... of a Greater Eurasia is an extremely complex undertaking — more difficult and complex, in fact, than the construction of a Greater Europe (which itself was not successful in spite of Russia’s attention to it during its first two post-Cold War decades).... ... for the country’s internal development. To have any chance of success, then, Russia will need more than good relations with China, or for that matter more to show for its efforts than showcase multilateral institutions like BRICS and the SCO. And it ...
... Seuddeutsche Zeitung
to understand just how powerful this idea once was. Today however the long-standing supporters of a cooperative and integrated continent, like former Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, are coming to terms with the “
Sunset of Greater Europe
”. Some political circles in Moscow have their sights set instead on a “
Greater Asia
”, from St Petersburg to Shanghai. Massive deals with China, like an estimated
$2 billion to supply Beijing with advanced SU-35 fighter jets
, are illustrative of this broader shift in Russia’s outlook, away from Europe and towards Asia.
Russia’s about-face is largely a response to the breakdown ...