Thread by @DrRadchenko

So in view of today's conversation between Putin and Xi Jinping (and also as a reality check against the backdrop of exciting commentary that China and Russia have become allies), let's briefly talk about the difference between an alliance and an alignment.

An alliance entails a commitment to come to mutual defence. NATO is an alliance. This commitment is contained in Article 5. The Sino-Soviet treaty of 1950 was an alliance. Article 1 committed parties to provide "immediate military and other aid" in case of attacks by a 3rd party.

Alliances go deeper and wider, and, in NATO's case, for example, include centralised command, interoperability etc. These are secondary, however, to the basic commitment to enter the fray in case of a military conflict. You don't have this with Russia/China.

The Sino-Russian alignment is based on shared interests and shared values. It allows Moscow and Beijing to maintain a relative freedom of manoeuvre vis-a-vis one another. E.g. if China went to war against India, Russia would not have to side with China.

In 1959, when the two *were* allies, Moscow still decided not to side with China in the Sino-Indian clash, and this seriously contributed to undermining the alliance because the Chinese (justly) thought this was a case of Moscow selling out an ally. Don't have this now.

If a war erupted between, say, China and Taiwan or, say, Russia and Ukraine, the other side would not have to provide immediate military and other aid. It might instead maintain a benevolent neutrality or perhaps help the other side economically if it faced Western sanctions.

This is at least what the Russians are counting on. But there's another angle. By appearing "allied" with China, Moscow seeks to encourage the US to bribe it away by going easy on sanctions etc or yielding to its various demands on a long list of issues.

Thankfully, there are strategists in Washington who are only too happy to fall for this ploy, partly because they don't know the difference between an alliance and an alignment, and partly because they don't understand the complicated history of Moscow-Beijing relations.