November 22, 2010

In each of three key Asian and Eurasian powers, China, India, and Russia, a realpolitik approach plays a larger role in the foreign policy outlook today than it did in the period following the end of the Cold War. This Policy Brief describes this trend and addresses its implications for the future of the region.

China, India, and Russia all posses the key traditional attribute of great powers: size. All three countries are among the largest in the world in both territory and population. While size is a necessary prerequisite of great power status, it is not a sufficient one. Size creates potential which political capacity and economic efficiency can activate. Over the past decade (and longer in the case of China), all three countries have tended to benefit from a remarkable economic dynamism. This dynamism was due in large part to economic liberalization in the case of China and India, and to high global energy prices in the case of energy-rich Russia. Assuming these trends continue, all three of these states are likely to play an important role in shaping the future of Eurasia. It is of great importance to understand their foreign policy outlook, and the nature of the balance between realist and idealist thinking within that outlook.

Is the foreign policy of these countries marked more by realist features of geography, military power, alliances and security, by liberal internationalist features of economic modernization, globalization and regional/ global multilateralism, or by idealist features of cultural, ideological or religious assertiveness that meshes with or challenges the existing Western, liberal model of transparent military relations, open markets and open societies? How is the relative importance of these schools of thought changing over time? The next section of the Policy Brief addresses those questions in the context of China, India and Russia.

This Policy Brief is based on a briefing on “Worldviews of China, India and Russia: Power Shifts and Domestic Debates,” held at the Elliott School of International Affairs on Sept. 22, 2010. The event was moderated by Henry R. Nau, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University, and featured the following experts:

• Andrew Kuchins (Center for Strategic and International Studies)
• Deepa Ollapally (Sigur Center for Asian Studies)
• David Shambaugh (The Elliott School of International Affairs)

Read the rest of the Policy Brief here (PDF).

By Nikola Mirilovic, Research Associate, Sigur Center for Asian Studies, The George Washington University