Aug 19,2019 Open Forum

Russia-China Relations in Central Asia: Why Is There a Surprising Absence of Rivalry?

Russia and China have been deepening their cooperation for the last quarter century. While the relationship has not reached the stage of a full-fledged alliance—both states refuse to support the other side’s territorial claims—the growing density of ties between the two is unmistakable. Observers continue to recognize Central Asia as the most plausible site and […]

Marcin Kaczmarski
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Eurasian Economic Union , Greater Eurasia Partnership , New Silk Road , Polar Silk Road. Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Silk Road Economic Belt
Jul 29,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (July 2019)

Russian authors continued to show a preference for big questions. What is the character of the transformation under way in Northeast Asia? How has history been altered by developments in Sino-Soviet relations worthy of further investigation? Is an Indo-Russian alliance within reach with transformative impact on the regional order? Is conflict between Russia and China […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Great Eurasian Partnership , Osaka Summit , Silk Road Economic Belt , Trump-Kim summit , Yellow Umbrella Movement
Jun 17,2019 Open Forum

Domestic politics of China’s Belt and Road Initiative

China has an authoritarian political system and state-controlled capitalism. It is natural for foreign observers to predominantly view the autocrat-launched Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a cohesive geostrategy to project Chinese power abroad. Such a view, however, is premised on misunderstanding China’s domestic politics and overlooks deep fragmentation among policymakers in China and market […]

Min Ye
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , Pakistan Economic Corridor , Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Silk Road Economic Belt , Silk Road Fund
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
Nov 03,2017 Special Forum

Winning Projects and Hearts? Three Cases of Chinese Mega-Infrastructure Projects in Southeast Asia

Under President Xi Jinping, Southeast Asia occupies a special place in China’s foreign policy. Politically, the consolidation of good relations with countries there is an essential component of China’s periphery diplomacy. Within the framework of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Southeast Asia sits at the juncture of the Silk Road Economic Belt (mainland […]

Yun Sun
21st Century Maritime Silk Road , I , Kyaukpyu , Silk Road Economic Belt , Sino-Laos Railway , Sino-Thai Railway
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