Debating Russia’s “Turn to the East” over a Decade

Mainstream coverage of Russia’s decade-long reorientation to the East consistently found wisdom in Vladimir Putin’s decisions and progress on all dimensions of foreign policy. The country was marching […]

Introduction

The bi-monthly country reports in The Asan Forum provide a continuous record of how changes in the Indo-Pacific region were interpreted in Russia and three other states. Drawing […]

Tracking Russia’s ‘Turn to the East’ over a Decade

Over four stages we can discern significant changes in how Russia, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, sought to transform its standing in East Asia. From the time […]

The Russian Far East and China’s Northeast: A Decade in the Shadow of the Belt and Road Initiative

The Russian Far East and China’s Northeast: A Decade in the Shadow of the Belt and Road Initiative Gaye Christoffersen In 2013, the same year the Silk Road […]

Mongolia: Russia’s Best Friend in Asia?

On September 3, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Mongolia, taking part in the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the battle of Khalkhin Gol (Nomonhan), an undeclared […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]