On May 13, Foreign Policy published an op-ed by Scowcroft Center Deputy Director Matthew Kroenig in which he argues the United States should not align with Russia to counter China. Instead, the United States should leverage its democratic advantages and work with allies to counter both Russia and China.
While Russia and China may be growing closer, Kroenig observes that autocracies tend to form fragile alliances, citing research from his new book on great-power rivalry. Democracies, on the other hand, form effective alliances, and the United States and its partners can use their collective economic, diplomatic, and military might to counter autocratic powers.
Washington can leverage its democratic advantages, working with its existing democratic allies to counter both Beijing and Moscow at the same time.
