The commercial and geopolitical conflict between China and the United States is unlikely to abate in the coming years. This brief discusses the contours of recent geopolitical history in order to contextualize the nature of this new “Cold War” between the two superpowers. Then the brief turns attention to what we can expect from the Biden administration with respect to its policies vis-à-vis China. At the same time, it explores the policy conundrum that the emerging Cold War “version 2.0” poses for United States allies that have close economic ties to China, as is the case for middle powers like Australia and Brazil.

By Carlos Braga