Russia and China Could Soon Become More Powerful Than the U.S. and Valentine’s Day Is to Blame
On February 14, 1950, the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union signed the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance. Less than five years after World War II and only months after the guerrilla forces of Mao Zedong expelled the Chinese nationalist Kuomintang government to Taiwan, the world’s two largest communist powers joined forces at the onset of what would be a nearly half-century Cold War between Moscow and Washington. Already wary of growing U.S. influence in Asia, the two nations vowed to defend one another in the event of an attack from U.S.-backed Japan or any of its allies.
Russia and China have dismissed the U.S.’s depiction of them as hostile powers, suggesting the U.S. remains stuck in the Cold War and was having difficulty coping with a multipolar geopolitical environment. They have also pushed back against U.S. military presence along their European and Asian borders respectively.
Few analysts have predicted any immediate war between the U.S. and its Russian and Chinese rivals, but extremely tense situations in Syria and North Korea have at times threatened to drag the major powers into a serious conflict. The U.S. has continued to intimidate North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un with possible military action over his refusal to give up nuclear weapons he believed were necessary for deterring such an invasion. Meanwhile, recent clashes between a U.S.-led coalition and pro-Syrian government forces have killed scores of those fighting in support of Russia-backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, including an unknown number of Russian citizens.
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