eprintid: 10168890
rev_number: 6
eprint_status: archive
userid: 699
dir: disk0/10/16/88/90
datestamp: 2023-04-26 09:00:44
lastmod: 2023-04-26 09:00:44
status_changed: 2023-04-26 09:00:44
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
sword_depositor: 699
creators_name: Papageorgiou, M
creators_name: Eslami, M
creators_name: Duarte, PAB
title: A ‘Soft’ Balancing Ménage à Trois? China, Iran and Russia Strategic Triangle vis-à-vis US Hegemony
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B03
divisions: C03
divisions: F30
keywords: China, Russia, Iran, soft balancing, strategic triangle, cooperation
note: © The Author(s) 2023. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
abstract: The recent rapprochement among China, Iran and Russia reveals the emergence of a new, unexpected, regional strategic triangle with the potential to balance the United States’ dominant position. By focusing on the evolution of this strategic triangle in the post-Cold War period, this article investigates the driving forces that bring the three states together, namely the US power and unilateralism as materialised in NATO’s eastward expansion, the sanctions on Russia after the annexation of Crimea and the war in Ukraine, the sanctions against Iran, the US trade war with China and the hostile US posture during the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic. Drawing on soft balancing theory, this article provides an empirical assessment of China–Iran– Russia strategies in countering the US power. Thus, this article aims to fill a gap in the existing literature by investigating this triangular relationship and its balancing potential under the analytic construct of a strategic triangle. Finally, the analysis demonstrates that the three states have employed soft balancing mechanisms, primarily economic strengthening and entangling diplomacy in international institutions. At the same time, territorial denial was sought on various occasions due to the regional importance of this triangular relationship. In conclusion, the article also offers insights into potential hard-balancing behaviour in the long run.
date: 2023-04
date_type: published
publisher: SAGE Publications
official_url: http://doi.org/10.1177/23477970231152008
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 2015503
doi: 10.1177/23477970231152008
lyricists_name: Papageorgiou, Maria
lyricists_id: MPAPB92
actors_name: Flynn, Bernadette
actors_id: BFFLY94
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs
volume: 10
number: 1
pagerange: 65-94
issn: 2347-7970
citation:        Papageorgiou, M;    Eslami, M;    Duarte, PAB;      (2023)    A ‘Soft’ Balancing Ménage à Trois? China, Iran and Russia Strategic Triangle vis-à-vis US Hegemony.                   Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs , 10  (1)   pp. 65-94.    10.1177/23477970231152008 <https://doi.org/10.1177/23477970231152008>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10168890/1/23477970231152008.pdf