Russian President Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea was

met with heavy economic sanctions from Europe and the United States, weakening
Russias ties with the West and leaving the Kremlin eager to strengthen ties with China.
In recent years, China and Russia have cooperated closely in the UN Security Council
and taken similar positions on Internet regulation. They have used diplomatic
frameworks such as the BRICS group of major emerging countries (along with Brazil,
India, and South Africa) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (along with
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) to coordinate positions. And
Putin has struck up a good working relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping,
based on their shared domestic illiberalism and desire to counter American ideology and
influence.
Their economic relationship, too, seems to be progressing
ramework agreement to deliver an additional 30 bcm of gas to Chinas Xingjiang
Province from western Siberia for 30 years via another new pipeline
This may seem to portend an ever-deepening bilateral relationship. But there is a hitch:
the gas deals amplify a significant bilateral trade imbalance, with Russia supplying raw
materials to China and importing Chinese manufactures. And the gas deals do not make
up for Russias lost access to the Western technology that it needs to develop frontier
Arctic fields and become an energy superpower, not just Chinas gas station.
Russias 2009 announcement of a new military doctrine explicitly reserving the right to
first use of nuclear weapons a stance that resembles Americas Cold War force
posture, aimed at deterring superior conventional Soviet forces in Europe. These
imbalances suggest that Russia would resist a tight military alliance with China, even as
the two countries pursue mutually beneficial tactical diplomatic coordination.
Read more at http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/russia-china-alliance-byjoseph-s--nye-2015-01#sQ2kjoR48qboTm83.99
President Vladimir Putin's vision includes (a) ability to reclaim lost territories following the
disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991; (b) revival of the bipolar world order in which the
USA and Russia played the dominant role on world stage; (c) Russia's ability to, once again,

expand its sphere of influence in the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America; and (d) the
call by Mr. Putin for rearmament and reorganization of the Russian military apparatus.

alianza energtica entre Rusia y China ha provocado inquietud en Occidente. El acuerdo

gasfero por un total de 400.000 millones de dlares -algo as como el PBI argentino- es el
mayor compromiso econmico de la historia rusa y constituye, indudablemente, una respuesta
a la vocacin estratgica de una y otra nacin.
En trminos geopolticos -es sta la clave- el acuerdo permite a Mosc disminuir la
dependencia econmica de la Unin Europea, a cuyos pases dirige la mayor parte de su
exportacin gasfera.
Tanto en Mosc como en Pekn, la cpula del poder poltico entiende que su rol central es
devolver a sus naciones el tradicional rol de liderazgo mundial de antao. La recuperacin del
orgullo nacional y la grandeza perdida constituyen el punto de partida de la agenda estratgica
de los gobernantes rusos y chinos. Occidente debe comprender y aceptar el rol de ambas
naciones como potencias histricas y, en especial, entender que en la actual etapa del
capitalismo global, Rusia y China estn destinadas a jugar un papel decisivo en el curso de los
acontecimientos mundiales. Habr de acostumbrarse a este regreso de China y Rusia al primer
plano de la escena mundial.
Eurasia no es slo la ficcin literaria que construy el novelista britnico George Orwell en su
afamada '1984'. Hoy en da es la proyeccin geopoltica de un eje an difuso, desde luego inmaduro y
en muchos aspectos contradictorio, que define las relaciones (futuras ms que presentes) entre
China y Rusia.