Why the growing dispute between Russia and the West isn't another Cold War

A crisis erupted this week as Russian diplomats were ejected from European countries and the US, and Western diplomats were ejected by Russia. The punitive measures were sparked by outrage in the West over alleged Russian involvement in the attempted murder in Britain of a Russian double agent and his daughter.

That’s led some analysts – in Russia and in the West – to describe current Russian relations with the West as a new manifestation of the old Cold War.

Since 2010, President Vladimir Putin’s increasing reliance on a strategy of meddling in the domestic politics of the United States and European Union member states has heightened tensions and stoked fears of a crisis.