It is with pleasure that we share with you Stratbase ADR Institute’s 2023 Special Study entitled, “Navigating the Political Economy of Cold War 2.0,” authored by Ronald U. Mendoza, Ph.D., a Senior Economist from the Ateneo Policy Center.

This paper examines the economic implications of a new cold war, reviews the main lessons from the First Cold War, and synthesizes the main insights to guide the initial policy guidelines for countries navigating Cold War 2.0. While the first cold war analogy is limited, navigating the new global economic, national security, and technological terrain requires a deeper understanding of the potential risks and opportunities that accommodate the same integration and interlinkages amid the possibility of a new cold war.

Further, the author observes that the economic impacts resulting from the economic frictions between the US and China can generate global implications due to the sheer size, including the level of international economic integration and technology leadership that these two nations play in the current global economy.

From a policy perspective, the multipolar geopolitical and economic landscape together with a large number of middle powers, as well as the presence of many nuclear and military powers, provide the contextual difference of this new cold war from the first. Nevertheless, the global landscape today suggests that this ideological messaging falls short of the practical reality faced by many nations.

The paper is comprised of the following sections: (1) Introduction; (2) Changing Global Economic Terrain; (3) Economic Implications of a New Cold War; (4) Policy Insights from the First Cold War; and (5) Quo Vadis?