Introduction

The end of the Cold War at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s gave humanity the hope for a better future. Nevertheless, in the next decade, at the beginning of the 21st century these illusions disappeared. The war in Ukraine, but also other conflicts for example in Syria or Africa, became bloody indicators that the end of history and the universal victory of the West and liberal order had not come. On the contrary, new wave of old tensions, deeply rooted in time of the Cold War between the leading powers of the world, USA and Russia, or USA and China, have appeared during the past two decades. Although they had not then converted into real wars between the dominant world powers, relations between them remain complicated and confrontational. Therefore, a look into the past, always inspiring and interesting, is tempting in order to remember this 'old' rivalry between superpowers and wonder whether we can learn something from it...