Since the end of the Second World War, the U.S. has served as Europe’s primary security guarantor. What has changed is that Washington is no longer the sole great power shaping geopolitical outcomes. But unlike the post-Second World War and post-Cold War transitions, the structures of the new order have yet to fully emerge. During the Cold War, the world was divided into two ideological blocs and two largely separate economic systems. In this fluid landscape, Russia has emerged as the new ‘swing great power’ between the two superpowers, paradoxically lending the emerging multipolar order a distinctly bipolar character.

Source: The Hindu December 30, 2025 18:51 UTC