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- China are expanding their naval force, as they are building another aircraft carrier
- China are also island building in the South China Sea, they are rebuilding Atolls to use them for naval or military use
- Russia is expanding their military powers year on year, in a year alone they expanded their military by 33%
- China are trying to exercise their power by taking over the South China Sea by expanding their Blue Water Navy
- The 9 dash line is a proposed line that has nations such as Taiwan in that are allies to the US
- Russia have moved nuclear weapons into Kaliningrad which is a tremendous power over the Central European countries and gives them a direct round from the Baltic Sea to the north atalantic sea, granting easy access to the rest of the world.

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Both China and Russia have been modernising their armed forces, increasing their spending on military. Russia increased its military spending by 33% within a year.

China dispatched a convoy of warships for its first time ever naval exercises in the mediterranean, together with a Russian flotilla.

China has a GFP of 3 (out of 136) and Russia with a GFP of 2 (out of 136) in comparison to US with a GFP of 1 (out of 36). This shows how close they are to US in terms of rank therefore if Russia and China were to work together they could pose much more of threat.

Both Russia and China combined has a total of 3m frontline troops where US has a total number of approximately 2m troops.

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- China are building a 'blue water navy' like the USA e.g. the Secret Islands.
- Defence spending in Russia doubled from 2004 to 2014
- Russia have 15 new nuclear missiles
- Russia's military budget rose by 33% in 2015
- Modernisation of their militaries to shrink the technology gap between the nations.
- War games between the nations to show off power and build better relationships between Russia and China.

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China are not really challenging the military power of the USA because:
- they are only challenging USA on a regional scale, not globally
- USA will still have a bigger navy even though they are next to China
- there is a USA warship off the coast of Taiwan and China have not taken any Military action.

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China building islands and reclaiming them conveys their increasing power due to overpowering islands owned by Philippines... this also allows better military distribution which in turn makes it more challenging to the US military as invasion would have to be more tactical and this would require more military equipment

China are also developing towards a blue water navy. They have 1 aircraft carrier and one on the way. It also links back to island building as they have multiple bases and have access to a larger percentage of land

Russia are becoming a larger military influence on countries such as Ukraine and Georgia. This alongside a 33% increase within a year on military spending shows a strong rise in power which may threaten US military too. This is also evident in the fact that China and Russia have planned military exercise together which again increases military power and influence

Russia inputting nuclear missiles into Kaliningrad which threatens EU (due to being between three EU members) and indirectly USA as they are strong alliances

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Although Russia and China are making technological advances and modernising their armed forces, there is a limited direct threat to the USA.

China and Russia are not a direct threat to the USA because they have not challenged or threatened them in anyway. However, they are becoming more powerful which poses a threat to western power, not specifically the USA.

China seemed to be more focused on developing economically and also as a regional power, as the USA is not in close proximity to China, they pose little threat.

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They are modernising their military forces, closing the gap between them and the Top-modern western technology

China has 1 million more active troops than America

USA have invested in advanced missle technology that has allowed China and Russia to employ anti access and area denial strategies that has raised the cost and risk to the US if it decides to intervine

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China are Island building which is increasing their sea power and giving them ownership of waters (south China sea)

China opened its first overseas base in Djibouti in East Africa giving them more power to expand their territory across nations

Russia has increased its spending by 33% on its military in one year

Russia has began storing nuclear missiles in Kaliningrad its territory which is next to Poland and has access to the Baltic Sea

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Russia possess 15 ICBMs

Russia military spending up 33% to 3.3 trillion Rubles

Nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad (strategic position in Europe)

Russia is happy to use military (Ukraine invasion) (Intervention in Syria)

China island building threatens US allies

3 million Russia/China infantry vs 1.2 million US infantry

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Russia and China’s challenge to US dominance is not currently an issue. This can be seen in how the combined military power of Russia and China does still does not equal that of the US (evident in the number of aircraft carriers, 19 US and 2 between Russia and China)

China’s ambitions currently seem to be focused on becoming a regional power seen in the creation of islands in South China Sea

Russia and China also have no formal alliance and so are not obliged to aid each other

Russia’s ambitions similarly appear to be more local than on a global scale as seen in the annexation of Crimea and recent capture of Ukrainian ships

US NATO allies act as a deterrent

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A lot of weaponry is not up to the standard of the US - e.g. Russia and China have 1 aircraft carrier each, while the US has 20

Despite China’s growing attempts at building a Blue Water Navy, there is still a way to go in terms of becoming a threat to the US - e.g. the aircraft carriers

Total aircraft = 13,362 (USA) vs 3,035 (China) vs 3,914 (Russia)

Despite Russia’s budget increasing by 33% in one year, there are still differences in funding = $47,000,000,000 (Russia) vs $151,000,000,000 (China) vs $647,000,000,000 (USA)

USA has more allies and treaties than China and Russia (28 countries would come to the US’ defence) e.g. ANZUS. The allies make them more powerful as they have more support

China and Russia are not in a formal military alliance, and China has no plans to rule the world militarily

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-not directly in competition with eachother, Both countries trying to establish regional dominance that is nearby or affecting US allies. e.g Taiwan.
- Although China's military has 2.3 million troops, critics say the army is bloated, corrupt and unfit for battle.
-US military far larger with more units and variety e.g 20 aircraft carriers va Russia's 1.
-US has based all over the world w.g in the Pacific, Africa and inside of Asia whereas China's influenced is limited to the Spratley Islands.
-US military very well trained with proper funding whereas Russia and China have a lack of funding and poor quality weaponry.
-China isn't directly threatening or invading surrounding countries, Only challenge is by spreading its terrorial claim.
- USA is backed up by countless organisations e.g NATO who will come to their defence in cases of aggression and war.
-Russia and China have no allies and supportive nations other than themselves.

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Russia has military forces in Ukraine and Georgia, due to previous invasions, this shows power and threat to westernisation, which ultimately comes from the USA. This is also seen in Syria.

Russia is happy to show hard power in order to gain influence over the world. However, China and Russia aren’t part of NATO and therefore, are at a disadvantage.

Russia had increased defence spending. It double between 2004 and 2014. They also launched a military reform and modernisation programme in 2008 in order to increase their military capabilities.

China is developing its own Blue Water Navy, powered by the secret islands. This shows a threat to the USA as these islands have been created near allianced countries, which would enable China to have an advantage point.

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-American military power is so tremendously large (with 20 aircraft carriers especially) that Russia and china’s combined 2 aren’t such a big threat.
-Russia has a lot less foot soldiers than USA showing little threat in the grand scheme of military dominance.
-USA are members of multiple coalitions such as NATO, U.N. security council and ANZUS for example, meaning that their allegiances with other countries globally allows them to fall back onto other military forces.

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Russia has felt that economic difficulties pose limits to its ability to fund its ambitious defense modernization program. So it has therefore slowed down its development to its military as funds cannot rapidly increase.

China still has a long way to go with the modernisation of its army

China is not happy to use hard power as a foreign policy.

US recently sanctioned China for buying a Russian missiles which shows that the US still has more power over them.

Beijing’s official estimate of its military spending is currently between $50 billion and $65 billion dollars. In comparison, the U.S. defense budget for 2006 was about $420 billion

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Not directly fighting each other, they just want to be lead in global governance

USA have alot  more allies than Russia, 28 countries would back America up if there was to be a war