A shared enemy cannot hold alliance partners whose ambitions conflict

Evidence

At the start of the war China proposed a mutual security pact with Russia (vaguely reminiscent of the Hitler-Stalin pact). Chinese successes, however, have just the opposite effect on Russia than they had on Japan. The prospect of Chinese victory and total Chinese dominance in East Asia terrifies Moscow. As Russia moves in an anti-Chinese direction and begins to reinforce its troops in Siberia, the numerous Chinese settlers in Siberia interfere with these movements. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 881

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the Nazi-Soviet pact pattern and, more broadly, the logic of temporary coalitions in “The Defeat of the Spanish Armada” where alliances hold only while interests align. — connects to: The West’s bordered independence fails because its inside now contains the enemy; Alliance theory predicts collapse once threats vanish. — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 14; Alliance cohesion rises and falls with the external threat it balances — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 36 (+6 more)
• QUESTION: Huntington builds his hypothetical war around demographic leverage - Chinese settlers in Siberia as a weapon. Is there real-world evidence that diasporas have been weaponized this way in territorial disputes?