冷戰，英文為Cold War，指的是第二次世界大戰之後，以美國為首的傳統西
方列強及其盟國（西方陣營）、與以蘇聯為首的共產主義國家及其衛星國（東方集團）之間的對抗，也被視為「資本主義」對上「社會主義」︒會稱為冷戰，是因為美蘇兩國並沒有真的打起來，倒是在世界各地透過代理人進行許多熱戰。數十年的冷戰中，世界各地爆發一系列戰爭，包含國共內戰、韓戰、越戰，也發生像古巴飛彈危機這樣一觸即發的緊張時刻。直到1991年蘇聯解體，冷戰才正式結束。
冷戰對現代全球局勢的決定性不比二戰小。現在的北韓、越南、古巴等共產政權，就是在當時的蘇聯扶持下成功擊退美軍，並存續到現在。當時加盟蘇聯的東歐國家，如今也積極在國內進行「除共化」。而當時為了對抗蘇聯所籌組的北約，成了現在全球規模最大的區域防衛組織，持續關注俄羅斯和中國兩大勢力。亦有人稱2018年開啟的美中對抗是新一代的冷戰。

Date: 1947-1991

The Cold War was a period of political rivalry between the Western Powers (the Western Bloc) led by the United States and the Soviet-Union-led communist countries and satellite states (the Eastern Bloc). It is also interpreted as a tug-of-war between “capitalism” and “socialism.” The reason why it is called the cold war is because there was no direct military confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. Instead, the two waged many hot wars through their proxies around the world. During the decades of the Cold War, a series of conflicts broke out across the world, including the Kuomintang and Communist Civil War in China, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. There was also an extreme period of tension during the Cuban Missile Crisis that almost triggered an all-out nuclear conflict in the early 1960s. It wasn’t until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 that the Cold War officially ended. 

The Cold War was no less instrumental in shaping the global power dynamics than WWII. Current communist regimes like North Korea, Vietnam and Cuba received backing from the Soviet Union to successfully ward off military advances by the U.S. and these regimes have stood to this day. Eastern European countries that once joined the Soviet Union are now actively pushing a decommunization process. NATO, originally organized to defend against the Soviet Union, has now become the largest regional defense organization in the world and continues to keep a watchful eye on Russia and China. The US-China trade war, which began in July 2018, is interpreted by some as the new Cold War.