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 11,2018 Open Forum

The Last Asian Frontier? A Comparison of the Economic Cooperation Agendas of China, Japan, and South Korea with Uzbekistan

China, Japan and South Korea have regarded Central Asia (CA) as a new, and perhaps the last, Asian frontier in their foreign policies after the collapse of the Soviet Union.1 For all these states, CA represented an area where they had not been previously active. In addition, their foreign policies in this region, at least […]

Timur Dadabaev

"Belt and Road" Initiative , Arc of Freedom and Prosperity , Eurasian Economic Union , Islam Karimov , Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Shavkat Mirziyoyev , Xinjiang

Jun 29,2018 Special Forum

US-Russia Relations

The unanticipated outbreak of a Korean peace process replete with unprecedented DPRK-US and inter-Korean summits has upended previous calculations among all the members of the six-party process in Korea. Every interested party is trying somehow to join the summit process.1 We see an acceleration of summits involving all parties to the peace process. Kim Jong-un […]

Stephen Blank

Eurasian Economic Union , New Northern Policy , Northern Sea Route , Singapore Statement , Six-Party Talks , Trump-Kim summit

Aug 21,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (July 2017)

The divide over Russia’s Asian policies came into the open and sharpened as hopes for Trump changing US policy have been dashed and Putin’s prominent role at the Belt and Road Initiative summit failed to yield tangible benefits. The mainstream view calls for staying the course, tweaking the label from “Turn to the East” to […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

Eurasian Economic Union , Greater Eurasia , OBOR , SCO , Silk Road Economic Belt , THAAD , turn to the East

Feb 01,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (January 2017)

Russia appears to be on the precipice of some important change with less optimism than before but more candor about uncertainties. The December Putin-Abe summit left more questions than answers, less a sense of success or failure than of doubt on what comes next. The Putin-Xi summit of late November was perfunctory, coming amid continued […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

Abe Shinzo , ASEAN , Central Asia , comfort women , EAS , energy , Eurasian Economic Union , G7 , Greater Eurasia , GSOMIA

Dec 20,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: China (December 2016)

During the fall of 2016, Chinese experts continued to evaluate Sino-Russian and Sino-US relations. They drew attention to Japan’s “Taiwan faction,” assessed strengthening Japanese-Australian relations, and analyzed South Korea’s foreign relations strategy. They also considered the negative impact of local NGOs on China’s ability to complete various One Belt, One Road (OBOR) projects. Written before […]

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)

Abe Shinzo , ASEAN , Asia pivot , Australia , Balance of power , BRICS , color revolutions , Diaoyu islands , East China Sea , energy

Dec 16,2016 Open Forum

Caught Between Two Big Powers? Central Asia Under the Weight of Russian and Chinese Influence

In 1991, the Soviet Union’s collapse reshaped the East/West problematic as it had emerged after World War II. Inside Soviet space, a number of cultural elements distinguished the five states of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) from the rest of the former Russian empire, namely their shared cultural, linguistic, and religious traits […]

Sebastien Peyrouse

Afghanistan , Arab Spring , Armenia , authoritarianism , banking , Belarus , Central Asia , Collective Security Treaty Organization , colonialism , colored revolutions

Nov 24,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (November 2016)

Noteworthy in the fall of 2016 has been the increase in articles about the Russo-Japanese relationship. They accompanied the Eastern Economic Forum meeting of Putin and Abe and anticipated the planned visit of Putin to Yamaguchi in December. Further attention was also given to Sino-Russian relations, especially as questions kept being raised about how linking […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

Crimea , Eurasian Economic Commission , Eurasian Economic Union , European Union , G7 , Kuril Islands , NATO , Northern Territories , Russian Far East , Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Sep 22,2016 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario II

China-Russia relations appear to have gained considerable momentum in recent years. A think tank report published this year, co-authored by Russian and Chinese experts, argues that, in the security sphere, “both states have closely approached the line that separates strategic partnership from military-political alliance,” though neither state wishes to cross this line.1 This summer’s events, […]

Brian G. Carlson

Eurasian Economic Union , One Belt One Road , Power of Siberia , Russia Far East , Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Siberia , THAAD , US hegemony

Sep 22,2016 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario II

Below I respond to the negative scenario for Sino-Russian relations, as presented by Brian Carlson, and attempt to discern the most realistic outcome for how this relationship will evolve in the short-term. The main argument is that the Chinese adage of “hot politics, cold economics” will continue to apply to Sino-Russian partnership, as bilateral trade […]

Gregory Shtraks

Eurasian Economic Union , G20 , One Belt One Road , Russia Far East , Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Silk Road Economic Belt , South China Sea , US hegemony