Henry Kissinger begs to differ.

Via National Journal:

Today’s global political landscape makes the Cold War look simple, according to John Kerry.

“The Cold War was easy compared to where we are today,” the secretary of State said Thursday, during an appearance at The Atlantic’s Washington Ideas Forum, an annual event that features high-profile speakers in government and the private sector.

For the U.S. as a superpower, Kerry said, managing many countries’ competing interests is more difficult than dealing with just one other superpower, like the Soviet Union back then.

“So now, you have more countries with more economic power in a globalized world. … They’re going to automatically react and say, Well, wait a minute, now. Do we really want the behemoth United States, superpower of the world, telling us all the time what we have to do?” Kerry said. “So you have to approach these things a little differently. It requires more diplomacy. It requires more dialogue. It requires more respect for people, more mutual interests.”