America doesn't need to get Russia or China to love us to get one to abandon the other. We just have to promote friction between the two of them.
Once a peripheral concern for U.S. policymakers, Central Asia is moving up Washington’s foreign-policy agenda as a result of renewed great-power competition. Geography, energy, and connectivity have turned this landlocked region into a strategic crossroads between Russia, China, and the West.
Beijing has been issuing maps depicting areas of eastern Russia – including Vladivostok, which was seized by Russia in the 19th century – as part of China.
China’s willingness to stop companies from buying Russian oil should be seen as a gesture of goodwill ahead of hopefully better relations with Washington. This makes sense because the Chinese economy needs access to U.S. markets. ...
All this is to say that Russia’s obsession with its western border has come at the expense of its southern border, the countries along which are interested in reaching an accommodation with the United States.
Normally, I'd say that Central Asia is an interest too far. As long as Iran is hostile to America, we don't have secure ground lines of communication into the area.
But American diplomatic and economic attention might be a tool to help Russia resist China in Central Asia--if Russia pulls their Putin out of their buttocks and treats NATO like a friendly rear area and China as the threat to Russia it is.
We don't need to make Russia love us. But creating friction between Russia and China might get both to compete for our friendship.
Gosh! I am such an optimist!
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NOTE: I made the image with Bing.
