[quote=Arraya][quote=pri_dk][quote=Allan from Fallbrook]I think we should be very careful and keep a close on both the Chinese and Russians. Those two getting together is a recipe for disaster.[/quote]
Look at the charts that afx114 posted. Add China and Russia together and they are still insignificant. And the two don’t exactly get along – so there would not be much synergy even if they combined their forces.
The US military is focused in China because they need a “big” enemy to justify the big budgets, the big weapons systems, and the big contracts. All those generals want to be sure that they have a cushy consulting job in some program office when they retire.
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China needs Russia for energy. They just set up oil contract usurping the market. So, they are strategic alliances out of necessity.
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Arraya: Yup. And anyone that doubts China has hegemonic ambitions outside of their own region clearly hasn’t been following the news.
China very much wants to be a player on the world stage, geo-politically speaking, and they recognize that in order to maintain their economy, they’re going to need energy and plenty of it.
Russia is starved for hard currency and has plenty of energy, weapons and technology to sell. China is a natural market for them because of proximity and demand.
You can also bet Putin has ambitions of his own. Whether or not these ambitions are realistic is beside the point. He is an ultra-nationalist with a virulent hatred of the US.
Nature abhors a vacuum and when the eventual US pullback occurs, someone will need to step up and fill the void.
