I have been reading this standout book, The Cold War, by John Lewis Gaddis. Even though tightly packed with information, it runs like a racy thriller. Its depiction of the Cold War personalities – Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill, followed by the actions of their successors, provides a profound insight into the ideologies that shaped the world for decades to come.

It has a striking portrayal of the blustering Russian Communists; the decline of the UK as a global power; Britain’s quiet acceptance of the US as the new global powerhouse; power games by USA, Russia and China in the Koreas; and how the fear factor drove Washington and Moscow into a race to attract or bully smaller nations.

The book documents how power and might will keep slipping in and out of the hands of countries & civilisations.

More than 100 years later, with China sounding an aggressive bugle against the US, Taiwan, and India, are we entering into another Cold War? With the great powers (Russia and the US) entrenched in wars & conflicts in Ukraine and Israel respectively, and the third rising power China threatening to unleash another one against Taiwan, where is the world headed to?

Not to be discounted are rogue nations like North Korea and Pakistan which have been empowered with nukes by an irresponsible Beijing. The unstable and totalitarian nations can easily lead the world into bigger threats, more chaos and possible wars.

With India’s economic and military rise, Japan’s pacifist u-turn and Australia’s near-acquisition of nuclear submarines, this is an opportune time to read John Gaddis in these frenzied days that witness major shifts in global politics.