ABSTRACT
Amid the new international threats of the early twenty-first century, there has been a certain amount of nostalgia for the Cold War. Some Cold War habits survived the end of the Cold War, among them America’s tendency to view the world in messianic and Manichean terms and to prefer unilateral solutions over multinational diplomacy. Russia and China have also retained their Cold War perspectives. Both have decried US global dominance, criticized its military alliances in Europe and Asia, and used their UN vetoes to oppose its interference in the internal affairs of other states. Moreover, the Gorbachev legacy hangs heavy in both countries: Russian nationalist politicians lament the loss of the Soviet Empire, and their Chinese counterparts cite the policies of the last Soviet leader as a cautionary tale against loosening the Communist Party’s dominance and facing political disintegration.
