It should not surprise anyone that Russia and China generally fall on the side opposite the US regarding conflicts; Syria in this case.  There are many reasons for this, including, 1) both countries sharing a similar history of non-democratic governance.  Simply stated, all three have been or are dictatorships.  The jury is still out regarding Russia.  2) Both countries are close trading partners and tied through energy cooperation, (the Russians are currently building a natural gas pipeline inside Syria).  3) Both countries supply Arms.  4) The Russians still operate a naval base at Tartus, which gives them direct access to the Mediterranean.    5) Both countries share close relationships with Assad and neither is willing to sever those ties.  6) The Israeli support by the US, naturally puts the Russians and Chinese on the side of the Arab countries.    7) The Russians and Chinese share a similar mentality.  Like the Syrians, the Chinese have no problem killing as in the Tiananmen Square uprising.  Long forgotten, it was the sight of protests that were readily crushed by the Communist Chinese Government.  But the real issue at hand is we have very different political, economic and strategic interests than Russia and China.  And despite the fact that most of what we purchase in the US is made in China, it’s more about Chinese dominance over the largest economic and military power in the world, than economic cooperation.  Make no mistake about that!  The Chinese, culturally, are coming from a very different place and few Americans understand this.  Worse yet, we allowed it to happen.  We can continue to make-believe that we are friends and partners or we can approach this from a business like and honest perspective. Until there are real changes in both countries, we will continue to fall out on the opposite side of almost every issue.  We cannot expect cooperation from either country, something Hilary Clinton doesn’t seem to understand or accept.  The question then becomes, who will be strong enough to lead us in the present and future regarding these very delicate and complex relationships?