Omnibalancing in China-Russia relations: regime survival and the specter of domestic threats as an impetus for bilateral alignment

Björn Alexander Düben

Post-Soviet Affairs, 2023, vol. 39, issue 6, 462-486

Abstract: Among analysts of China-Russia relations, it has been common to assume that bilateral rapprochement has primarily been rooted in geopolitical, security, and balance-of-power considerations. This article argues that the corresponding Realist theoretical approaches can explain some important incentives for Sino-Russian rapprochement, but struggle to account for how substantive bilateral alignment has actually become. The article posits that a particularly useful theoretical approach for examining the motives underlying Sino-Russian strategic alignment is “Omnibalancing” – a variation of balance-of-power theory that combines considerations of system-level balancing with a simultaneous focus on both leaderships’ prioritization of domestic threats and regime security. Due to the increasing convergence of their authoritarian regime types, a major factor accounting for the dynamism of China-Russia strategic cooperation has been both governments’ shared concern for regime survival/legitimacy, and their concrete policy cooperation in recent years has reflected their preoccupation with shoring up regime security against domestic challenges to authoritarian rule.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1080/1060586X.2023.2223059

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