Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 04/2013

The Great Strategic Triangle

Alexei Arbatov, Vladimir Dvorkin

April 2013

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Abstract

The “Great Triangle” of the Asia-Pacific region formed by the United States, Russia, and China is particularly important in both geopolitical and military-strategic terms. The strategic arsenals and military programs of the two traditional superpowers and the steady buildup of the nuclear and missile capabilities of China, the newly emergent superpower of the twenty-first century, give global significance to the Great Triangle they form.