Noah denkt™ - The Power of Balanced Reasoning |
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It’s the “Euro” in Eurasianism that will ultimately wreck the new Sino-Russian
Partnership
Dialogue with the Alter Ego on the $400 billion gas deal between Russia and China, drafted on May 21,
published on May 25, 2014
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with Russia. This 30-year agreement is seen as a strong endorsement of the strategic partnership that both
countries have been working towards for quite some time now. It equally reinforces Russia’s own pivot towards
Asia as inspired by its rediscovered Eurasian calling. Needless to say that said gas deal stands in stark
contrast to Russia’s strained relations with the West which haven’t recovered yet from the still unresolved
Ukraine crisis. Does Noah denkt™ believe that the new Sino-Russian Entente will develop into a full-blown
coalition that is to shape world politics for a long time to come?
Answer by Noah denkt™ (Nd): Well, if managed deftly this new entente can certainly survive for a certain
period of time. We doubt though that it will develop into a long-lasting bedrock of international relations
because of the big, national ego that both countries harbor respectively. In other words, we believe that history
will repeat itself and that the Sino-Russian friendship will ultimately erode due to both countries’ inability to
tolerate another shining star beside them.
AE: Could you expand on that?
Nd: Well, if you analyze the Russian and the Chinese mentality, you will find that both of them are more
concerned with promoting and projecting their respective national grandiosity rather than fostering a
collaborative international spirit. This self-centered, nation-state aspiration of their respective orientations will
inevitably lead to clashes even among close friends, since even friends will constantly feel an inherent need to
resolve the open top dog question once and for all. If you look back on the Stalin-Mao fall out you will find that
the ultimate cause for the alliance break up wasn't a concrete policy disagreement. It was much rather a
resentment on the part of the Chinese to be treated as inferior by an assuming Soviet leadership. It seems to
us that all the makings are there for a similar scenario to play out this time around.
AE: Should we not presume however that the current leadership both in Russia and in China is quite aware of
the narcissistic challenges of the past? And is it therefore not reasonable to presume that both of them will
adapt their mutual policy making accordingly?
Nd: Clearly, they will do a better job this time to cultivate the relationship than they did in the past. They won’t
be able however to quell the underlying rivalry forever. Sooner or later the chickens and their cock will come
home to roost.
AE: Why do you believe that it is the “Euro” in Eurasian that will cause the main damage?
Nd: Russian national pride rests in no small measure on the recognition that its literature, its music, its ballet
and its arts have rightly so received above all in the West. After all, it is out of its original embrace of Greco-
Roman traditions and values that this magnificent art developed in the first place. Given that Russia has many
reasons to celebrate its supreme artistic achievements, it is not at all far-fetched to presume that it will be with
lesser appreciation what it will look on the decidedly non- Greco-Roman roots of the Chinese civilization. And
that may well be the cause for frictions and misunderstandings in the Sino-Russian relationship.
AE: China has many very good reasons to be proud of its cultural heritage too?
Nd: Obviously. And yet, there is no denying that Chinese achievements come from a markedly different cultural
context. These differences play themselves out in many different forms and shapes. And it will be by no means
easy to manage that diversity in a mutually supportive manner over a sustained period of time.
Partnership
Dialogue with the Alter Ego on the $400 billion gas deal between Russia and China, drafted on May 21,
published on May 25, 2014
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- "Of course, behind the displays of amity, there remains a degree of Russian-Chinese mistrust and rivalry –
something that Mr Kissinger skilfully exploited in the 1970s. In the long run, the two countries interests may bash
into each other in Central Asia. Mr Putin has made it very clear that he sees the development of a Eurasian Union
as central to his strategic vision for Russia – which was the source of his dispute with Europe over Ukraine. At the
end of May the Russian president intends to sign a deal on the Eurasian Union with Kazakhstan and Belarus. But
China’s economic power means that much of Central Asia is naturally being drawn into Beijing’s sphere of
influence – and China has announced its own plans to develop a “new Silk road” through Central Asia."
Gideon Rachman, Russia makes its own pivot to Asia, in: Financial Times, May 21, 2014
with Russia. This 30-year agreement is seen as a strong endorsement of the strategic partnership that both
countries have been working towards for quite some time now. It equally reinforces Russia’s own pivot towards
Asia as inspired by its rediscovered Eurasian calling. Needless to say that said gas deal stands in stark
contrast to Russia’s strained relations with the West which haven’t recovered yet from the still unresolved
Ukraine crisis. Does Noah denkt™ believe that the new Sino-Russian Entente will develop into a full-blown
coalition that is to shape world politics for a long time to come?
Answer by Noah denkt™ (Nd): Well, if managed deftly this new entente can certainly survive for a certain
period of time. We doubt though that it will develop into a long-lasting bedrock of international relations
because of the big, national ego that both countries harbor respectively. In other words, we believe that history
will repeat itself and that the Sino-Russian friendship will ultimately erode due to both countries’ inability to
tolerate another shining star beside them.
AE: Could you expand on that?
Nd: Well, if you analyze the Russian and the Chinese mentality, you will find that both of them are more
concerned with promoting and projecting their respective national grandiosity rather than fostering a
collaborative international spirit. This self-centered, nation-state aspiration of their respective orientations will
inevitably lead to clashes even among close friends, since even friends will constantly feel an inherent need to
resolve the open top dog question once and for all. If you look back on the Stalin-Mao fall out you will find that
the ultimate cause for the alliance break up wasn't a concrete policy disagreement. It was much rather a
resentment on the part of the Chinese to be treated as inferior by an assuming Soviet leadership. It seems to
us that all the makings are there for a similar scenario to play out this time around.
AE: Should we not presume however that the current leadership both in Russia and in China is quite aware of
the narcissistic challenges of the past? And is it therefore not reasonable to presume that both of them will
adapt their mutual policy making accordingly?
Nd: Clearly, they will do a better job this time to cultivate the relationship than they did in the past. They won’t
be able however to quell the underlying rivalry forever. Sooner or later the chickens and their cock will come
home to roost.
AE: Why do you believe that it is the “Euro” in Eurasian that will cause the main damage?
Nd: Russian national pride rests in no small measure on the recognition that its literature, its music, its ballet
and its arts have rightly so received above all in the West. After all, it is out of its original embrace of Greco-
Roman traditions and values that this magnificent art developed in the first place. Given that Russia has many
reasons to celebrate its supreme artistic achievements, it is not at all far-fetched to presume that it will be with
lesser appreciation what it will look on the decidedly non- Greco-Roman roots of the Chinese civilization. And
that may well be the cause for frictions and misunderstandings in the Sino-Russian relationship.
AE: China has many very good reasons to be proud of its cultural heritage too?
Nd: Obviously. And yet, there is no denying that Chinese achievements come from a markedly different cultural
context. These differences play themselves out in many different forms and shapes. And it will be by no means
easy to manage that diversity in a mutually supportive manner over a sustained period of time.
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| Keywords: Eurasianism, Russia's Eurasian Calling, Russian Eurasianism and Sino-Russian Relations, Prospects for Sino-Russian Entente, Prospects for a Sino-Russian alliance, Russia's pivot to Asia, the Sino-Russian axis of convenience, Sino-Russian gas deal |