02-11-2017, 09:46 AM
(02-10-2017, 12:57 PM)Mikebert Wrote:(02-08-2017, 05:18 PM)SomeGuy Wrote: I think you are depending on a thesis of authoritarian states as being inherently rational (in contrast to democracies) that I don't feel is sound.
The USSR and Mao's China had nukes, and they still fought border conflicts and had many divisions of troops on their respective borders.
Note that I never posited as all-out war as certain, only that in the absence of outside pressures their relation is unlikely to be one of perfect amity the way you keep proposing.
I did not propose perfect amity. I challenged your idea that Russia would prefer American hegemony to Chinese hegemony.
Just a quick sidebar. Russia has, and Russians as individuals have, a an innate insecurity about their place in the world. Russians have always thought that Europe looked down on Russia as a somewhat less acceptable member of the continent, and, over the centuries, they've internalized a lot of that. The Chinese have been similarly dismissive in the East. I agree that they jealously covet their position as a power, but they may be less excised about a distant hegemon than one of their border. I'm not saying its rational.
Intelligence is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom, but they all play well together.