Ep. 16 | Xi & Putin: Power Play in Eurasia

Dr. Matthew Kroenig, Vice President and Senior Director at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and a member of the Vandenberg Coalition advisory board, joins Flash Focus to discuss the recent summit between Russia’s President Putin and China’s President Xi in which the two autocrats signed a joint statement on a “new era” of partnership. Matt outlines the history and significance of the Sino-Russian alliance, the modern defense coordination between the two nations, and the implications of Xi and Putin’s joint campaign to supplant the U.S.-led global security architecture.

Jump to:

00:02:10 Shared Sino-Russian strategy to undermine the American-led system 

00:04:43 Defining characteristics of the “new era” of partnership 

00:06:35 Implications of the coalescence of geopolitical blocs 

00:08:17 The new global arms race

00:10:08 Linkage of global theaters & interconnectedness of U.S. adversaries 

00:11:29 China’s provision of “material support” to Russia in Ukraine 

00:12:57 Xi’ lessons learned from Ukraine in looking toward Taiwan