Russia and Asia-Pacific: From ‘Competing’ to ‘Complementary’ Regionalisms?

Abstract

This article addresses Russia's role in the Asia-Pacific region and asks whether and how its conception of its role has changed. It is suggested that within Russia there is a re-evaluation of regionalism, underway in both academic and public spheres, which seeks to engage with ‘Eurocentric’ approaches to regionalism and, to some extent, challenge it – much of this remains at a discursive or rhetorical level. However, there is also evidence to show that Russia is attempting to diversify relations in the region away from China due to the overdependence of Russia's Far Eastern region on China in economic terms.

Keywords

Russian foreign policy Asia-Pacific regionalism Russian Far East China

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