841–1907 . The Round Table . 93 . 377 . 725–737 . 10.1080/0035853042000300205 . 154849203 . 0035-8533 . A century ago a Cold War raged on the political, ideological, economic, military, and cultural fronts between the UK and an authoritarian Russian state which was perceived as threatening British imperial interests in India and elsewhere in Asia. Until the end of the 19th century, liberal Britain was arguably Russia's foremost enemy..
  24. Book: Dean, Riaz . Mapping the Great Game: Explorers, Spies and Maps in 19th-Century Asia . 2020-01-19 . Casemate . 978-1-61200-815-8 . 4 . en . Others suggest it continued well after this time, that 'the game' was really the Victorian prologue to the cold war years....
  25. Book: Hopkirk, Peter . The Great Game . 2006-03-27 . John Murray Press . 978-1-84854-477-2 . en . Prologue . Some would argue that the Great Game has never really ceased, and that it was merely the forerunner of the Cold War of our own times....
  26. Web site: The Great Game, 1856-1907: Russo-British Relations in Central and East Asia Reviews in History . 2022-08-08 . reviews.history.ac.uk . en . Sergeev is especially concerned to subvert understandings in which the Great Game is viewed as 'a Victorian cold war'.
  27. News: Rubio: U.S. 'barreling toward a second Cold War' . Ryan . Mackenzie . The Des Moines Register . 3 October 2015 . USA Today . 28 January 2016.
  28. News: Who Will Win the New Cold War? . George . Bovt . 31 March 2015 . The Moscow Times . 28 January 2016.
  29. News: The crisis in Crimea could lead the world into a second cold war . Dmitri . Trenin . The Guardian . 2 March 2014 . 28 January 2016.
  30. Web site: Welcome to Cold War II . Dmitri Trenin . 4 March 2014 . Foreign Policy . Graham Holdings . 4 February 2015.
  31. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nikolas-kozloff/as-cold-war-ii-looms-wash_b_8307470.html As Cold War II Looms, Washington Courts Nationalist, Rightwing, Catholic, Xenophobic Poland
  32. News: Cold war 2.0: how Russia and the west reheated a historic struggle. 24 October 2016. The Guardian. 28 October 2016.
  33. Web site: Is the Cold War Back? . https://web.archive.org/web/20140913183443/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/09/140912-cold-war-geography-russia-ukraine-sanctions/ . dead . September 13, 2014 . Eve Conant . 12 September 2014 . National Geographic . National Geographic Society . 4 February 2015.
  34. Web site: The new cold war: are we going back to the bad old days? . Simon Tisdall . 19 November 2014 . The Guardian . Guardian News and Media Limited . 4 February 2015.
  35. Web site: Social media and the new Cold War . https://web.archive.org/web/20120803020149/http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2012/08/01/social-media-and-the-new-cold-war/ . dead . 3 August 2012 . Philip N. Howard . 1 August 2012 . Reuters . Reuters Commentary Wire . 2 August 2016.
  36. Book: Kerr, Malcolm H.. The Arab cold war, 1958-1967 : a study of ideology in politics. 1967. Oxford University Press. Malcolm H. Kerr. 0-19-631824-6. 2nd. London. 278293765.
  37. Web site: Saab . Bilal Y. . 18 October 2016 . Why an Iran-Saudi Arabia Conflict Is More Likely Today Than Ever Before . Newsweek . 18 October 2016.
  38. Web site: Manfreda . Primoz . Iran and Saudi Arabia—Middle East Cold War . About.com . 18 October 2016 . 13 November 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161113152824/http://middleeast.about.com/od/iran/tp/Iran-And-Saudi-Arabia-Middle-East-Cold-War.htm . dead .
  39. Web site: Seyyed Hossein . Mousavian . Sina . Toossi . 19 September 2016 . Ending the Iran-Saudi Cold War . LoebLog . 18 October 2016 .
  40. Kim . Ghattas . Kim Ghattas . 15 July 2015 . The Saudi Cold War With Iran Heats Up . Foreign Policy . 18 October 2016 .
  41. News: Yochi . Dreazen . 27 March 2015 . In Yemen, the Middle East's cold war could get hot . The Washington Post . 18 October 2016 .
  42. News: Barakat. Sultan. Is the Iranian-Saudi 'cold war' heating up? How to reduce the temperature. 11 July 2016. Brookings Institution. 22 June 2016.
  43. News: Broder. Jonathan. The Loser of the Cold War Between Iran and Saudi Arabia May Be Obama. 11 July 2016. Newsweek. 11 January 2016.
  44. Web site: Ali . Omidi . February 2016 . Five reasons why Iran-Saudi conflict won't escalate . Al-Monitor . 18 October 2016 .
  45. Web site: Ehsan . Ahrari . 21 June 2002 . Similarity breeds contempt: India and Pakistan . Asia Times . https://web.archive.org/web/20151017063844/http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/DF21Df01.html . 17 October 2015 . unfit . 9 December 2016 .
  46. News: Bruce . Riedel . 26 May 2014 . Indian and Pakistani Leaders Seek to End Their Cold War, but Will the 'Deep State' Allow Peace? . The Daily Beast . 9 December 2016 .
