Resize Text: In the late 1960s, border skirmishes between the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China led to speculation that a war between the two countries was possible. In 2001, however, a settlement over their long-disputed border reflected increasing and wideranging cooperation between Russia and China. Examples of this cooperation included sales of Russian military equipment, technology, and raw materials to China; joint military maneuvers; and common diplomatic initiatives. However, there are signs that the current closeness between Moscow and Beijing could be transient. Although the relationship is currently strong, the forces that brought Russia and China together are ebbing, and the future of their relationship is uncertain.
Herman Pirchner Jr. became the founding president of the American Foreign Policy Council in 1982. Pirchner, who serves on the editorial board of Demokratizatsiya, is the author of Reviving Greater Russia? The Future of Russia's Borders with Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Ukraine (University Press of America, 2005). He has traveled to Russia more than sixty times since 1989.
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