On Defense Disrupted, Patrick Cronin breaks down what great power competition actually looks like beneath the diplomatic surface: a US-China tactical détente masking ongoing maritime coercion, an industrial capacity gap that stretches back to WWII, and a Chinese military doctrine built on escalation
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Black smoke rises from the area of Gazprom Neft’s Moscow oil refinery on the southeastern outskirts of Moscow on June 18, 2026. (Getty Images)