May 30,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (May 2016)

On April 12, Sergei Lavrov in Rossiiskaya Gazeta made clear Russian thinking about Mongolia, Japan, and China. His words for Mongolia spoke only of closeness: in history, today, and in three-sided cooperation with China, joining together the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB), and the Steppe Road of Mongolia. For Japan, […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

Authoritarian capitalism , EEU , Eurasianism , Pluralism , Sino-Russian Relations , SREB , Turn to Asia

Mar 10,2016 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario II

Gilbert Rozman has good reason to be skeptical about the Russian Far East (RFE). In my first installment, I advanced a similar argument that the root cause of the RFE’s troubles lies in Russia’s own shortcomings, particularly the rampant inefficiency of government institutions. A sad reminder of how inept bureaucracy can compromise Moscow’s own well-intentioned […]

Artyom Lukin

Sino-Russian Relations

Feb 23,2016 Open Forum

Synopsis: German Marshall Fund Workshop on Sino-Russian Relations After Maidan—A New Reality? (February 4, 2016)

In 2015, Sino-Russian relations figured into debates on international relations more than at any time since the end of the Cold War. There was notable divergence on the state of these relations. There was also concern about what should be done to limit the relationship from drawing closer with little consensus on how to proceed. […]

Editorial Staff

Sino-Russian Relations

Jan 25,2016 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario I

For a quarter century after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Far East (RFE) has been caught between Moscow’s failed promises, bureaucratic barriers of a local nature, and unrealized appeals for investment from neighboring countries. The response at every turn has been that, despite earlier problems, things are changing. At the beginning of […]

Gilbert Rozman

Economic Relations , Russian Far East , Sino-Russian Relations

Oct 20,2015 Open Forum

Asia’s Southern Tier and Northern Tier

This article is in three parts: 1) an overview with comparisons; 2) an introduction to analysis of the Southern Tier centered on ASEAN, Australia, and India; and 3) an introduction to analysis directed at the Northern Tier centered on Russia, China, and North Korea. In a rapidly changing Asian landscape, focus on the core of […]

Gilbert Rozman

ASEAN , Regionalism , Sino-Russian Relations , triangularity

Sep 21,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (September 2015)

On August 23 in Rossiiskaia Gazeta, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov wrote about the significance of the seventieth anniversary of war’s end for relations with China. Linking the struggle against Naziism and Japanese militarism, he spoke proudly of the precedent of mobilizing all forces in each of these nations. He praised the Soviet Union too as […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

European Union , National security , Regionalism , Silk Road Economic Belt , Sino-Russian Relations

Aug 13,2015 Open Forum

Grand Strategy for South Korea? An Overview

All countries need a grand strategy. This is particularly true for the countries located in Northeast Asia. For the Republic of Korea (ROK), the nation’s geopolitical position, the limits of its hard and soft power, and the division of the Korean Peninsula make it very difficult to formulate a practical or feasible grand strategy. Under […]

Han Sung-Joo*

Japan-US relations , National security , Sino-Russian Relations , trust-building

Mar 25,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (March 2015)

An article by Gleb A. Ivashentsov attacks US moves in the Indian Ocean, while siding completely with China and suggesting that its plans fully meet Russia’s aspirations. In No. 2, Mezhdunarodnaia zhizn’ he discusses the situation in the Indian Ocean, which is described as the liveliest trade route in the world and the only year-round […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Sino-Russian Relations

Mar 05,2015 Open Forum

Russia’s Policy towards China: Key Players and the Decision-making Process

Analyzing the foreign policy of modern states, many scholars lean towards describing different transactions as a result of interactions between states, which have their own interests and will, as the sole actors in international relations,. A more sophisticated analytical framework equates a certain policy with decisions taken by a ruler or the ruling elite. Russia’s […]

Alexander Gabuev

Balancing Against the West , Kremlin , Personality Politics , pivot to Asia , Putin , Sino-Russian Relations

Jul 19,2013 Special Forum

Cold War in Asia? China, Russia, and Asian Security

Although the Cold War ended by 1991, commentators, experts, and others repeatedly invoke this metaphor at any sign of great power tension. 1 Since the United States and China are the two strongest global and Asian powers, mounting bilateral tensions stimulate many to postulate a new Cold War between them. Others argue that US-Russian relations […]

Stephen Blank

Arms Race , Central Asia , Cold War , India , New Cold War , Sino-Russian Relations , Southeast Asia