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7 October 2024

The Two Musketeers? Russia’s Worrying Alliance with North Korea

Lake Dodson

China and Russia pose different threats to international security and stability. In fact, I would go so far as to say that China’s Belt and Road Initiative and its committed investments in Africa and elsewhere come from a national policy that really does desire peace – and to foster a positive image for Beijing. Of course, those efforts do not fit within international organizations or current norms.

But the greatest threat to peace is Russia under the Putin regime. This state is not afraid to go against the grain of what is socially acceptable. Even its seemingly impenetrable alliance with China has wavered in light of Russia’s poor performance in its war on Ukraine. The desperation to achieve victory has emaciated the Russian Federation and left it starving for a reliable alliance in a world that has formed a strong bloc against Moscow’s attempts to swallow a former Soviet Socialist Republic. Moscow has therefore stooped to a new and dangerous low by building an alliance with North Korea.

The Mutual Defense Pact between the two countries signed in June this year shocked the world. A nation at the helm of the United Nations Security Council now trades weapons and technology with the nuclear-armed Hermit Kingdom. This makes a mockery of the intentions and charter of the United Nations: to promote a universal standard of human rights, diplomatic cooperation, and inclusion, and to be an open forum that serves as a bastion against violence.

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