Verified Answer :

The Cold War was a time when, while no war had begun, war was anticipated.  As a result, the best term to describe the Cold War is tension.

I believe the answer is: Tension

During the cold war, both united states and the soviet union did not direcly involved in physical battle.

But our battle revolved around the race to develop various technologies ( such as space vehicles or Nuclear Weapons). Due to the destructive power that these technologies possess, the tension between two countries were extremely high.