China spent half a billion on a military base in Djibouti at the mouth of the Red Sea less than three years ago.

Russia funds separatist anti government groups in Donbas and annexed Crimea, while maintaining military bases across Eurasia specifically near their former subjects.

Russia funds Iran, responsible for the ongoing Yemeni famine, and as a cherry on top, Iran funds various groups across the middle east through Russian instruments.

(This is all ignoring the idea that they’ve refrained from projecting power more often at a global scale due to being peaceful, as opposed to lacking the capability entirely due to being relatively poor and weak.)