(By PNW) The world is now in a second cold war among three major world powers and the massive arms race is gearing up on all sides. Both China and Russia are preparing to challenge US air superiority as well as naval dominance in the Pacific. They are making good progress in finding ways to counter US nuclear capabilities, confront the US space advantage and wage cyber warfare on an unprecedented scale. In some areas, the US’s role as the hegemonic military power of the twentieth century is being quickly overtaken while in other respects, it has already been surpassed.  As an example, China leads the world

in the size of its conventional missile arsenal that numbers in the tens of thousands and is currently developing hypersonic projectiles able to blow past any existing air defense, a technology Russia, too, now has in the Zircon missile. Here is a look at how China and Russia are presenting a real challenge to US military and diplomatic dominance. Russia’s economy has suffered setbacks in recent years, to no small degree due to sanctions imposed in response to its actions in Georgia and Ukraine. This has acted as a drag on the massive budget increases and modernization efforts of the early 2000s, but while it has reduced the pace of its spending increase, READ MORE