Seen at least from the perspective of East Asia, the Russian Far East (RFE) is very much the odd man out when it comes to the regional economic miracle of the last generation. There are multiple reasons for the RFE having largely missed this boat, but it cannot be put down merely to the legacy of Socialism, for Heilongjiang across the border has managed to enrich itself greatly. Deficiencies in institutions — such as the rule of law — are hindrances, but again, China has managed.
Nor...
The Eurasia Initiative and the Korean-Russian Gas Pipeline Project
More than a year has passed since the administration of President Park Geun-hye announced the Eurasia Initiative. Both concerns and hopes have been expressed on the subject. The Eurasia Initiative aspires to create an amicable international atmosphere for the reunification of the two Koreas, as well as to stabilize the Korean Peninsula through economic cooperation with countries to the north. It also aims to build new momentum for...
From world-economy to American world-empire
What is the nature of the modern world order? Answers to this question are incalculable many. However, the one provided by Salvatore Babones, a native New Yorker and currently a professor at the University of Sydney (salvatorebabones.com), has recently struck me as probably the most compelling. His article, published by Far Eastern Federal University’s Oriental Institute Journal, is available here (FULL TEXT)
Challenging a conventional wisdom...
On July 3, 1988 Iran Air Flight 655 was shot down over the Persian Gulf by the US Navy cruiser USS Vincennes. All 290 people on board were killed. The civilian airliner was shot down in Iranian airspace while flying a regularly scheduled flight on its registered flight path. The incident occurred more than 10,000 km away from the United States.
There were no international calls for sanctions on the United States. American businesses were not penalized and American officials were not inconvenienced...
Even under the regime of the strategic partnership China can hardly be named the true advocate of the Russian interests on the Far East and North East Asia. The dynamic of the regional cooperation witnesses on poor development of local cooperation mechanisms – investment activity and amount of the implemented projects aren’t covering mutual demands. Also we have a trade misbalance – 76% of the Russian export consists of minerals, raw materials, hydrocarbons, timber, fish.
Since...
As a Scotsman researching the contemporary attempts to develop the Russian Far East, it can often feel like a distant endeavour when reading and writing about events from my office far away in Glasgow. With that in mind I recently spent a few weeks visiting four cities in the region to bring my local knowledge back up to speed and get a real look at how things are developing, covering Yakutsk, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. As with any traveller, foreign guest or academic, I arrived...
As the inaugural Russia-China Expo ended in Harbin last week, which was attended by more than 1,500 exhibitors, the event has created another momentum for Russia-China relations since the Russian-Chinese “gas deal of the century” was signed in May. As apparently Russia is looking east to diversify its economy amidst economic sanctions from the West, China, Russia’s counterpart with more than 4,000 kilometers shared border and the world’s one of the biggest economies shows...
Whereas the first two world wars broke out and were fought mainly in Europe, the third world war, if it is not avoided, will most probably erupt in the Asia-Pacific region. Quite a few scholars and political leaders have found striking similarities between what took place in Europe before the first world war and what we are now witnessing in Asia. The current security situation in the Asia-Pacific - with competing sovereignty claims, the rise of nationalism among both major and lesser countries,...
In the Ukraine crisis, there is one player who is going to win regardless of the outcome of the standoff. Yet this player has apparently nothing to do with the whole story. That is China.
The leadership in Beijing must be secretly delighted watching the struggle between Russia and the West. The Ukraine crisis can seriously poison Moscow’s relations with Washington and Brussels for a long time to come, thus reducing their mutual ability to coordinate policies on the major issues in world politics...
On October 10th , Brunei hosted East Asia Summit. This was the 8th annual meeting of EAS – the forum which was launched in 2005 and has now gained the status of the Asia-Pacific’s most important multilateral venue to discuss security issues at the highest political level. EAS now consists of 18 members (10 ASEAN countries, Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand, the US, and Russia).
The Brunei Summit was remarkable for the absence of the leaders of two key powers –...
