The Cold War, as most westerners know it, was a decades long struggle between the West, led by the United States, and the Soviet Union. It was a competition for political and military dominance that came to a crashing end with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet empire.
Though most people in the West seem blissfully unaware of it, in the 1990s a new Cold War began. With China's emergence as an Asian economic power, and its growing economic presence in other parts of the world, a new competition for influence and dominance began. After centuries of being the 'sick man of Asia,' China has begun to flex its muscles and assert its status as a country the rest of the world must pay attention to.
The new Cold War is not one of warheads and troop presence. It does not involve sponsoring client states in regional conflicts in an effort to gain control and influence. The new Cold War is a completion for access to markets and resources.
China has grown from a country in need of external assistance to a provider of aid to poorer countries. Unlike Western aid, which often comes with requirements for economic and political reform, Chinese aids comes with only economic strings attached.
In resource-rich, but poorly governed African states, for instance, Chinese companies are beating their Western rivals in the competition for lucrative contracts and concessions. In Southeast Asia, Chinese companies are building roads and power plants, and penetrating into areas in ever larger numbers where Western companies have yet to make their presence felt. In return for their largess, they are not demanding political reform or democratization. Instead, they are asking for, and getting, favorable trade concessions.
Chinese economic influence is also being felt in the West. Big companies like Wal-Mart are on the A-list of customers for cheaply produced Chinese products. Made in China labels are a common sight in most American shopping malls. Even companies that buy from other Asian countries are often indirectly buying from China. Nike shoe production in Vietnam, for instance, is in many cases from factories that were relocated from mainland China, or which have heavy Chinese investment.
This economic campaign is just the first phase of China's efforts to establish itself as a global power on a par with the United States. While there will in all likelihood be a political and military dimension to China's efforts, as China's armed forces develop the capability to project force beyond China's borders - to include the maritime sphere - economics will remain the principle means by which China asserts its dominance and position in the world.