Here is what I suppose:
1881: The Tsar gets the wild need to build a railroad across siberia a decade earlier than OTL he puts all of the nations power behind it and gets it done alot faster. In the Mean time he kills a lot more peasants and moves a lot of people east more so than in the past. This overall makes European russia worse off but somewhat improves the Far east.
1917-1923: Russian civil war goes on a lot longer and bloodier Bolsheviks completely overturned half way through because of sectarianism, so instead we have a Democratic Socialist European Russia and its supposed control of a confederation of statelets in the east.
1934: because of the destruction of the bolsheviks and the general greater secure feelings of the German electorate Hitler never takes power, instead WWII is avoided and in general Europe is richer.
1937: Japanese feel more belligerent without a strong russia to check them and go hog crazy in this timelines second Sino-japanese war, This gets on the British empire's nerves so they decide to act in a more forthright manner and arm many of the Russians and Chinese to fight the Japanese.
1944: The Japanese war effort is totally depleted total victory is never achieved and they give up their empire completely. (This is not an absolute surrender so their army and Empire are in place, but the Japanese working class are close to total revolution).
1945: The British for their aid to China and the Far East basically supplant the imperial ambition Japan for their own designs. The British are largely successful due to their experience of conquest by dominating markets and free trade. This domination of the Far East puts Britain back on the top of the world, while the US dwells in isolationism.
1950's: The Peoples Technate of Vladivostock has gone through a tiger like economic transformation and are also turning the rest of the Far Eastern Statelets into a new supranational bloc called the "Avtonom-Krais"
1957: General Samsa of the Republic of Amuria proclaims his intention of further conquest of Manchuria. This is supported by some elements of the Vladivostock Central Commitee but overall the citystate is divided.
later that year Britain reacts with full scale protectionist economic action against Vladivostock and acts to close Korean markets to the Avtonom-Krais.
The battle lines of the Cold War are drawn, the full might of Britain and her Empire plus her protectorates versus the upstart and confusing Avtonom-Krais who are fighting to uphold the ideals of their maximization of profit for the united working class.
This is not quite a global cold war like OTL but it certainly is full of intrigue and diplomacy. Neither is willing to directly confront the because it would accomplish very little. This a cold war in every sense diplomatic disagreements over seemingly pityful gains and losses. But I think it does fit all the criteria presented.
