Marginalization in globalization: Chinese polemics on the specifics of Russian diplomacy

Abstract

The article analyzes approaches of modern Chinese scholars to the influence of history and culture on Russian diplomacy. It discusses key approaches and typical arguments in Chinese scientific publications. Chinese authors pay special attention to historical continuity and stability in Russian diplomacy and seek to integrate the analysis of its cultural foundations with geopolitical approaches and identify invariable components in Russia’s foreign policy. Many Chinese scholars emphasize the realism of Russian diplomacy and its susceptibility to the “European complex” caused by Russia’s unfailing attraction to the European civilization and the impossibility for it to become its full-fledged member. The article discusses assessments made by Chinese authors with regard to religious “Orthodox messianism,” Russian nationalism, the sense of having a “historical mission,” the “imperial syndrome,” “marginality,” and “great power hegemony” in Russia’s present foreign policy as components of Russian political culture. The study of Chinese publications concludes that such interpretations are not part of the Chinese academic mainstream. Yet, they continue to be present in the Chinese scientific space and have an implicit influence on forecasts concerning Russia’s foreign policy and on China’s approaches to the development of interaction between the two countries. An important task is to find out how modern and independent the Chinese analysis of Russia’s foreign policy is, and to what extent it copies stereotypes of Western political science with regard to Russia or polemical statements against the Soviet leadership, made in the 1960s and the 1970s. Chinese assessments and general conclusions concerning the specifics of Russian diplomacy are of great interest, because they are made against the background of China’s growing national awareness as a new rising power seeking to acquire its own style in foreign policy.