The resources required to prepare for and win a conventional war against two near-peer adversaries is overwhelming. With this growing cooperation, the possibility of a two-front war is a concern.
If this still seems insignificant, consider that in many ways, Sino-Russian cooperation already surpasses the level and spectrum of activities that the US currently maintains with its non-ally Taiwan. While both nations have said that they are not interested in a formal alliance, they are calling their relationship a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination. They don’t need to have an alliance to complicate our planning or stymie our objectives. And despite any residual snickering about the US’s new Space Force, the memorandum of understanding signed between Russia and China last spring to jointly build and operate a lunar base is deadly serious.ĭismissing these concerns out of hand because Moscow and Beijing “don’t have an alliance” misses the point. These elements are bolstered by joint statements criticizing US unilateralism and coordinating UN Security Council votes to block US and UN initiatives. Other cooperation includes air defense operations, information sharing, military-to-military exchanges, and the sale to China of strategically important and tactically relevant systems such as the Su-35 fighter aircraft and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems. In fact, Beijing and Moscow have already developed a relationship that includes participation in joint bilateral exercises, aerial patrols, and naval maneuvers in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas where the US and its allies have dominated for years. Russia maintains a capable and technologically advanced military that if combined with the PRC’s deep power, represents an ominous threat. While Russia is often viewed simply as a declining nuclear state in the final throes of great power status, this should not delude us into thinking they pose no danger.
Its United Front Work Department (UFWD) yields impressive informational capacity that effectively manages the narrative about China and the Chinese Communist Party even outside of the PRC. Its technology industry is quickly catching up to the West and its emerging military capabilities have surprised the US military in critical areas such as hypersonic glide vehicles, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence.
Its ability to use economic coercion such as trade, tourism, debt traps, and One Belt, One Road (OBOR) are evidence of this. It wields economic strength that Russia under the Soviet system never possessed. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has arrived as a potent force on the world stage.
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