CEPA

Moscow-Beijing Nexus: Cooperation and Competition

The strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing is by now incontrovertible, as is the gradual development of closer coordination between the two powers and their allies around the world. However, the foundations and limitations of that relationship remain poorly understood.

The Sino-Russian relationship is neither the “limitless friendship” touted by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping nor a fatally flawed marriage of convenience. The specific threats posed by the partnership, however, remain unclear—leaving US policymakers unequipped to make the difficult choices required.

A robust Western response to the Russia-China partnership requires a sober understanding of how Russian and Chinese interests converge, as well as how the West might leverage their remaining divergences. Faced with limited resources, NATO allies need a foreign policy approach that allows them to prioritize threats and responses, evaluate the costs and benefits of tradeoffs, and design courses of action that maximize leverage. Equally vital is American leadership in galvanizing European political will to respond to the challenge. This requires a clear-eyed, evidence-based foreign policy that understands the interests motivating the Sino-Russian relationship, the means authoritarian allies have at their disposal to attack allied interests, and the resources NATO needs to mount a successful defense.

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