Russia and China have for the last 15 years stupidly thought that the West would cooperate with them to prosper together.
I don't think either country's leaders have believed that in the last decade. But back in the 90s, yeah. Chinese leadership - particularly the wing of the party lead by Bo Xilai - were convinced they would become the next Japan. The Russians, under Yeltsin, assumed they would be incorporated into the larger EU sphere just like Estonia and Poland and Eastern Germany.
But by the 2010s? No. It was abundantly clear to everyone that the US was in this game to divide and conquer. You could either be a collection of mismanaged micro-states like in Central America or the Saudi peninsula. Or you could be an ammo dumping ground, like in Afghanistan or Iraq.
I don't think either country's leaders have believed that in the last decade. But back in the 90s, yeah. Chinese leadership - particularly the wing of the party lead by Bo Xilai - were convinced they would become the next Japan. The Russians, under Yeltsin, assumed they would be incorporated into the larger EU sphere just like Estonia and Poland and Eastern Germany.
But by the 2010s? No. It was abundantly clear to everyone that the US was in this game to divide and conquer. You could either be a collection of mismanaged micro-states like in Central America or the Saudi peninsula. Or you could be an ammo dumping ground, like in Afghanistan or Iraq.