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Okay, I’m going to go out on a limb today and suggest something that would have seemed utter nonsense as late as a month ago: I’m seeing the stirrings in Washington of a new era of … I’m not sure what to call it. “Unity” is way too strong. “Bipartisanship” is premature. “De-partisanship” is too clunky.

But something new seems to be happening, and Vladimir Putin is responsible.

Don’t get me wrong. Democrats and Republicans won’t join hands and sing Kumbaya anytime soon. Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy will continue to ambush Democrats every chance they get. Expect bitter battles over background checks, immigration reform, civil rights protections, and Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. Trump won’t stop telling his big lie. Your Fox News-obsessed Uncle Bob will remain in his hermetically sealed alternative universe.

Yet ever since the run-up to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, I’ve noticed something in Washington that I haven’t seen since in three decades –- a quiet understanding that we’re on the cusp of a new Cold War, potentially even a hot one. Which requires that we join together in order to survive.  

It’s a subtle shift – more of tone than anything else. I saw it yesterday when Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Congress from Ukraine. When he showed lawmakers a gut-wrenching video of the war’s consequences, many eyes filled with tears. The lawmakers shared, according to Maine’s independent Senator Angus King, “a collective holding of breath.” That Republicans and Democrats shared anything — that they were even capable of a collective emotion — is itself remarkable.

With bipartisan support, Ukraine is receiving unprecedented military and humanitarian aid to fight Putin’s war, including anti-aircraft systems that many experts say can defend against bombs and missiles from Russia’s land-based weaponry.

Beyond Ukraine, you can also discern the shift in a series of recent across-the-aisle agreements. After literally two hundred failed attempts, the Senate just passed an anti-lynching law. The Senate has also given sexual misconduct claims firmer legal footing with a new law ending forced arbitration in sexual assault and harassment cases. The Senate also just approved sweeping postal reform. And unanimously decided to keep Daylight Savings Time year-round. And it has given the green light to long-awaited reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act as part of a massive spending bill.

I’m hearing from Senate staffers that they’re close to bipartisan agreement to strengthen antitrust laws. Also on a measure to expand semiconductor manufacturing in America, as part of a new China competitiveness bill. And another measure to limit the cost of insulin.

Okay, none of this is as dramatic as protecting voting rights or controlling prescription drug costs. But compared to the last few years, it’s extraordinary. (You may not have heard much about these initiatives because the media only picks up on bitter conflict and name-calling.)

Something new is happening in Washington, and I think I know why.

You see, I came to Washington in 1974, in the Ford administration, and then worked in the Carter administration. The Cold War was raging during those years, serving as a kind of silent backdrop for everything else. Democrats and Republicans had different views on a host of issues, but we worked together because it was assumed that we had to. We faced a common threat.

The Cold War had produced an array of bipartisan legislation involving huge investments in America — legislation that was justified by the Soviet threat but in reality had much more to do with the needs of the nation. The National Interstate an