Strategic Partnership in a Unipolar System: The Sino-Russian Relationship

Abstract

This paper examines post-Cold War Sino-Russian cooperation to explain why strategic partnerships evolve within the current unipolar geopolitical system. In the process, it explores why China and Russia pursue not alliance, but partnership, and the difference between the two. Analysis shows that, primarily, the unipolar system created by the U.S. preponderance of power affects the pattern of cooperation, as China and Russia believe alliance against the only superpower would be ineffective and thus seek instead to enhance their political influence through a new model of cooperation-strategic partnership. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the U.N. Security Council are prominent examples of organizations in which the Sino-Russian partnership attempts to impact on international politics.