In the given question, a statement of Assertion is followed by a statement of Reason. Mark the correct answer.

Assertion: Either the countries can take advantage of the hegemony of the US by being close to it or choose to hide and stay as far removed from the dominant power as possible.

Reason: To hide and stay as far removed from the dominant power as possible is the best option available to the big states like Russia, India, China etc.

The Assertion is correct but the Reason is incorrect.

Another strategy open to states is to ‘hide’. This implies staying as far removed from the dominant power as possible. There are many examples of this behaviour. China, Russia, the European Union—all of them, in different ways, are seeking to stay below the radar, as it were, and not overly and unduly antagonise the US. However, this would not seem to be viable for the big, second-rank powers for very long. While it may be an attractive, viable policy for small states, it is hard to imagine mega-states like China, India, and Russia or huge agglomerations such as the EU being able to hide for any substantial length of time.