The Committee on Armed Services of the US Senate said at a meeting dedicated to the struggle against global threats to the United States that terrorist organizations in the Middle East, as well as Russia and China, were the biggest challenges to the United States of America.
According to senior researcher at Project on International Order and Strategy at the Brookings Institution and The Washington Post columnist Robert Kagan, the increasing influence of Russia and China in the world, as well as their possible alliance, w.as the biggest threat that America would have to face in the coming decades. According to him, this threat is even bigger than the threat of terrorism, because it may change the whole world.
According to Kagan, the ambitions of Russia and China threaten stability in the Asian region. Russia and China, he believes, seek to restore their influence in the regions, where the countries used to be influential in the past: China in Eastern Asia and Russia in Central Europe.
Both Russia and China see the United States as the main obstacle to their ambitions, the expert believes.
According to Kagan, China has been extremely cautious in its behavior. China has been increasing its power in the region by strengthening the economic and military influence. Russia, the expert said, has a more aggressive approach. Robert Kagan said that Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and Georgia in 2008 and deployed its forces in Syria. The expert continued with saying that Russia's aggression manifests itself in information warfare and interference in Western election processes to undermine Western democracies.
Russia is a weaker state than China, Kagan said, but Russia has achieved a lot more for its gaol to dismember and destroy the West. The expert, if one may call him so, concluded that the USA should reinstate the US foreign policy of global leadership. Otherwise, Russia and China will conquer the countries of Eastern and Central Europe and East Asia.
Noteworthy, Russian President Putin stated not that long ago that Russia was not threatening anyone.
"The Russian army does not threaten anyone. I want everyone to hear it. Our army has become stronger and highly efficient. We have increased the number of military exercises, including sudden inspections and checks that for some reason alarm our partners, let's call them so. When they hold military exercises, we do not worry, but when we do it, they get very nervous, how neurotic are they," Putin said.
Meanwhile, Russia and China are preparing for joint naval exercises that will take place in the waters of the South China Sea. Even though the two countries will hold such drills for the fifth time, it will be the first time, when the navies of Russia and China enter the most conflicting area of the Asia-Pacific region. The conflict in the region currently involves Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.
President Putin said Monday that the drills would not infringe upon anyone's interests - they would be conducted to the benefit of both Russia's and China's security. A group of Russian warships is currently traveling to the South China Sea.
Predictably, the US has accused China and Russia of attempts to aggravate the already difficult situation in the region. Yet, the US naturally believes that its own military presence in the region does not aggravate the situation at all. The US Navy has seven warships in the region: the Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, two cruisers and four destroyers. The US nuclear submarine Mississippi, equipped with cruise missiles, also patrols the waters.
On July 12, the International Tribunal created under the mediation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that China had no "historical right" for disputed territories in the South China Sea. US warships appeared in the region soon after the decision was announced.
In turn, China continues efforts to establish control over the strategically important area near the Strait of Malacca that accounts for about 60% of China's trade and 80% of Chinese imports of hydrocarbons.
Pravda.Ru
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