British newspaper: How can the West defeat the Xi-Putin axis?

There is a way in which the West can defeat what he called the Xi-Putin axis, and that in this fierce battle of democracies against authoritarian regimes, James Forsyth, editor of the British newspaper, James Forsyth, sees the West must cooperate on economics and technology and increase defense spending.

Forsyth noted that a new stage in history has begun as the liberal world order faces its greatest challenge since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, not only through Russia's actions on the border with Ukraine, but also with China's maneuvers in Asia.

He said the burgeoning friendship between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping may be based on the idea that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but it is no less dangerous than that.

He added that Moscow and Beijing are united in the desire to end the world order led by the United States, and both want to recognize and respect their spheres of influence, and both fear the spread of democracy and want to make the world safe for authoritarian regimes.

He stated that one of the immediate benefits for Russia and China from their close ties is that they can force the United States to divert its attention between two theaters.

Joe Biden withdrew from Afghanistan to focus better on competition with China, but he now finds himself warning Americans about the economic consequences of a land war in Europe.

American forces are heading to the eastern flank of NATO, the Pentagon is working on how to resupply Ukraine by land in the event of conflict, and the State Department and White House are engaged in fevered diplomacy.

The differences and tensions of the democratic world and the interests of its members are not completely compatible and they are economic competitors, and if they do not unite at this moment to confront this new and continuing threat, the world will become safe for authoritarian regimes only and more dangerous for democracies.

The writer commented that in this scenario a victory for Russia, which is eager to draw attention, and a victory for China, which does not do so.

He explained that their ability to force their common enemy to work on two fronts will push Moscow and Beijing to coordinate their actions more, and one of the clear concerns is the expected outcome of what will happen if Russia pressures Ukraine at the same time as China moves towards Taiwan.

He said that Washington does not have the broad diplomatic and military scope to respond to the two crises simultaneously, and that distracting America's attention and resources is another goal of the nascent Putin-Xi alliance.

Another benefit of their relationship is that they offer each other in return for Western economic power, as Russia now has an alternative destination for its gas products, which it was using as a weapon to pressure small countries by changing the price they impose, which if it does not sell to Europe will struggle to find a market for it, and similarly If the West bans the sale of semiconductors to Russia, China will offer an alternative source of supply.

Therefore, the writer says, the goal of the West should be to separate Russia from China, the free world needs to reduce dependence on these authoritarian regimes to make sanctions more credible and to reduce the possibility of conflict, and the democratic world should aim to write rules of implementation related to new technologies.

One exciting idea proposed in this area is a coalition of technologically advanced democracies called T12, bringing together the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Finland, Sweden, India and Israel to create new rules on artificial intelligence and data, as well as ways to respond to attacks e.

He added that the democratic world should realize that the United States cannot be expected to bear so much of the military burden, which means that the West should cooperate in spending more on defense to counter Putin's heavy investment in his military.

Forsyth concluded his article that the differences and tensions of the democratic world and the interests of its members are not completely compatible and they are economic competitors, and if they do not unite at this moment to confront this new and continuing threat, the world will become safer for authoritarian regimes only and more dangerous for democracies.