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China and Russia: The New Rapprochement
With many predicting the end of US hegemony, Russia and China's growing cooperation in a number of key strategic areas looks set to have a major impact on global power dynamics. But what lies behind this Sino-Russian rapprochement? Is it simply the result of deteriorated Russo–US and Sino–US relations or does it date back to a more fundamental alignment of interests after the Cold War?
In this book Alexander Lukin answers these questions, offering a deeply informed and nuanced assessment of Russia and China’s ever-closer ties. Tracing the evolution of this partnership from the 1990s to the present day, he shows how economic and geopolitical interests drove the two countries together in spite of political and cultural differences. Key areas of cooperation and possible conflict are explored, from bilateral trade and investment to immigration and security. Ultimately, Lukin argues that China and Russia’s strategic partnership is part of a growing system of cooperation in the non-Western world, which has also seen the emergence of a new political Greater Eurasia. His vision of the new China–Russia rapprochement will be essential reading for anyone interested in understanding this evolving partnership and the way in which it is altering the contemporary geopolitical landscape.
In this book Alexander Lukin answers these questions, offering a deeply informed and nuanced assessment of Russia and China’s ever-closer ties. Tracing the evolution of this partnership from the 1990s to the present day, he shows how economic and geopolitical interests drove the two countries together in spite of political and cultural differences. Key areas of cooperation and possible conflict are explored, from bilateral trade and investment to immigration and security. Ultimately, Lukin argues that China and Russia’s strategic partnership is part of a growing system of cooperation in the non-Western world, which has also seen the emergence of a new political Greater Eurasia. His vision of the new China–Russia rapprochement will be essential reading for anyone interested in understanding this evolving partnership and the way in which it is altering the contemporary geopolitical landscape.
272 pages, Paperback
Published April 2, 2018
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About the author
Alexander Lukin
12 books5 followersAlexander Lukin
Head, Professor:Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs / School of International Affairs
Laboratory Head:Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs / International Laboratory on World Order Studies and the New Regionalism
Alexander Lukin has been at HSE University since 2014.
Alexander Lukin is Head of the Department of International Relations at National Research University Higher School of Economics and Director of the Centre for East Asian and Shanghai Cooperation Organization Studies at MGIMO University in Moscow, Russia. He also holds the position of Chair Professor at Zhejiang University in China.
Dr. Lukin received his first degree from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1984, a DPhil in Politics from Oxford University in 1997, a doctorate in history from the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow in 2007, and a degree in theology from St.Tikhon’s Orthodox University in 2013. He has worked at the Soviet Foreign Ministry, the Soviet Embassy to the PRC, and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. From 1990 to 1993, he served as an elected deputy of the Moscow City Soviet (Council) where he chaired the Sub-Committee for Inter-Regional Relations. He co-authored Three Journeys through China with Andrei Dikarev (Moscow, 1989), wrote The Political Culture of the Russian Democrats (Oxford University Press, 2000), The Bear Watches the Dragon: Russia’s Perceptions of China and the Evolution of Russian-Chinese Relations since the Eighteenth Century (M.E.Sharpe, 2003), Pivot to Asia: Russia’s Foreign Policy Enters the 21st Century (Vij Books India, 2016), China and Russia: The New Rapprochement (Polity Press, 2018), Russia: A Thorny Transition From Communism (Vij Books India, 2019) as well as numerous articles and policy papers on Russian and Chinese politics. He is the editor and a contributor to the major Russian work on Russian-Chinese relations: Russia and China: Four Hundred Years of Interaction (Moscow: Ves’ Mir, 2013) and an Honorary Researcher of Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences. Dr. Lukin has also written on the international situation in East Asia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and Russian-Chinese relations. His works have been published in Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan).
He was a visiting fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University from 1997 to 1998. From 2000 to 2001, he worked as a research fellow at the Center for Northeast Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. He is the Director of the Center for East Asian and Shanghai Cooperation Organization Studies at Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia), and also served there as an associate professor in the Political Science Department from 1998 until 2007. In 2005, he founded Russia-China. 21st Century – the only Russian magazine devoted to China and Russian-Chinese relations – and served as its editor until 2008. From 2000 to 2006, he was an Associate Researcher at the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University. He serves on the editorial board of Asian Politics and Policy, International Problems (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) and The ASAN Forum (Korea). In November 2011 he was appointed Vice President of the Russian Diplomatic Academy (for research and international cooperation). In 2014 he accepted the position of Department Chair at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. In 2009, he was awarded a medal for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Sino-Russian Relations’ by Chinese President Hu Jintao and in 2012 a medal on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for his contribution in the formation and development of the SCO.
Head, Professor:Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs / School of International Affairs
Laboratory Head:Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs / International Laboratory on World Order Studies and the New Regionalism
Alexander Lukin has been at HSE University since 2014.
Alexander Lukin is Head of the Department of International Relations at National Research University Higher School of Economics and Director of the Centre for East Asian and Shanghai Cooperation Organization Studies at MGIMO University in Moscow, Russia. He also holds the position of Chair Professor at Zhejiang University in China.
Dr. Lukin received his first degree from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1984, a DPhil in Politics from Oxford University in 1997, a doctorate in history from the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow in 2007, and a degree in theology from St.Tikhon’s Orthodox University in 2013. He has worked at the Soviet Foreign Ministry, the Soviet Embassy to the PRC, and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. From 1990 to 1993, he served as an elected deputy of the Moscow City Soviet (Council) where he chaired the Sub-Committee for Inter-Regional Relations. He co-authored Three Journeys through China with Andrei Dikarev (Moscow, 1989), wrote The Political Culture of the Russian Democrats (Oxford University Press, 2000), The Bear Watches the Dragon: Russia’s Perceptions of China and the Evolution of Russian-Chinese Relations since the Eighteenth Century (M.E.Sharpe, 2003), Pivot to Asia: Russia’s Foreign Policy Enters the 21st Century (Vij Books India, 2016), China and Russia: The New Rapprochement (Polity Press, 2018), Russia: A Thorny Transition From Communism (Vij Books India, 2019) as well as numerous articles and policy papers on Russian and Chinese politics. He is the editor and a contributor to the major Russian work on Russian-Chinese relations: Russia and China: Four Hundred Years of Interaction (Moscow: Ves’ Mir, 2013) and an Honorary Researcher of Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences. Dr. Lukin has also written on the international situation in East Asia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and Russian-Chinese relations. His works have been published in Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan).
He was a visiting fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University from 1997 to 1998. From 2000 to 2001, he worked as a research fellow at the Center for Northeast Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. He is the Director of the Center for East Asian and Shanghai Cooperation Organization Studies at Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia), and also served there as an associate professor in the Political Science Department from 1998 until 2007. In 2005, he founded Russia-China. 21st Century – the only Russian magazine devoted to China and Russian-Chinese relations – and served as its editor until 2008. From 2000 to 2006, he was an Associate Researcher at the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University. He serves on the editorial board of Asian Politics and Policy, International Problems (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) and The ASAN Forum (Korea). In November 2011 he was appointed Vice President of the Russian Diplomatic Academy (for research and international cooperation). In 2014 he accepted the position of Department Chair at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. In 2009, he was awarded a medal for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Sino-Russian Relations’ by Chinese President Hu Jintao and in 2012 a medal on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for his contribution in the formation and development of the SCO.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 4, 2021
Hey Lukin actually the annexation of Crimea was not justified because Russia is misunderstood and sensitive. This book could have been 10 pages long.
May 7, 2021
(read in Bang Nam Chuet, Thailand)
August 17, 2020
This is a decent overview of Sino-Russian relations mostly post-90s, from the 2000s to just before the current time, around 2017. There's also a significant overview of Sino-Soviet relations, and the dynamics of that relationships, and how/why it differed with the current inter-state compact that has formed between the two states.
At the heart of this book is the question, what is the nature of the relationship, why is it robust, and what prospects are there for it to persist, evolve into the future? For those who have been avid watchers of either country for the past 1 - 2 decades, nothing in this book will be very surprising. Starting with Yeltsin & Jiang Zeming, but accelerating under Putin and the same, then Hu Jinato, and currently with Xi Jingping, there have been an increasing number of "confidence" measures, which includes not only increased trade between raw and finished goods (mostly military hardware for the first 1 - 2 decades) between the two nations, but since the 2010s, more effort has been directed (mostly from the top) to integrate critical infrastructure, both physical (commodity pipelines etc.), as well as intellectual (R&D, inter-university curricula integration etc.).
It has been assumed, almost without challenge, in Western policy circles that the relationship is 'marriage of convenience', and that the nature of autocracy prohibit a deep relationship to form/persist between the two states for very long. Several theoretical models including, those that are a function of either geography or "institutional" theories of governance suggest this may be the case. However, the author, who is an academic from Russia, claims that this notion is wide off the mark.
His primary thesis is that the relationship between China and Russia has evolved to become multi-layered and extend beyond the principal and policy levels, to include so many interweaving connections, that no one leader on either side could change the nature of it too drastically. I have my reservations on that analysis, as the author makes a similar remark on the nature of the Sino-US relationship when commenting on the likely evolution of the Trump era, whereby he states that whatever the desires of Trump and his clique to disentangle the economic relationship, not much could be done to really diminish it. This is being shown not to be the case at least currently (circa July 2020) at least in the dimension of technology trade between the two nations, and that will have an increasingly coercive effect on the rest of the trade relationship as technology becomes and increasing part of the overall portfolio of each country's economy.
However, this sort of structural argument is not unique to the author, and almost all political scientist overestimate the strength/robustness of institutions/inter-personal relationships with respect to political change in their analysis/theories. Yet, the author does make a convincing case that the relationship will be persist, and that it's too much in both the Russian and Chinese interest to ensure that it remains at the very least amiable. This seems likely, as growth in China, and the Asia-Pacific more broadly, continues to outpace most other regions, and as China in particular, continues to expand infrastructure in scientific and engineering research.
The author paints a picture of a Russia that plays "balancer" in some way between the various potential hegemons of "Eurasia", including between India and China. Though, keeping China as the premiere partner for coordination. Overall it's not a bad book, it's just not very "new" with respect to the kind of reports/analysis one may have gleaned from the pages of Foreign Affairs on the western side, or something like AsiaTimes or any number of open-source journalistic material. However, he is fairly exhaustive, assessing the relationship within all the critical dimensions, including social (people-to-people), institutional, economics, political, and strategic.
For those who would need a quick primer on the subject, this is probably a good go-to-book, one that is actually written by an actual Russian, as opposed to a foreign analysis looking in. Conditional recommend as an introduction text.
At the heart of this book is the question, what is the nature of the relationship, why is it robust, and what prospects are there for it to persist, evolve into the future? For those who have been avid watchers of either country for the past 1 - 2 decades, nothing in this book will be very surprising. Starting with Yeltsin & Jiang Zeming, but accelerating under Putin and the same, then Hu Jinato, and currently with Xi Jingping, there have been an increasing number of "confidence" measures, which includes not only increased trade between raw and finished goods (mostly military hardware for the first 1 - 2 decades) between the two nations, but since the 2010s, more effort has been directed (mostly from the top) to integrate critical infrastructure, both physical (commodity pipelines etc.), as well as intellectual (R&D, inter-university curricula integration etc.).
It has been assumed, almost without challenge, in Western policy circles that the relationship is 'marriage of convenience', and that the nature of autocracy prohibit a deep relationship to form/persist between the two states for very long. Several theoretical models including, those that are a function of either geography or "institutional" theories of governance suggest this may be the case. However, the author, who is an academic from Russia, claims that this notion is wide off the mark.
His primary thesis is that the relationship between China and Russia has evolved to become multi-layered and extend beyond the principal and policy levels, to include so many interweaving connections, that no one leader on either side could change the nature of it too drastically. I have my reservations on that analysis, as the author makes a similar remark on the nature of the Sino-US relationship when commenting on the likely evolution of the Trump era, whereby he states that whatever the desires of Trump and his clique to disentangle the economic relationship, not much could be done to really diminish it. This is being shown not to be the case at least currently (circa July 2020) at least in the dimension of technology trade between the two nations, and that will have an increasingly coercive effect on the rest of the trade relationship as technology becomes and increasing part of the overall portfolio of each country's economy.
However, this sort of structural argument is not unique to the author, and almost all political scientist overestimate the strength/robustness of institutions/inter-personal relationships with respect to political change in their analysis/theories. Yet, the author does make a convincing case that the relationship will be persist, and that it's too much in both the Russian and Chinese interest to ensure that it remains at the very least amiable. This seems likely, as growth in China, and the Asia-Pacific more broadly, continues to outpace most other regions, and as China in particular, continues to expand infrastructure in scientific and engineering research.
The author paints a picture of a Russia that plays "balancer" in some way between the various potential hegemons of "Eurasia", including between India and China. Though, keeping China as the premiere partner for coordination. Overall it's not a bad book, it's just not very "new" with respect to the kind of reports/analysis one may have gleaned from the pages of Foreign Affairs on the western side, or something like AsiaTimes or any number of open-source journalistic material. However, he is fairly exhaustive, assessing the relationship within all the critical dimensions, including social (people-to-people), institutional, economics, political, and strategic.
For those who would need a quick primer on the subject, this is probably a good go-to-book, one that is actually written by an actual Russian, as opposed to a foreign analysis looking in. Conditional recommend as an introduction text.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews