The Cold War was a period of geopolitical rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which began in the aftermath of the Second World War. Historians do not fully agree on its starting and ending points, but the period is generally considered to span from the announcement of the Truman Doctrine on 12 March 1947 to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991.

     The term cold war is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and nuclear wars, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, embargoes, and sports diplomacy.

Source: Wikipedia (21 Aug 2025)