May 09,2020 Open Forum

The Coronavirus Pandemic and the Russo-Chinese Border

The pandemic has already changed the course of world history, and its future consequences, such as how and when it finishes, remain unknown to us amidst a dynamic situation. However, it is possible and necessary to draw some conclusions based on what is now known on how the situation is unfolding in concrete arenas of […]

Ivan Zuenko

China-Russia relations , COVID-19 , Eurasian Economic Union , New Silk Road , turn to the East

Nov 04,2019 National Commentaries

A Russian Perspective

Since 2015 Russia has held meetings of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok as the principal window on its “Turn to the East.” The contents and direction of this policy, as before, was the subject of discussion in September, especially considering that its very curators (for example, Igor Shuvalov) are frequently denying the very […]

Ivan Zuenko

Eastern Economic Forum , Kuril Islands , Russian Far East , turn to the East , Yury Trutnev

Oct 16,2018 Open Forum

The Balance between Sinophobia and Discourse on Cooperation: Expert Opinion on China in Russia and Kazakhstan

The Beijing-Moscow-Astana triangle is the key to the processes of integration and economic cooperation in “Central Eurasia”—a recent but salient geopolitical construct, the appearance of which was brought to light by the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Russian concept of “Greater Eurasia.”1 Relations of the three sides of this triangle result from […]

Ivan Zuenko

BRI , community of common destiny , EEU , Nurly Zhol , SCO , Sinophobia , SREB , Valdai Club

Nov 23,2017 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario II

Despite my role as a skeptic in the pairing of alternative scenarios, the need for objectivity demands that I acknowledge that I share most of the arguments advanced by Richard Weitz in his first positive scenario. They, however, are fixated on the ongoing situation and practically do not consider many potentially destabilizing factors. One consideration […]

Ivan Zuenko

19th Congress , Almazbek Atambaev , Nursultan Nazarbayev , Shavkat Mirziyoyev

Sep 15,2017 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario I

The strategic partnership of Russia and China (as people like to call this relationship, eschewing the word “alliance”) is one of the key factors shaping all of world politics. However, this partnership is still quite fleeting and weakly grounded, inasmuch as it is based on the personal relationship of the two countries’ leaders and their […]

Ivan Zuenko

"Belt and Road" Initiative , Russian Far East , strategic partnership , Trans-pamir alliance

Jun 10,2016 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario II

In 2009 in New York, a vast program for cooperation between the regions of the Russian Far East and Eastern Siberia, on one side, and Northeast China, on the other, extending to 2018, was adopted by the leaders of Russia and China (Dmitri Medvedev and Hu Jintao). For the realization of this program, they were […]

Ivan Zuenko

Agricultural cooperation , Free port Vladivostok , SREB EEU Convergence , Yellow Peril

May 26,2016 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario I

At present, the level of regional cooperation between Russia and China clearly does not correspond to the level of relations between the leadership of the two countries, which is described as “the best relations in all of history.” In actuality, the observer would be stunned by the absence in cities of the Russian Far East […]

Ivan Zuenko

Big building , informal economy , tourism