Editorial: Hong Kong as a Global Hub and a Liminal Space in the Cold War

In recent years, based on new insights and newly discovered sources, we have gained a deeper understanding of the far-reaching scope of the Cold War (1946–1991). Rather than simply an ideological and military confrontation between the USA and the USSR, the Western Bloc and Eastern Bloc, NATO and the Warsaw Pact, we now know that the Cold War was complex, multi-faceted, and multi-dimensional. It was a series of attempts to reach a global balance of power, involving multiple players, especially Third World countries (Westad 2005: 1-7). While the Cold War was marked by a constant threat of a nuclear war that could destroy the world in one stroke, we now know that the Cold War developed in fits and starts, mixing moments of danger and tension with moments of hope and creativity (O’Mara 2005: 17-97). More importantly, we have learned that whereas the scope of the Cold War was global, its dynamics and trajectory were conditioned by factors or players rooted in the complicated webs of power-relation in a specific locale. In short, Cold War is best understood as a mixing of global and local plots, and an interplay of global and local interests (Lorenzini 2019: 1-7).