Russo–Chinese Strategic Partnership: A New Form of Security Cooperation?

Abstract

Strategic Partnership represents a new mode of state-to-state alignment. Yet our understanding of this phenomenon is obscured by a lack of definitional precision, resulting in a frequent misapplication of the term. This article seeks to rectify this shortcoming and apply some conceptual rigor to the analysis of strategic partnerships in international relations. This is achieved through the employment of a model drawn from the field of organization studies. The model is designed to assist us in better grasping the purpose, properties, and behaviour of strategic partnerships. The Russo-Chinese strategic partnership – the exemplar of this new alignment phenomenon – is analysed as the primary case study, followed by a precursory examination of Moscow's partnerships with Iran and India. The article concludes that, if employed judiciously, the label strategic partnership is substantive and meaningful in security terms, and that many concepts borrowed from organization studies are relevant and applicable to increasing our comprehension of this often-maligned phenomenon of international politics.