![Russia and China eye a retreating U.S.](https://standuptochina.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/BidenPutin.jpg)
“In the near term, responding to both menaces and opportunities emanating from Afghanistan, China will seek to increase its already considerable influence in Pakistan; Russia will do the same in Central Asia’s former Soviet republics; and both will expand their Middle East initiatives, often along with Iran. There is little evidence that the White House is ready to respond to any of these threats.”