Russia-China Rel 21st Century

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Russia-China Relations in the 21 Century: Economics & Geopolitical Factors Russia and China have continued to be major challengers of the current international system and meaningful economic competitors of the West. Will these two biggest world autocracies be able to define the new rules of global economic and political order in the 21st century? Can a rising Russian-Sino partnership form a central alternative model to the democratic market system of the West? This course seeks to analyze the ways mutual economic needs and geopolitical interests, as well as close relations between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, have strengthened and diversified the “no-limits” partnership between Moscow and Beijing. We’ll evaluate how deeply the bond between these two countries runs, and what critical areas of economic and political friction still exist in their relationship. You’ll understand better why the Russia-China interaction has become highly asymmetrical, but not entirely one-sided. That means that although China wields great influence in the Kremlin, it does not exert clear control. However, Moscow has become Beijing’s junior partner, turning China into Russia’s main hydrocarbon export destination, and its major source of the country’s technological imports, while at the same time converting the yuan into Russia’s principal reserve currency. In the process, you will develop critical thinking skills, and you will learn how to apply political economy theories to specific issues of bilateral Russia-China relations. You’ll also consider if and how U.S.-Russia and U.S.-China relations impact the mutual rapprochement of both countries, and what further dynamics might emerge in the power triangle between Washington, Beijing, and Moscow. You will explore how far Russia and China have moved in their efforts to challenge a unipolar moment and set up a multipolar world order. Along the way, we’ll discuss as well if the West is now engaged in a new Cold War with China and Russia. Our course will offer a review of key thematic points on Russia’s and China’s mutually supporting positions in multilateral settings - including the UN, the SCO, the G20, and BRICS. We’ll analyze their coordinative activities and competition in such ventures as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). We’ll also discuss Russia’s disruptive role for China in the context of the Ukrainian war and the ensuing unprecedented Western sanctions against Moscow. In the final part of the course, we will elaborate a set of concrete policy recommendations for how U.S. leaders can counter Russia and China’s coordinated challenges to the current “rule-based” order.