The Strategic Context of Russo-Chinese Relations

Abstract

The prevailing view in the United States and the West is that there is little reason for undue concern over the recent Russo-Chinese rapprochement. The two states, for all their collaboration, are seen as too weak, overly economically dependent on the United States, and too historically burdened by past discord to form an effective coalition or anti-American bloc. Indeed, formal American policy officially has welcomed this rapprochement. This optimistic view is based on several fundamental premises of American thinking about international affairs in general and the relationship between these two states and Washington in particular. The task of this essay is therefore to raise criticisms of this complacent assessment of Sino-Russian relations and to highlight the erroneous axioms and assumptions behind this thinking.