Once again, as in the cold war, a US-led Western alliance is squaring up to Russia and China - with the rivalry now apparently ideological, as well as commercial and military. Tensions between the US and China certainly show little sign of easing, with both sides imposing sanctions, withdrawing diplomats, and engaged in disputes on a range of issues, including Taiwan, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, the South China sea, the origins of COVID-19, and new technology.

Joe Biden has made it clear that he hopes to rally the world's democracies to push back against China. Meanwhile, China and Russia are drawing closer together, hoping to profit diplomatically from the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. How dangerous are the current tensions between the superpowers? What impact will the Aukus alliance between Australia, the US and the UK have on other security blocs? Could we see regional flashpoints similar to Korea and Vietnam in the 1950s and 1960s? Or does the relative size of the Chinese economy in particular, and its integration into the global economy, make today's rivalry very different to the old cold war? What big geopolitical events could occur in 2022?

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