I was born in 1955, came of age during the Cold War, and served in the U.S. Air Force through its tense years. That era came to an end with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union (USSR). But now, as we face a new set of global challenges, the question remains: what do we call the world we’re living in today?
What so greatly helped us all get through the Cold War? A belief that we were all Americans. Not like today where we have been purposely divided through manufactured fears and divisions by political fools and weaklings supporting ideologies we'd never previously have accepted to the degree it has been today. While America did have an American fascist, even Nazi Party for a while, eventually we came to our senses.
I watched the GOP descend into old Soviet KGB tactics since the early 1990s and no one would listen to me. It seemed crazy, even to me. But after decades of following and studying the Soviet Union, realizing many of those orientations and operations, even psy ops, were being utilized by the Republican Party in their long descent into fascism became undeniable. Finally a few years ago, a majority of people, not just in America, began to see it too. But perhaps too late.
While authoritarianism has been growing worldwide, America is a global leader. What we Do and Think, is important. Now we have an administration under a career criminal and convicted felon, Donald Trump, who thinks, or projects that he believes, America is better isolated, cowering, allowing countries like China and Russia to reap the benefits of our diminishment. We have spurned our international friends, befriended our enemies, and disassembled our own government in ways Vladimir Putin couldn't have conceived of only a few years ago.
Anyway, it's an interesting question what this era is and is about to be, and one that historians and political analysts have debated for years. If the Cold War defined the post-WWII era up to the early 1990s, what do we call the era we’re in now?
Is this not the "Era of Sadness"? At least for America? Also for Western democracies who seem now to be handling all this far better than we are.
With the rise of Putin, Xi, Kim Jong Un, and Donald Trump, it certainly feels that way. Terms like autocracy, oligarchy, kleptocracy, and kakistocracy—new to some, familiar to others—define this era. A troubling time for America, Western democracies, and humanity as a whole.
Some common terms used to describe today’s geopolitical climate include:
1. The New Cold War
- Many argue we’re in a new Cold War, particularly between the U.S. and China, or the U.S. and Russia. Tensions have escalated in ways reminiscent of the Cold War—economic conflicts, cyber warfare, and military posturing—but with modern tools like AI, social media influence campaigns, and economic interdependence complicating things.
2. The Multipolar Era
- Unlike the Cold War’s clear U.S.-USSR rivalry, today’s world has multiple major players: the U.S., China, Russia, the EU, India, and even non-state actors like tech companies and cybercriminal networks. This makes it less of a “bipolar” power struggle and more of a chaotic competition among several forces.
3. The Post-Cold War Era
- Some historians still use this term, though it’s becoming outdated. It assumes we’re still in a transitional phase from the Cold War, but after 30+ years, it feels like a new period should be defined on its own terms.
4. The Hybrid War Era
- Warfare has changed—cyber attacks, economic sanctions, propaganda wars, proxy conflicts (Ukraine, Syria), and AI-driven disinformation campaigns. We’re in a world where direct military conflict is often avoided, but nations still attack each other in more indirect, “hybrid” ways.
5. The Great Power Competition
- This is a term used by U.S. military and policy circles to describe the growing strategic competition between the U.S., China, and Russia. Unlike the Cold War, this competition includes economic warfare, technological battles, and regional conflicts that don’t fall into the traditional Cold War framework.
6. The Information War Era
- Some argue that we’re in an era where information—social media manipulation, AI-generated propaganda, and cyber influence—has become the primary battleground rather than military confrontations.
7. The Fragmentation Era
- Globalization once seemed to be uniting the world, but now we’re seeing increasing division: the rise of nationalism, economic decoupling, and regional power struggles. Some argue the world is “de-globalizing” into smaller, competing spheres.
Whatever we call this era, one thing is clear—it’s a time of uncertainty, upheaval, and challenges to democracy. But history has shown that no era lasts forever, and the choices we make now will shape what comes next. We can build a better future by rejecting personality cults, right-wing extremists, and extremism in all its forms. By standing against fascist regimes and authoritarianism, we can reaffirm the values of democracy, human rights, and justice.
The question is no longer whether we are in an age of decline—it’s whether we will allow it to continue or rise to reclaim a better future. The first step is confronting the harsh truth: those supporting the worst among us must see what they have done, how lost they have become, and how easily they have been led astray by selfish desires and deliberate deception.
We are NOT a nation built on Blind Allegiance or personality cults to Demagogues like Donald Trump, or fantasies of the past—we are a country of diverse cultures, bound by the ideal of E Pluribus Unum—"Out of Many, One." Yet, we have strayed, clinging to divisive myths and misplaced faith in power-hungry figures. In God We Trust has, for too many, become an excuse to trust the wrong people, the wrong ideals, and the wrong path. If this is where that has led us, then it's time to trust in something greater—each other, our shared humanity, and the principles of democracy before they slip away entirely.
We need to realize that we can do better. But we need to BE better, TOGETHER.
Compiled with aid of ChatGPT
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