The Cold War is framed three ways: a finished period, a rivalry that returned, or one phase in centuries of geostrategic competition. No settled answer is offered. The continuity view centres recurring efforts by major and minor powers to gain power and influence across the world. The watch point shows how period labels can change where a strategic problem appears to begin and end.
Notable Point · 10:54-11:21
The Cold War as continuing great-power politics
A brief historiographical aside asks whether the Cold War ended, returned, or was one phase in a much longer contest for power and influence.