Tolerance is and always will be the most important part of human communication when it comes to agreement. So, I'm sure we have all noticed the rise of Russia's economy and resources, along with China's ever increasing economy as well, leaving only time left until they become the worlds largest super-power.
Since the Georgian conflict, pondering has become very important in understanding the situation. Relations between Britain for example, and their relations with Russia has not recently been all that great ever since the Alexander Litvinenko incident not a while back. That along side with President Dmitri Medvedev stating that he is not afraid of anything, not even another cold war coupled with the secret moving of arms into Georgia under guise of humanitarian aid lately (which caused Britain to request a European coalition against the agression of Russia in this particular incident).
Relations with China should last between the West due to the amount of imports many countries have with China. However, if the possibility of complete breakdown with Russia occurs with the West, that leaves a very delicate situation to unfold with Russia on the rise. This coupled with China if they support Russia in their doings, could lead to a serious situation. So I present this question:
If there were a 2nd cold war between the West and the East (excluding Japan), would there be any major (or minor) impacts to our current world in the 21st century?
I myself can think of this situation, at least the most obvious:
Russia supplies the West with a lot of gas and a lot of oil. I know that Georgia and the West have always had good relations because Georiga supplies some resources. But it would be very easy (and most probably would occur) for Russia to simply cut off resouces to the West; that alone is a major impact. Can anyone think of any others? Or the severity of this situation? We all know the alarm was raised once or twice last time, and we all knew the stakes, but could this time mean it is taken furthur?