DPRK-China-Russia alignments during the Cold War

China and Russia have stepped up joint air and naval patrols across the Indo-Pacific, signaling growing operational coordination that complicates U.S. and allied force planning. North Korean troops are fighting alongside the Russians in its war in Ukraine, while Beijing and Pyongyang have deepened defense exchanges, raising the specter of a more integrated adversarial bloc. On the U.S. side, the 2023 Camp David summit produced new trilateral defense mechanisms with Japan and South Korea, from integrated missile defense to coordinated military exercises. These parallel dynamics raise pressing policy questions about alliance management, escalation risks, and the long-term durability of emerging alignments.
 

As part of a series of five working group meetings with scholars and practitioners, this project examines the dynamics of great-power alignment in military affairs through theoretical, historical, methodological, and policy lenses. The briefs below are scholarly perspectives on DPRK-China-Russia alignments during the Cold War.