Eurasian Monolith? The United States, NATO and the Sino-Russian Strategic Relationship

In 1950, the Sino- Soviet military alliance was a game- changer for the global balance of power. The two countries joined together to pursue their national interests. The West misread the Sino- Soviet relationship in the 1950s. The Allies overstated the political linkage between Moscow and Beijing by largely interpreting it through an ideological lens. The current Western political climate tends to read the Sino- Russian relationship through a similar view, maintaining that the two authoritarian powers threaten democracy. As a result of overlapping factors over the years, the Eurasian alignment between Moscow and Beijing has actually arisen as the greatest threat for the Western- led international order. This essay intends to highlight the difficulties that the PRC and Russia incurred in trying to develop a long- standing diplomatic and strategic front against the ‘free world’. It also focuses on how the West, mainly NATO, perceived – and still perceives – the Sino- Russian relationship.