Many scholars date the Cold War from 1947, starting with the Truman Doctrine which aimed to contain the Soviet Union, to 1991, when
the USSR collapsed. In those intervening years, the conflict touched billions of lives, with nearly every significant historical development connected in some way, directly or indirectly.
Today, it is worth reviewing American and Chinese assessments of the Cold War as these two countries find themselves on the brink of a new one. American narratives typically underscore three points.