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New Visions for the New Globality: China’s BRI vs. Russia’s Greater Eurasian Space
December 15, 2021 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
New Visions for the New Globality: China’s BRI vs. Russia’s Greater Eurasian Space
ABSTRACT
The Belt and Road Initiative has caused a lot of controversy in Russia’s expert discussion. Formally, Moscow is very enthusiastic about the BRI project and considers it a positive factor in international relations. Russian-Chinese relations have reached their peak politically and militarily, though at the same time, Russia has proposed its own, very complex integration project, which is formalized as the Eurasian Economic Union, which has been supported not only by a number of post-Soviet states but also by Singapore and Vietnam. Besides, Russia has also put forward its global initiative, the Great Eurasian Space, which is supposed to unite dozens of states based on common values, science and education systems, and common approaches to problem-solving. Although the BRI and the EAEU have signed a cooperation agreement, at first glance, the idea of the BRI and the Greater Eurasian Space may contradict each other. Thus, both China and Russia have global ideas that are equally close and distant from each other. We cannot exclude that Russia, supporting the BRI, is developing its own independent “third way,” which could manifest itself in a decade.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alexey Maslov, Ph.D., Professor, is one of the leading Russian scholars and internationally renowned experts in Chinese studies and Russian-Chinese relations. At the present moment, he holds the position of Head of the Institute of Asian and African Studies of the Moscow State University, the leading education center and think-tank on Asian Studies in Russia. His previous positions include Acting Director of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Head of the School of Asian Studies at the HSE University (Moscow). Professor Maslov is a state-level expert in negotiations between Russia and China on the most important issues, and an expert for the Russian Council of International Relations. Professor Maslov graduated from Moscow State University and has been invited as a visiting professor to several leading universities, including New York State University, Heidelberg University, Cambridge University, Shanxi Normal University, etc. He has published 11 books on Chinese studies.
ORGANIZER
The event is organized by the CRF Project “Infrastructures of Faith: Religious Mobilities on the Belt and Road [BRINFAITH]” (RGC CRF HKU C7052-18G), which is hosted by the ASIAR – Asian Religious Connections Research Cluster in HKIHSS.
