Two Bears With Much in Common
There is a sizable English-language literature on the Russia-china relationship in general, and the rapid rapprochement more recently, but this book grows out of the observation that most Western analyses are skeptical, biased or outright incorrect. Alexander Lukin, professor at National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow, contends that the Moscow-beijing rapport is far more solid than the West perceives, as it is premised on normative affinities between the two: similar views on the world geopolitical situation and the common prospects for a polycentric system of international relations.
Lukin traces the evolution of the relationship from each side’s perspective and probes the details of the maturing strategic partnership, drawing on official documents from both countries. Having lost its trust in, and being disillusioned with, the West as a partner during a turbulent period in the 1990s, Russia has been shifting to Asia and deepening its ties with China. Lukin finds a core reason for this, beyond economics, in geopolitical considerations: the world is now moving towards a polycentric order, in which several new non-western centers of power are seeking opportunities to co-ordinate efforts as a counterweight to a world unified on Western terms as a form of hegemony. Against this backdrop, Lukin delineates the rapprochement as a “partnership of consequence” rather than a tactical “partnership of convenience,” and forecasts that the partnership will remain a linchpin of global and regional stability.
Global Asia.