shen
Senior Member
When watching this interview about Chinese Russian relation, I'm struck that the Chinese Russian cooperation is a good example of how great powers can cooperate despite some inherent conflict of interests. At same time while the two great powers mutually benefit, the smaller countries of Central Asia also benefit from the stable relationship and the economic developments that relationship makes possible.
Some will want to simplify the Russian Chinese relation as a marriage of convenience in reaction to pressure from the West. But SCO was formed in 2001, when Russian still enjoyed good relationship with the West and China also had better relationship with the US than it does today. SCO is expanding, bring in new countries like India and Pakistan, but at the same time without making other countries feel threatened, like the NATO expansion is doing to Russia. India which could be threatened by the expansion of Chinese influence in Central Asia and work to undermine it, is brought in a partner.
What lessons can we draw from the Sino-Russian relationship that can be applied to Chinese-US relations and Russian-US relations? What made it possible for China and Russia to smooth over the differences and cooperate while the same is not happening with the US?
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