Russian War Games: Don’t Believe the Hype

Brian Taylor, a professor at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School and author of the newly-published book “The Code of Putinism.” was recently interviewed by Newsweek on the Russian-Chinese military exercises that are considered the largest war games of its kind since the 1980s. While some have warned of the growing military threat these exercises represent, Taylor said the real story is the growing relationship between Russia and China.

“Some Western observers have treated this as a challenge to the West, and even a possible prelude to some kind of Russian military attack. Don’t believe the hype. Russia holds large military exercises at this time every year. The ones in the Asian part of Russia are generally the biggest, and the numbers are likely inflated anyway. More significant is Chinese participation in these exercises for the first time. This is partly symbolic, but it also does reflect deepening relations between the two countries,” Taylor told Newsweek.

“Both Russia and China are unhappy with what they view as an unjust international order dominated by the United States. The two countries have expanded their economic and political cooperation over the last decade, and Chinese participation in Russia’s military exercises suggests that greater security collaboration is also being explored. This relationship remains far from a formal alliance, given that the two countries sometimes have conflicting interests, but the growing partnership is noteworthy,” Taylor continued.