The rivalry between the US and China for primacy in the Asia-Pacific, and then possibly on a global scale, is becoming the main story of world politics in the first decades of the twenty-first century.
 
But how, in the first place, did China grow so strong as to be able to challenge the world’s only (as yet) super-power? The answer is…

Russia, Southeast Asia and ASEAN
Asia Pacific was in focus for Russia when it chaired APEC in 2012.  However, it did not necessarily turn Russia’s attention to the region, including Southeast Asia.  Domestic factors within Russia play an important role in determining Russian foreign policy; its policies towards Southeast Asia and in…

The collision of a Chinese ‘fishing’ boat into vessels of the Japanese Coast Guard in September 2010 near the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands triggered the rise of tension between China and Japan. After the arrest of the captain and crew of the boat, there was an uproar of violent protests all over China, demanding the return of their heroes as…

Owing to political problems arising from Russian company TNK-BP’s ownership of the Kovykta gas field in Eastern Siberia, Moscow decided to prioritise the development of Chayandagas and the surrounding four major gas fields in the Sakha Republic. These were all allocated to Russian company Gazprom, and even though the 1.7 trillion cubic…

Recent elections in the United States, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea brought new Administrations to power in early 2013. Though it is too early to make meaningful prognostics as regards their impact on the fragile regional stability, the incumbent leaderships will undoubtedly shape a new political landscape in the Asia-Pacific. In particular…

 

Comparative Politics, 2013. N. 1(11). URL: http://www.mgimo.ru/files2/z05_2013/volakhava.pdf To read the Comparative Politics journal please proceed to http://www.mgimo.ru/comparpolit/

 Introduction

Relentlessly intensifying inter-state dynamics and solidifying the overall interconnectedness, globalization…

For better or worse, let us be clear: Russia and Georgia are the last subjects of international relations at the moment that have waged a conventional war.
 
What are the reasons for this exceptional character of the Russian-Georgian War?
 
First of all, the breakdown of the world colonial system led to a large extent to the expansion of…

There is a claim currently circulating the EU, both cynical and misleading: ‘multiculturalism is dead in Europe’. No wonder, as the conglomerate of nation-states/EU has silently handed over one of its most important debates – that of European identity – to the wing-parties, recently followed by the several selective and…

One sphere where the Congress led dispensation in New Delhi – which has completed nine years in office -- has performed reasonably well is the realm of foreign policy. This assertion is borne out by a number of points. Firstly, Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh has been bold and pragmatic in reaching out to Pakistan, much to the chagrin of hawks…

 
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." (MLK)
 
The international community strongly denounced the violence in Syria but so far it hasn’t been able to…

At noon on the 1st of October 2012, the first Osprey V-22 aircraft landed at Futenma Marine Corps Air Station on Japan’s Okinawa Island. The controversial deployment of this ungainly looking aircraft (a hybrid between a helicopter and fixed-wing plane) has exposed tensions between centre and periphery in Japanese politics, revealed major…

On November 14, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced, all of a sudden, the dissolution of the Lower House (or the House of Representatives) ten months before the expiration of its full term. After the election on December 16, the newly composed house will choose next prime minister. The incumbent ruling party, Democratic Party of Japan…