Zack, Jenn, and Alex talk about the idea of a US-China “cold war” — a notion that’s been around for a while, but has become super popular since the coronavirus has turned into a blame game between the world’s two leading powers. They discuss what it would mean for the countries to be in such a conflict, compare it to the actual Cold War, debate whether the term really applies to the US, and wrap up by talking about how or whether tensions between Washington and Beijing could successfully be dialed down. There are references to Blink-182, The Office, and thumb war.

References:

Alex wrote about how China is exploiting the coronavirus crisis to achieve its goals faster.

Here’s Vice President Mike Pence’s China speech at the Hudson Institute.

There really are a lot of stories — see here, here, and here — on the US-China “cold war.”

Everything you wanted to know about the Thucydides trap.

And here’s that Chinese rap video Jenn mentioned.

Hosts:Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp), senior correspondent, VoxJennifer Williams (@jenn_ruth), senior foreign editor, VoxAlex Ward (@AlexWardVox), national security reporter, VoxConsider contributing to Vox:If you value Worldly’s work, please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsMore to explore:Subscribe for free to Today, Explained, Vox’s daily news podcast to help you understand the news, hosted by Sean Rameswaram.About Vox:Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us:Vox.com Newsletter: Vox SentencesLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices