Valdai Club

There are indeed some positive aspects to the imitation of the “eastward turn,” if only the fact that the region is constantly in and out of the headlines. But still, “the development of the economy of the Far East” and “the development of the Far East” are far from the same thing. And Russia is obviously failing on the latter.

Syria is only part of the big game Beijing has pursued since the middle of this decade. It wants to make its mark as a global power responsible for the fate of the Eurasian continent. In late November, China’s Night Tigers antiterrorist squad arrived at the Russian Tartus naval base in Syria. In the same month, it was announced that the Snow Leopards unit would be sent to Syria.

China is not a "kind uncle" who will sacrifice its own interests for the sake of others. Globalization 2.0 will develop, but already in the Chinese format, which will face new challenges, that will grow, as before, on the basis of the civilizational values conflict, nationalism, "regional identity" and religious intolerance.

The Chinese turned from the Pacific Ocean toward the continent, toward Eurasia. They solve the tasks of their own development at the expense of the resources of the Eurasian continent. The Chinese project is more geopolitical than the economical, but this is the point of contact between Russia and PRC. Secure Central Asia is the common goal of the two countries within the framework of the One Belt, One Road initiative and the Eurasian project.

Unlike Russia’s Eurasian project, its Asia-Pacific plan, for quite objective reasons, has always been largely speculative. The APR construct itself is a Cold War tool created by US political scientists for greater convenience in structuring relations with Pacific neighbors and adjusted to US views and interests. Each Asian or Pacific state that joins the APR on its own free will or is included by fiat has its own vision of this construct, shaped by geography, history, government and business interests.

The report presented at the 11th Krasnoyarsk economic forum on the 27th of February 2014 is a follow-up to the report Toward the Great Ocean, or the New Globalization of Russia, published by the Valdai Discussion Club in July 2012, and is based on the conclusions drawn in that report.