Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks at the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy to discuss the U.S. military in a time of geopolitical strain in Penn Pavilion at Duke University, Durham, N.C., Nov. 5, 2018. Photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Dominique A. Pineiro/Department of Defense
National Interest: The US military's top officer says Russia and China present different challenges — but they both can rival US power
* The US and its allies are in a period of heightened tensions with Russia and China.
* Despite the increased strain, it's not like the superpower showdown in the latter half of the 20th century that raised the risk of nuclear war, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has said.
* But things could escalate, and the chairman encouraged further communication.
In September, Russian armed forces, joined by Chinese and Mongolian troops, gathered in the country's east for Vostok-18, an "unprecedented" military exercise that Russia said was the largest since 1981.
In October and November, all 29 NATO members and Sweden and Finland massed in Norway for Trident Juncture 2018, a regular exercise that this year was the largest version since the Cold War, according to NATO officials.
Joining Trident Juncture was the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, which sailed into the Arctic Circle west of Norway on October 19, becoming the first US aircraft carrier to do so since the early 1990s.
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Update: Dunford warns that Russia, China are near-peer military competition (UPI)
WNU Editor: More proof that we now live in a multi-polar world.
