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Kirby's boss, whiz-kid national security adviser Jake Sullivan and his elder (but equally innocent twin) Antony Blinken, have served Biden poorly. In the fine schools they attended, they seem to have concentrated on courses on US Exceptionalism, skipping over what John Mearsheimer calls, "Balance of Power Politics 101."
On the key question of Sino-Russian relations, they seem to have been operating out of textbooks a half-century old when they told President Biden that China was "squeezing" Russia - the exact opposite of what has been happening for several decades now. Worse still, they seem to have learned close to nothing about what the Soviets used to call the "world correlation of forces."
In a word, these extremely bright whiz kids have helped drive the Chinese and the Russians into each other's arms. That's what has changed - plus China's recent military buildup that makes it a formidable foe.
Not Hard To See This Coming
On May 25, 2021, when the date of June 16 was announced for the in-person summit between Presidents Biden and Putin, it seemed necessary to warn Biden and his neophyte advisers that a major shift in the "world correlation of forces" was bound to heavily influence the June talks. China, of course, would not be taking part in the bilateral talks, but it would be very much present.
"Whether or not Official Washington fully appreciates the gradual - but profound - change in America's triangular relationship with Russia and China over recent decades, what is clear is that the US has made itself into the big loser. The triangle may still be equilateral, but it is now, in effect, two sides against one.
There is little sign that today's US policymakers have enough experience and intelligence to recognize this new reality and understand the important implications for US freedom of action. Still less are they likely to appreciate how this new nexus may play out on the ground, on the sea or in the air."
It was clear that the new phenomenon of Russia-China entente would dwarf the significance of less important issues and we could not be sure Biden would be appropriately informed. He wasn't.
The Chinese "Squeeze"
President Biden did not get the word. Here is the bizarre way Biden described, at his post-summit presser, his decades-behind-the-times approach to Putin on China:
"Without quoting him [Putin] - which I don't think is appropriate - let me ask a rhetorical question: You got a multi-thousand-mile border with China. China is seeking to be the most powerful economy in the world and the largest and the most powerful military in the world."
At the airport, Biden's co-travelers did their best to whisk him onto the plane, but failed to stop him from sharing more of his views on China - this time on China's strategic "squeezing" of Russia:
"Let me choose my words. Russia is in a very, very difficult spot right now. They are being squeezed by China."
Have Biden's innocent advisers, by now, sought out new textbooks, updated from the ones they may have read in the 70s and 80s. Have they learned that Russia and China have never been closer - that, indeed, they have what amounts to a virtual military alliance?
Why This Matters
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