  47. Web site: Sanjaya . Baru . October 2016 . An Indo-Pak Cold War . The Indian Express . 6 November 2016 .
  48. Zia . Mian . 7 December 2016 . Kashmir, climate change, and nuclear war . Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists . 9 December 2016 . 24 February 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180224003318/https://thebulletin.org/kashmir-climate-change-and-nuclear-war10261 . dead .
  49. Book: Olsen, Edward A. . 1992 . Korean Security: Is Japan's 'Comprehensive Security' Model a Viable Alternative? . https://books.google.com/books?id=HXdhDRCGD1kC&q=regional%20%22korean%20cold%20war%22%20-wikipedia&pg=PA140 . The U.S.-South Korean Alliance: Time for a Change . Doug Bandow . Ted Galen Carpenter . . . 140 . 9781412840866 . 5 March 2017 .
  50. Book: Olsen, Edward A. . 2013 . 2002 . US National Defense for the Twenty-first century: Grand Exit Strategy . . 978-0-7146-5098-2 . 115–116 . 2002073300 . 5 March 2017 .
  51. Book: David . Alton . Rob Chidley . 2013 . Marshall Aid for Korea . https://books.google.com/books?id=h5PjBAAAQBAJ&q=regional%20%22korean%20cold%20war%22%20-wikipedia&pg=PA57 . Building Bridges: Is there hope for North Korea? . 185 . . 9780745957685 . 5 March 2017 .
  52. Book: Hyun Ok Park . 2015 . The Capitalist Unconscious: From Korean Unification to Transnational Korea . 7 . 978-0-231-17192-2 . 2015010090 . .
  53. Web site: David C. . Kang . 31 December 2010 . Korea's New Cold War . . 4 March 2017 .
  54. News: Thomas . Maresca . 22 August 2019 . North Korea warns of a new 'cold war' . UPI . 9 September 2019.
  55. News: China Lashes Out at Japan's New Defence Plan, Says Tokyo Maintaining 'Cold War Mentality' . NDTV . 21 December 2013 . Associated Press . 8 November 2016 .
  56. Web site: Shannon . Tiezzi . 25 January 2016 . The New Cold War: China vs Japan . The Diplomat . 8 November 2016.
  57. Web site: Simon . Tisdall . Simon Tisdall . 17 January 2005 . Sino-Japanese 'cold war' stirs new tensions . The Guardian . 8 November 2016 .
  58. Book: Crankshaw, Edward. The New Cold War: Moscow v. Pekin. registration. 1963. Penguin. Harmondsworth. 271427323.
  59. Web site: The Soviet-Chinese Spy Wars in the 1970s: What KGB Counterintelligence Knew, Part II . Wilson Center . en.
  60. Web site: Sandano . Imran Ali . 29 October 2017 . Threat of new cold war looms . 18 April 2018 . Asia Times .
  61. Web site: Arup K. . Chatterjee . 29 June 2017 . Are India and China heading towards a cold war over railways? . Jindal Global Law School . 18 April 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180418093030/http://jgls.edu.in/article/are-india-and-china-heading-towards-cold-war-over-railways . 18 April 2018 . dead .
  62. Bertil . Lintner . December 2017 . India, China Conflict Is New Cold War in the Indian Ocean . . 18 April 2018 .
  63. News: Bruno . Maçães . 14 February 2018 . India and China's dangerous tug-of-war for the top of the world . . 18 April 2018 .
  64. Web site: P. . Chidambaram . 1 April 2018 . Across the Aisle: One-man band cannot make music . . 18 April 2018 .
  65. Web site: Sanjay . Jha . 7 July 2020 . India-China face-off: The Asian cold war has been sparked off, writes Sanjay Jha . . Mumbai . 19 December 2020 .
  66. Web site: Andrew . Korybko . 13 June 2017 . The Chinese - Indian New Cold War – Conclusions . 18 April 2018 . 1 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221001161858/https://www.commandeleven.com/the-chinese-indian-new-cold-war-conclusions/ . dead .
  67. Web site: After US–Russia Cold War, Are India–China Headed Towards the Same Path? . The EurAsian Times . 2 April 2018 . 18 April 2018 .
  68. The Cold Civil War . Spring 2017 . . Codevilla . Angelo M. . 16 July 2024 . Angelo Codevilla.
  69. CNN Reliable Sources: Aired October 29, 2017  - 11:00 ET . Bernstein . Carl . . . 29 October 2017 . Carl Bernstein . transcript . 16 July 2024 .
  70. Cuomo Prime Time: Aired March 1, 2019 – 22:00 ET . Bernstein . Carl . . 1 March 2019 . Carl Bernstein . transcript . 16 July 2024 . .
  71. News: Opinion | Biden’s challenge: A speech for the Cold Civil War . Bai . Matt . January 18, 2021 . July 16, 2024 . The Washington Post.
  72. News: Opinion  - A cold civil war is being waged in America . Love . David A. . 29 March 2021 . 16 July 2024 . Al Jazeera.
  73. Tony . Woodlief . October 8, 2021 . Is America in 'a Cold Civil War'? Not at All . . July 16, 2024 .

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