COLOSSUS OF CLOSER COOPERATION: CHINA AND RUSSIA FORGE FRIENDSHIP
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Authors
Merritts, Jordan T.
Subjects
Sino-Russian partnership
Chinese-Russia
China-Russia relations
Chinese-Russia
China-Russia relations
Advisors
Clunan, Anne L.
Date of Issue
2023-06
Date
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
In recent decades, the unprecedented degree of cooperation between China and Russia has prompted national security and foreign policy experts to question the exact nature and trajectory of the relationship. Within the contexts of the coronavirus pandemic, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and India’s geopolitical ascendance, this thesis examines the degree to which material interests, ideological alignment, and friendship between Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin explain the deepening of Sino-Russian relations. The research finds the promise of mutual benefit inspires closer cooperation in areas of trade and defense and demonstrates how ideological similarities serve to reinforce one another’s demands for a more inclusive international system that is both more stable and less vulnerable to the West’s financial and military intrusions. Though Xi and Putin’s personal relationship is not the cause for strengthening partnership, it is a significant feature because it serves as the enabling mechanism for closer state-to-state collaboration. Lastly, the research suggests that despite the benefit of economic, military, and political-diplomatic cooperation, China’s and Russia’s pursuit of national interests is a potentially significant limitation. Given the context of state actions within the study, it appears that forfeiting national interests for the sake of sustaining the partnership is a risk neither China nor Russia is willing to accept.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs (NSA)
Organization
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NPS Report Number
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Distribution Statement
Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.