A major determinant of a country’s position in the global sphere is through its performance in various spheres. Thus, the economic strength of a country indicates how other countries will choose to partner and trade with it, as well as align their political obligations and decisions to reflect the views of their trading partner (Rautava, 2011).
Notably, commerce and trade seem to be the driving forces for countries that want to align with each other politically. Thus, it is possible for a country’s coalition to change depending on their major trading partners.
Both Russia and China were enemies during the cold war (Hsu & Soong, 2014). However, these two countries are now strategic trading partners, with similar political interests of the United Nations Security Council. Similarly, developing African countries rely on China for trade and aid. In fact, China is the biggest trading partner for Africa, making contributions of over 20 billion.
In return, African countries pledge their loyalty to China and support any proposals they make at the United Nations forum. This simply goes to show that trade relationships are the pillar for political alignments.
The United States of America is a country that trades with other nations, given that trade is a critical growing sector of its economy. Notably, the trade industry has shown rapid growth over the years, with the most recent indicators showing that there has been an increase in the sector as government agencies, people, and businesses continue to import goods and services from other countries.
The US takes centre stage in shaping the global economy. The GDP of the Unites States was less than 9% by the year 1959 (Fergusson, 2011). That was the total value of combined imports and exports. The GDP rose by 25% by the year 1957.
Notably, the United States relationship with Canada affects both its trade and foreign policy. In fact, it is highly imperative for Canada to base its foreign policy on the relationship it has with the United States. It is now becoming common knowledge to most Canadians that they are tied to the American “hegemon”, and it is their obligation always to act in support of America (Fergusson, 2011).
One main benefit that Canada derives from its bilateral relationship and alliance with the United States is the guarantee of its national security against the impending global terror threats.
Notably, it is imperative for Canada to stick close to the United States for both domestic and continental security reasons. Thus, over the years, it has been necessary that Canada engages in an intra-alliance liaison with the United States when it comes to military issues.
Notably, the Canadian forces, especially the Navy, act in collaboration the United States’ Army to implement policies that foster seamless integration with the United States’ forces. This behaviour is depicted in how the two countries handle their Gulf operations.
For instance, the Canadian ships can deploy and train with the US battle groups, such that they were the only unit in the world that could seamlessly integrate with the United States’ Navy.
Given this allegiance from Canada, the United States has fostered excellent trade relations with its neighbour over the years. This relationship has, in turn, boosted trade in the region. For instance, the enactment of the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that was implemented in the year 1989 showed Canada’s cordial relations with the US.
The trade between the two countries increased as Canada doubled the percentage of the goods and services it traded with the US from 30% in the year 1970 to more than 60% in the 90’s.
Another country that has used commerce to create political alliances is China. China has established relations with various countries for the benefit of its economic and political climate. Among the relationships that China has highly maintained are the African states. In fact, Chinese officials have been active in visiting the African region.
To further improve these relations, China established the China-Africa Business Council (CABC) that was launched in 2005. Its secretariat offices are located in Beijing, with offices in major African countries like Kenya, Cameroon, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, and Mozambique. This business council represents a public-private partnership involving the operations of China, the UNDP, and the Chinese government (Sun, 2014).
In 2006, China hosted the largest summit for African countries, with a total of about 48 African leaders with the intention of discussing how the country could improve trade and investment in Africa. It is during this forum that China promised to double its assistance to African countries, with an agreement of about 2 billion dollars signed to foster development in Africa (Chun, 2013).
Other than serving the economic interests of the African countries, its African policy also implies that China gains important allies when it comes to voting in the United Nations. The countries include Sudan, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe, who are obliged to vote in support or line with China at the United Nations’ forum.
Another main partner of China in international trade is Russia. The two countries, China and Russia, are trade partners because they have a similar goal of challenging the United States’ hegemony, despite the past rivalry and differing interests making their relationship a bit complicated. Both Russia and China are common denominators of contemporary geopolitics.
Further, it happens that both Russian and Chinese interests at the United Nations Security Council coincide with each other. Owing to the need for these countries to limit the American power over the globe, China and Russia tend to enjoy excellent trade relationships through which they can exchange the business of hydrocarbons for that of cheap consumer goods. Notably, this commerce and partnership item creates the need to promote an alternative approach to western diplomacy.
Notably, trade between the two countries has considerably increased over the past six years, with the two countries engaging in the biggest gas deal in the previous years (Hsu & Soong, 2014).
In China, a critical trade attraction and political alliance with Russia is based on the need to challenge Washington’s dominant global position. It is assumed that unless China forms a relationship with Russia, it will be unable to shift the world’s position from unipolar to bipolar (Lukin, 2014).
Similarly, Russia shares the same goal of challenging the United States’ homogeny in support of a multipolar world. Resultantly, the two countries, more often than not, find themselves in supporting sides of the United Nations Security Council, where they also wield vetoes as permanent members of the Council (Lukin, 2014).
It is impossible to make any deal on Iran’s nuclear program without the consent of China and Russia, due to the influence of both countries in the United Nations Security Council and the backing that they have for each other. China is interested in Russia’s military artillery, as well as natural resources in exchange for the mutual political alliance that the two countries share.
Other than the nature of the trade and the political alliance, the two countries are not natural partners because Russia has very little to offer in brands and innovations to likely tempt the regular Asian customers (Rautava, 2011).
Thus, even though China and Russia are international trade partners, China is the major trading partner in Russia after the European Union. However, Russia is barely in the list of top ten trading partners of China, as it accounts for only 3% of the total trading volumes in the country (Hsu & Soong, 2014).
Even though there is a minimal contribution of Russia to China regarding trade, both have expressed an interest in weakening the United States’ dollar as the reserve currency. Notably, Russia now takes the Chinese Yuan for oil payments. Further, Russia turned to China for financial assistance following the various sanctions that Russia has received.
In conclusion, commerce and political alliances are tied to each other. The current world order dictates the idea of giving and taking. Thus, countries are looking for political alignments with the countries that are good economic performers, with the hope of improving their standards of living.
In return, countries pledge their allegiance and loyalty in international forums and security matters when supporting major proposals enforced by the trading partners. Such is the relationship that exists between the United States and Canada, China and Africa, as well as China and Russia.
References
Chun, Z. (2013). The Sino-Africa relationship: toward a new strategic partnership. Web.
Fergusson, I. F. (2011). United States-Canada trade and economic relationship: prospects and challenges. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service
Hsu, J. Y., & Soong, J. J. (2014). Development of China-Russia relations (1949-2011) limits, opportunities, and economic ties. Chinese Economy, 47(3), 70-87.
Lukin, A. (2013). Russian-Chinese relations. ISPI Analysis, 167(5), 1-8. Web.
Rautava, J. (2011). Russia’s economic policy and Russia-China economic relations. Helsinki, Finland: Finnish Institute of International Affairs.
Sun, Y. (2014). Africa in China’s foreign policy. Web.