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Putin’s travel to China should demonstrate that Russia is not alone, and, no doubt, this visit will be a success. However, China can call the shots in the upcoming gas deal. If a deal is concluded on favorable terms, this will signal a big step toward securing the strategic partnership between the two countries.
If the Kremlin allies with China too closely, it will not only estrange Russia from most of Asian countries, but also may provoke China’s appetite to gobble the newly-born child of Russia, the Eurasian Union.
Sanctioning Russia’s oil remains on the table, but playing this card comes with serious economic risk for all.
Free trade is almost always good for the world, but at times it can prevent necessary adjustments in individual countries. This is one of those times.
It has become clear that, other than large territories and populations, the BRICs have little in common.
Japan is beginning to emerge from its prolonged economic stagnation following the success of Abenomics. But successful implementation of the administration’s action plan, adopted in January, is critical for sustained economic revitalization.
After the end of the Cold War, the West neglected the task of solving the “Russia problem” through integration. Trying to solve it now through economic warfare is not going to work.
It would be better for Russia to reach an agreement with the West on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, coupled with an assurance of its permanent neutrality and a simultaneous accession by Ukraine to the Association Agreement with the EU and to the Russia-led Customs Union.
China cannot win the battle for regional sentiment so long as the debate is about security and sovereignty, on which Beijing’s hard position leaves little room for compromise.
From Chinese industrialization to maritime trade, from the perils of piracy to human trafficking, a voyage from the Far East to Europe reveals much about the modern world.
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