Russia and China in Global Politics

This course will examine problems in the role of China and Russia in the contemporary geopolitical situation. The People’s Republic of China and Russian Federation have become, in different ways, the most powerful challenges of the 21st century. As permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, they often speak out together against initiatives of Western European countries. But do they really, in this way, speak as one? What unites them and what separates them? We will try to understand the basis of each power’s foreign policy strategies. Russian tries to maintain its position in the world through maximal use of its energy potential. But China has proposed a different challenge – to rebuild the world on the basis, principally, of a new transcommunications project. How are these projects beginning to be realized, and how do they compete with each other? How will this affect the fate of the world?