The New Cold Wars: The Twilight of Illusions and China's Power Game

This article provides a profound analysis of contemporary geopolitical rivalry, defined as the 'new Cold War.' The author dismantles the intellectual architecture of the unipolar era, exposing the West's flawed assumptions about automatic democratization through economic integration. The text details the evolution of China's strategy under Xi Jinping, which has shifted from cautious capacity building to openly challenging American hegemony. A key element of this power game is the fusion of civilian and military sectors, as well as dominance in general-purpose technologies, with a particular focus on semiconductors and TSMC. The analysis also encompasses infrastructure tools of influence such as the Belt and Road Initiative and debt-trap diplomacy. The whole picture is completed by a new security architecture in which hypersonic weapons and the trilateral nuclear treaty define the limits of deterrence, definitively ending the era of Western illusions.