Look at the role that Australia plays today, as America's geostrategic sheriff; first in to act as Washington's scout and advocate for WMD like inspectors into Wuhan and advocating and supplying troops and arms to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Australia acts as America's enforcer and takes on the role of implementing anti Chinese laws as a test bed, to gauge China's reaction before Washington implements those same laws. Australia is basically America's enforcer and right hand man.
In the future, could Russia also act as a similar most trusted lieutenant, albeit with much more powerful arms and heft to achieve China's geostrategic goals?
In the future, could Russia also act as a similar most trusted lieutenant, albeit with much more powerful arms and heft to achieve China's geostrategic goals?
Even if Russia’s hydrocarbons become worthless, Russia will still possess something which is always in demand in international relations — military might. Two decades from now, Russia will likely remain a formidable military player. Why not try and convert Russia’s military prowess as well as its pivotal geostrategic position into money? China could become the main customer, generously paying Russia to perform military missions Beijing is unwilling, or unable, to undertake on its own.
There are various ways Russia could serve as a mercenary for China. For example, Beijing could ask Moscow to amass Russian troops on the borders with the Baltic or Nordic countries to put the US on high alert in the European theatre and keep it this way as long as possible. Another creative option would involve Russian forces harassing Alaska which is just across the Bering Sea. Russian units could even be hired by China for expeditionary missions in places like the Middle East or Africa.
Russian private military companies’ activities in some of the world’s flashpoints may already offer a hint of what Moscow may be up to under the envisioned scenario. In a nutshell, Russia could become a giant military contractor — a twenty-first-century condottiero state, and a nuclear-armed one at that. A broke but still militarily strong and audacious country that does the bidding of a rich superpower — for remuneration. Sounds a bit medieval? Perhaps. But isn't it often said that global politics may be entering the New Middle Ages, marked by the ragtag multitude of players, brutal competition, and complex hierarchies?