Near the beginning of the semester, I wrote a post on how the United States and the 21st Century in comparison to the United States and 20th Century, which many consider to be the “American Century”. I wrote how the United States was affecting two current international diplomatic situations. I wrote about the Ukrainian protests, and the Iranian nuclear negotiations. In this post, I will discuss how the United States is doing with diplomacy, and with that I will discuss the United States’ relations with China and Russia. I will discuss the United States’ relations with China and the events that have led to our current relationship with the Middle Kingdom. I will also do the same with Russia and I’ll discuss the events that have led up to our current relationship with Russia.

The national flag of China

One could argue that our relationship with China has grown less hostile over the years. However, our relationship with China is still relatively cold due to the fact that China is our main economic competitor and because although China has grown more capitalist over the years since its formation, the People’s Republic of China is still a communist state with limited democratic involvement with the people, rampant bribery, and commonplace cases of abuses of power. Even in recent times, China has made some aggressive moves against the United States. Over the past two years, China has declared “cyber war” on the United States, with reports stating that several key infrastructures of the United States government have been infiltrated by Chinese hackers. Some of these infrastructures include the Department of Defense at the Pentagon, the State Department and frameworks of the American economy. According to a report last week by the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property, a group headed up by two ex-Obama administration officials (Dennis Blair and Jon Huntsman), hacking costs the U.S. some $300 billion per year. And you know what? China is reportedly responsible for a full 70 percent of that when it comes to corporate IP and theft. And as much as the Chinese hacking puts the Department of Defense on edge in regards to cyberwarfare and compromising national security, but currently at the moment American business and industry is mainly being affected by Chinese cyberwarfare. But what does the public think about all of this? Many Americans are just worried about getting through what has been the biggest recession in decades. In fact, many are pleased with how the United States has made somewhat significant moves towards being cordial with the Chinese government. Although China has made aggressive moves, one could say that the United States has maintained a level head in the situation and is continuing to work with China on improving relations with one another.

United States Cyber Command is the Department of Defense’s program to shield against cyberwarfare threats such as those which are coming from China.

The national flag of the Russian Federation

Although China is subversively being aggressive towards the United States, Russia on the opposite hand is being overtly aggressive towards the United States wishes. Recently, Russia used the cover of the Ukraine political turmoil to insert pro-Russian sentiments into the Crimean region. By providing support to the separatists who wanted to merge with Russia and separate from Ukraine, Russia politically trampled the national sovereignty of Ukraine. Russia provided aid to the separatists, and it is even rumored that Russia inserted Russian special operations forces (a.k.a. Spetznaz) into the region to assist the separatists as well as provide some unconventional military support. Then, after several weeks of turmoil in the Crimean region, uniformed, unidentified gunmen appeared and took over the Crimean government, as well as harassed the Ukrainian forces in the region. Eventually, these gunmen essentially controlled the region, and then Russian military forces moved into the region to solidify control. Through this whole situation, the United States and various European leaders were protesting Russia’s actions. Despite the United States placing sanctions on Russia (and considerably damaging Russian-American relations), Russia continued its hostile takeover of the Crimean region of Ukraine. The United States has not been very effective in this situation, as although the United States has held solid on its threats against Russia, Russia has continued to commit to the offending actions of meddling in Ukraine’s sovereign national territory.