Russia – China Alliance Threatens U.S. Dominance

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Western aggressive stance against Moscow pushes Russia to cooperate with China, which poses a serious threat to the global dominance of the West, according to Mattias Westman, the founding partner at Prosperity Capital Management.

Westman noted that although there is a lot of talking in the West about Russia being a threat to the global security, the real threat to the global balance of power is China with its “rapidly rising power.”

“And by taking this aggressive stance against Russia, a confrontational stance I should say, you have the effect of Russia and China cooperating further and that only strengthens this more serious threat to the global dominance of the West – of course, if that is a beneficial thing,” Westman said in an interview with RT.

Westmen also noted that it is inevitable that the West is losing China as a key economic partner amid Beijing’s record-breaking trillion-dollar deal with Moscow. The expert noted that “Chinese and Russian economies are very compatible and there are many benefits from trade between the countries, but I think that this try to politicize the relationships, and driving a conflict, is speeding up that process.”

U.S. doesn’t want to look weak against Russia

However, Westmen points out that it’s not in the West’s interests to see Russia and China as strategic allies, but that is exactly what the two countries are looking for in the bilateral relations.

The U.S. is unlikely to life sanctions “anytime soon” as it is politically inconvenient for them, according to Westmen. It would make the U.S. “look weak against Russia.”

As for Europe, the situation is slightly different, according to the expert. “First of all, it requires unanimous decisions to prolong the sanctions when they come up to you again in January, I think. And already in the summer, now, when they were prolonged for six months, there are lot countries who didn’t want to do it,” Westmen said.

From Westmen’s observation, there were about seven hawks who wanted to prolong sanctions against Russia during this summer’s vote, seven doves who wanted to lift the sanctions, and “the rest were somewhere in the middle.”

“And I think each time it will become harder and harder to bully the countries who want to lift the sanctions,” he said, adding that seeing that Russian embargos are “biting” in some regions of Europe, there is a high likelihood of lifting sanctions. Besides, the U.S. probably doesn’t want to spend so much political capital “on bullying their countries into agreeing on prolongation very much longer.”

Russian-Chinese alliance would be a blow under the belt to U.S

Even though it’s still unclear how friendly the rapprochement between Moscow and Beijing will be, any kind of military cooperation between the countries poses a threat to Washington.

Despite an insignificant improvement in the relations between Moscow and Washington thanks to the Iranian nuclear program deal, considering Russia’s annexation of Crimea as well as its involvement in the Ukrainian crisis in eastern Ukraine, Russia is going to remain an enemy to the U.S. in the nearest future.

And while the relations between Washington and Beijing have a more steady foundation – at least the countries do not engage in indirect military actions against one another – the U.S. concerns over China’s growing capabilities are justifiable.

Therefore, it’s clear that any kind of rapprochement between Russia and China would be a blow under the belt to the U.S. Even though combined Chinese and Russian navy fleet cannot compete with U.S. Navy on paper, their combined naval forces in the Sea of Japan, in the East China Sea and the South China Sea or even in the Taiwan Strait would be enough to rattle the nerves of those sitting in Washington in big chairs.

It must also be noted that in order to deter the U.S. in the Eastern Asia, it’s best for China and Russia to act together rather than act as lone wolves.

U.S. global dominance is being questioned

And the thing is that Russia and China will not even have to become best friends in order to pose a serious threat to the dominance of the U.S. in the North East Asia and the region as a whole. It’s enough for strategic interest of the two powers to intersect when at the most crucial moments. For example, when the U.S. attempts to assert oneself in the region or to protect its ally in the region.

And considering intense and volatile relations between the U.S. and the two countries, the possibility of Moscow-Beijing alliance would be unreasonable to rule out. That’s something U.S. top officials will have to ponder about and weigh in every further step in the geopolitical game that the world is currently witnessing.

At the time of the ongoing confrontation between Russia and NATO in the Eastern Europe, Moscow is particularly interested in pressuring the U.S. in the Middle East. What Moscow hopes to achieve is that NATO would have to scale back its military presence at the borders with Russia, but it sure seems that the result is reversed.

A threat to the U.S. lies not in the alliance between China and Russia that would emerge with an aim to get something from the U.S. or its allies. A threat is rather that the U.S. will face a choice: to either step up its presence in the Eastern Asia or acknowledge the fact that Washington’s influence cannot spread to territories where Russian-Chinese deterrent exists.

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