Greg Sheridan recounts the recent bad newsflow in Cold War 2.0:
The Cold War 2.0, if that’s what we’re living through, has taken a very bad turn for the US and its allies, including Australia. Just now, we’re losing. Over the past few weeks China has won every encounter, strongly advancing its interests and its authoritarian world view, making tangible progress in undermining the US alliance system. The Western world, led by the US, has gone backwards.
…In recent weeks Beijing has completely encircled Taiwan militarily and conducted mock bombing raids, in practice, and perhaps rehearsal, for a full-scale blockade. It has demonstrated unprecedented influence in the Middle East, once US-dominated strategic real estate, in broking a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, then hosting a pivotal meeting of the two adversaries’ foreign ministers.
