In early period of the Cold War, the
international political
contradictions are mainly reflected as ideological confrontations
between the Eastern and Western block whereas in the late period are hegemonic rivalries between the United States and the Soviet Union. In this process, military expansion through promoting socialist system became Soviet’s foreign strategic objective and the US strategy of containing the Soviet socialism evolved into contending for hegemony with the Soviet Union. As all ideological confrontations and hegemonic rivalries are between the United States and the Soviet Union, the transformation of the nature of the
international political
contradictions during the Cold War did not raise too much attention. With the Cold War ending up with the failure of the Soviet Union, the United States gained world hegemony, thus the main international political contradictions turned into the US seeking world hegemony while others fighting against it. The contradictions are mainly represented by the US on one side, while on the other side a loose and disunited force. Among the various forces combating the US hegemony, China stands as an outstanding one. The strategic contradictions between China and the US are more serious than those between the US and Russia, Japan and Europe. However, China has not become a primary representative side of the contradictions and the nature of the US hegemony still leaves room for strategic cooperation between the two countries. However, the characteristic of the structure of the strategic contradictions has a danger of being intensified.