Episode 135: Velina Tchakarova on Cold War 2.0 and the DragonBear

Are the nations of ‘the West’, especially the United States, in a new Cold War with Russia and China?What does the world look like now that nations favouring authoritarian governance and repression of civil liberties have become major influential global powers?How can states and individual citizens navigate the new reality in which we find ourselves?According to the March 2025 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, “Russia, China, Iran and North Korea—individually and collectively—are challenging U.S. interests in the world by attacking or threatening others in their regions, with both asymmetric and conventional hard power tactics, and promoting alternative systems to compete with the United States, primarily in trade, finance, and security.”Is this a global hegemony bemoaning the rise of a new multipolar order, or are we hearing an early warning signal of a potentially far-reaching 21st century power struggle?To get into all this and more, I’m joined by Velina Tchakarova, a geopolitical strategist and strategic foresight expert. Velina runs a consultancy called For A Conscious Experience (FACE), serves on the board of the European Alpbach Forum and the Advisory Board of a French think tank called Eastern Circles, is a visiting fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, and was previously the Director of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy in Vienna.In our wide-ranging conversation, she describes what she calls ‘Cold War 2.0’, a new oppositional relationship between the United States and Europe on one side and the alliance she calls the DragonBear, made up of Russia and China, on the other. As summed up in the U.S. intelligence community’s 2025 Annual Threat Assessment, Cold War 2.0 is an undeclared conflict in which the DragonBear and its allies “seek to challenge the United States and other countries through deliberate campaigns to gain an advantage, while also trying to avoid direct war.”One doesn’t need to be an apologist for the excesses and vagaries of American power projection to see how an alliance of authoritarian regimes keen on securing their own interests and projecting their own values internationally can have a chilling effect on the rights and quality of life of individuals everywhere.You can find Velina on X for up-to-the-minute clear-eyed commentary, or read her blog posts on FACE’s website.1984today.substack.com1984.todayX: @1984TodayPod This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 1984today.substack.com

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