No ideology, just anti-West

The Chinese-Russian model might be more attractive to the world's regimes because they have no ideological baggage.

By not pushing their ideologies, Russia and China might be more attractive than the Soviet Union was. Regimes and leaders have their own different reasons for standing against the West and will welcome political support for their positions. The Economist might be getting it wrong.

But the new cold war is different from the old one. Communism was a universal ideology that inspired revolutions in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Putinism is a howl of nationalist and reactionary rage. Neither Russia nor China offers “a compelling worldview capable of attracting mass popular support worldwide”, notes Stewart Patrick of America’s Council on Foreign Relations. This makes them less of an existential threat to the free world than the Soviet Union was, and so reduces the incentive, or rationale, for making bargains as distasteful as those made to keep communism at bay. The Economist

If you would like to share or comment on this, please discuss it on my GitHub Previous
Arms control for economic WMDs Next
The end of globalisation, 1989-2022