The central argument that Professor Madhav Das Nalapat makes in his timely book is that the new Cold War, which he terms as Cold War 2.0 is different from the earlier Cold War and that it would be a mistake to assume that the Soviet Union has been replaced with the Russian Federation.
Professor Nalapat correctly observes that the rise of People’s Republic of China (PRC) has put it in a position to challenge (along with Russia) the existing global order and American supremacy. Nalapat argues that today’s global geo-political situation is akin to 1937 at the cusp of the Second World War (p. 194). He argues that we are witnessing a world where China is making a determined effort to replace the United States as the ‘centre point of global geopolitical gravity’ (p. 4). Beijing is doing so by continuously expanding its spheres of influence and working along with other powers like Russia to consolidate its pole position.