there is another reason why it is stupid to pressure the russians and the chinese at the same time, and that is because it brings them together.

if the americans were smart, they would be trying to play them off against each other. the chinese are no friends to the russians. there is a lot of room to position in, there.

but, of course, the americans are not smart.

if you attack them both at the same time, the chinese will build those short term alliances out of necessity, despite the fact that they contradict their long term goals.