[ethbr1]

Isn't that a reversion to the mean? I.e. the 60s and 70s?

From the mid-80s to 00s, the Soviet Union was collapsing and China was preoccupied with economic navel-gazing.

Both reasserting themselves internationally is business as usual.

[n4r9]

You might be right. It was mostly before my time so I can't say for sure what the atmosphere was like back then. I wonder if China and Iran are potentially a bigger military presence now than they were in the 60s and 70s. Russia feels less so, as it's really struggling to complete its objectives in Ukraine, a country which is in some sense a proxy for the West. But I also feel like there's a growing potential for coordination between Russian, China, and Iran, and that's quite worrying.