China and Russia act in accordance with their own interests, which are not always identical. For the time being, the creation of a Russo-Chinese ... ... newfound presence in the region as a threat to the West.
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Russia, in turn, has expressed concern about the growing U.S. and NATO military activity in Europe’s North and the adjacent seas.
There is a sense of new Sino-American bipolarity in the air....
... prevent the emergence of a rival that could threaten U.S. interests.
The “we will do what we need to do and to hell with Russia” attitude resulted in preserving NATO as a politico-military alliance, first (despite the Warsaw Pact was dismissed), and then expanding it eastward. U.S. diplomat George Kennan assessed it as the most fatal mistake in the post-war history of the United States.
Still, there was, for a time, a lingering chance for a better future, compared to how it eventually ...
... the status of sizeable local ethnic Russian populations who did not automatically receive citizenship rights when those republics were granted independence.
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Current Baltic and Polish fears of a Russian invasion and occupation reflect their troubled history rather than existing realities, but “Russian aggression against the Baltic States” has become a popular narrative and a rallying cry within NATO.
Belarus, which is closest to Russia ethnically and culturally, and since 1999 has formed a “union state” with it, has gradually been moving toward a more independent stance vis-à-vis Moscow. The Belarusian leadership and much of the elite ...