Apr 12,2019 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario II

Russia’s ability to become an independent, geopolitical center in Eurasia is closely tied to the position of other countries and geopolitical tendencies in the region. The idea of a special role for Eurasia in world economics and politics has long been discussed by various theoreticians, among them Halford Mackinder and Nicholas Spykman, who considered control […]

Alexander Lukin
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Eurasian Economic Union , Greater Eurasian Partnership , Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Silk Road Economic Belt
Apr 12,2019 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario II

Alexander Lukin, in his Positive Scenario 1, writes that “the course to transform Russia into an independent Eurasian center of power and world influence has today become the official policy of the Kremlin and the main direction of thought of the majority of Russian experts on foreign policy strategy.” In my first essay I took […]

Jeff Schubert
"Belt and Road" Initiative , 5G , Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Silk Road Economic Belt , UAVs
Feb 27,2019 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario I

The course to transform Russia into an independent Eurasian center of power and world influence has today become the official policy of the Kremlin and the main direction of thought of the majority of Russian experts on foreign policy strategy. Vladimir Putin, who in 2000 had discussed with Bill Clinton the possibility of Russia’s entrance […]

Alexander Lukin
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Eurasian Economic Union , Eurasianism , Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Silk Road Economic Belt
Feb 27,2019 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario I

Russia is doing many sensible things on a bilateral basis in its attempt to become one of the two main independent poles in Eurasia – the other pole, of course, being China. At the May 2017 Belt and Road (BRI) summit in Beijing, President Putin said: “I believe that by adding together the potential of […]

Jeff Schubert
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Eurasian Economic Union , Greater Eurasian Partnership , Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Silk Road Economic Belt
Feb 19,2019 Special Forum

The Sino-Russia-US Strategic Triangle: A View from China

Four schools of thought can be detected in Chinese publications on Sino-Russian relations and the Sino-Russian-US triangle. One school is to double-down on the “quasi-alliance” versus the shared threat of the United States. A second is to seize the opportunity of Russia’s weakness in the triangle, especially its economic troubles, to press for economic integration […]

Gilbert Rozman
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Eurasian Economic Union , One Belt One Union , Silk Road Economic Belt
Dec 27,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (December 2018)

The last part of 2018 was marked by the hopeful aftermath of the Abe-Xi summit and the new push by Abe and Putin to resolve the long-lingering dispute between Tokyo and Moscow. These themes are covered separately in an Open Forum article. Below, attention is directed at the less positive coverage of Japan’s relations with […]

Editorial Staff
"Belt and Road" Initiative , America First , APEC , East Asia Summit , free and open Indo-Pacific , Korea boom , Tokyo Strategy 2018
Dec 21,2018 National Commentaries

A Southeast Asian Perspective

Hedging Harder: Southeast Asia and the US-China Rivalry “I think it’s very desirable for us not to have to take sides, but the circumstances may come when ASEAN may have to choose one or the other. I am hoping that it’s not coming soon.” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 15 November 20181 “Over the five, […]

Malcolm Cook , Ian Storey
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Asia rebalance , BUILD Act , East Asia Summit , free and open Indo-Pacific , the Quad
Dec 21,2018 National Commentaries

A US Perspective

The New Washington Consensus Washington DC is a sharply divided city these days. A recent Pew Research Center poll concluded that Americans have increasingly embraced “conflicting partisan priorities for US foreign policy.”1 On most major national security concerns—whether Russia, Iran, North Korea, or Afghanistan—there is little or no bipartisan agreement. On China, however, there is […]

Zack Cooper , Annie Kowalewski
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Meng Wanzhou , Nine-dash line , South China Sea , Tibet , Xinjiang
Dec 20,2018 Special Forum

China’s Political Trajectory and Foreign Relations under the Influence of National Identity

Since Xi Jinping formally ascended to power in 2013, China has been flaunting its superior “China Model” to the rest of the world more actively than ever before. The official media have published numerous articles with such eye-catching titles as “Establishing the Chinese Coordinates for Democratic Politics,”1 “China Is the Real Biggest Democratic Country in […]

Yinan He
"Belt and Road" Initiative , anti-Manchuism , Charm offensive , China Model , hard authoritarianism , Hate America Campaign
Dec 20,2018 Special Forum

Analyzing the Relationship between Identity and Democratization in Taiwan and Hong Kong in the Shadow of China

After 160 years of non-democratic colonial rule by the British, Hong Kong became part of China in 1997 under a mini-constitution, the Basic Law, that guaranteed a number of democratic civic values and pledged eventual universal suffrage for both the executive and the legislature. Since the handover, there have been protest movements demanding fulfillment of […]

Syaru Shirley Lin
"Belt and Road" Initiative , China Dream , One China policy , One Country Two Systems , United Front