What Russia and China learned from America after 9/11

WORLD: Journalists Mikhail Zygar and Cindy Yu explain how the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan helped reshape Russia and China's ambitions.

This weekend's talks in Ukraine and Russia come on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. At that intensely vulnerable moment, many world powers, including Russia and China, found common ground with the U.S., believing they shared some common interests like fighting global terrorism. We wanted to explore how relationships between those superpowers have changed since 9/11. So we called up British-Chinese journalist Cindy Yu and Russian author Mikhail Zygar.

MIKHAIL ZYGAR: I think that's very important to remember that that was almost the beginning of Putin's presidency. He became president in year 2000. So he was just learning how to become the head of state, and he was trying, really badly, to become a friend of George W. Bush, as well as to become an equal partner for his European leaders. He really wanted to, for example, to become a part of G8, to become a partner of the United States in the war against terror. He was trying to use it as the justification of his war in Chechnya.

He was not that person we have now. He didn't have plans to run Russia. So yes, he was mostly sincere, and he was pragmatic because he was trying to make a link between al-Qaida and Chechen warlords. But mostly, he was just a very young leader who was trying to mimic what Western leaders did. He didn't share the values, that's important. He didn't really think that Western-style democracy was OK for Russia. He was trying to sell Russian oil and gas to the West.

ROSE: So initially, the 9/11 attacks then brought the U.S. and Russia closer together. Cindy, let me turn to you. Was that also the case with the U.S. and China?

CINDY YU: Yes. There was a similar phenomenon with the U.S. and China. President Jiang Zemin was one of the first people to call President Bush, as well, to offer his condolences. China was the world's seventh largest exporter at the time, so nowhere near the economic giant it is today. And so you really needed America as an economic and diplomatic ally in order for Chinese economic growth to get to the next phase and to become what it has since become.

ROSE: How did that dynamic for each of those countries change after the U.S. began sending troops abroad, first into Afghanistan and then later to Iraq?

This Bay News report is based on originating coverage from NPR.