Foreword by the Editor-in-Chief and founder of the journal Comparative Politics Russia to special issues: “China as a Global Factor: A Comparative Analysis of Responses” and “Contemporary International Relations: Theory and Practice of Comparative Analysis of Responses to External and Internal Challenges” explaining the structure of the journal issues and the logic of interconnection between published articles within the journal.

Based on the comparative method, the article analyzes the interaction of three subjective and objective realities, which occupy an important place in the contemporary Russian-Chinese relations. Virtual ideas about the scale of the Chinese presence in the Russian Far East are compared with the moods and wishes expressed by Russian authorities and population of this region regarding the involvement of China in the economic development of the region and, after that, are correlated with the realities of the economic and demographic life of the eastern regions of Russia in the second decade of the 21st century. In the first part of the article, the author identifies various sources, modern manifestations and interpretations of the “Chinese threat” phantom, analyzes the views and approaches of the Russian federal center, authorities and the population of Pacific Russia regarding the Chinese economic and demographic presence in the region. The conclusion is drawn about the generally positive attitude of both the authorities and the population regarding this phenomenon. At the same time, there are certain restrictions to close rapprochement with China which exist in the minds of the Russian authorities and the population and affect decisions and actions of local authorities and businesses, as well as a rather cool attitude of the Chinese authorities and big business towards introducing into the economy of this Russian region. The second part of the article is based on offi cial statistics and demonstrates the realities of Chinese participation in the economic life of Pacific Russia: these are the dynamics, scale and structure of interregional trade, the volume and nature of Chinese investment in the Russian Far East, as well as humanitarian exchange and the movement of labor across the border. These statistics convincingly show the very small scale of the Chinese economic presence and influence in the region. A comparative approach allows the author to conclude that there is a deep gap between expert forecasts and unconscious Russian fears about the expansion of «Chinese expansion» in Russia, the intentions of Russian and Chinese politicians to increase the contribution of China to the development of Pacific Russia, and the real extent of this participation.

The Eurasian economic Union (EAEU) is rapidly moving forward showing significant economic achievements and strengthening its position in the world economy. Over the past few years with the beginning of the full-fledged work of the EAEU in 2015 the participants of the integration managed to achieve success in their socio-economic development. The integration movement of the post-soviet states towards Russia has justified itself. However, the process of development of Eurasian integration faces a number of difficulties one of which is the inefficiency of the supranational body of the EAEU. This problem does not allow the EAEU to fully realize its potential both for the domestic economic development of the participants and for successful positioning on the international arena. Fearing the limitations of their national sovereignty participants of the Eurasian economic Union are not politically active. It allows not only strengthening the effectiveness of the Union but also creating a comfortable economic atmosphere in which each member of the EAEU will receive certain benefits. Russia will protect itself from possible destructive trends on the southern flank. Post-soviet states that have joined the Eurasian integration will receive an incentive to develop the economy. Further success in the development of Eurasian integration will depend on the readiness of the participants to give the supranational structure of the EAEU wider powers. Accordingly, the participants of the Eurasian Union will have the opportunity for economic and technological growth which will create a «safety cushion» in the event of economic turbulence.

The article discusses the process of implementing the efforts of the governments of ASEAN+3 member countries to develop a regional bond market. It is shown what initiatives and measures were put forward at different stages of promoting the Initiative for the Development of Asian Bond Markets in national currencies. The gradual and flexible approach allowed the participating countries to form flexible institutional foundations of the Initiative, allowing to take into account the different levels of financial development of the economies involved. The article shows the dual role of China in the development of the regional bond market in national currencies: as a center of attraction and as a competitor.

The article describes the main parameters of Vietnam-China relations at the present stage. On the one hand, economic relations between these neighboring countries are developing dynamically, and, on the other, territorial disputes in the South China Sea have led Beijing and Hanoi to balancing on the brink of hostilities and to actively seeking allies. Currently, Beijing is winning economic cooperation with Hanoi, but so far it is clearly politically losing to Washington in pulling Hanoi to its side in the current geopolitical situation. Vietnam skillfully uses the current situation in its interests, increasing economic cooperation with both Beijing and Washington, to accelerate the modernization of its economy.

Relations within India-US-China triangle are rather complicated. The basis of the Sino-Indian dialogue was laid by the 1962 war, after which mutual distrust became its permanent feature. Despite the fact that the late 20th century was marked by rapprochement of bilateral cooperation, it is still off the mark. As for relations between the United States and China, today it is increasingly referred to as the rivalry of two superpowers – an established, but losing its positions, and a potential one. Historically, Indian-American relations suffered fluctuations: the US gave preference to Pakistan, while India was assigned a secondary role, though in some periods the parties saw active dialogue. Washington’s choice was determined by its confrontation with the USSR, which directly affected cooperation with Delhi. However, in recent years, the American establishment has begun to pay more attention to the Asia-Pacific region due to the rise of China and its transformation into the main US geopolitical rival. Against this background, India started to pave its way as the second key power in the region by promoting its regional initiatives, with the Indo-Pacific being the most prominent. This shift received a new sound in American foreign policy, too. New geopolitical realities predetermine the relevance of this study, aimed at analyzing the influence of the Chinese factor on the interaction between India and the United States.

The idea of the Indo-Pacific was created 12 years ago and quickly became the subject of fierce discussions among experts and politicians. Over the years, several Indo-Pacific concepts partially coinciding partially contradicting each other have been formed. The article is devoted to the description and analysis of the evolution of the Indian concept of the Indo-Pacific. It discusses the main directions of Indian strategic thought on the concept and demonstrates the difference in approaches to the Indo-Pacific within the Indian expert community. There were three views in total: anti-Chinese whose supporters called for a departure from a policy of neutrality and for the alliance with the United States, Japan and Australia; critical whose supporters denied the value of the concept of Indo-Pacific; and practical whose supporters were focused on the development of economic relations within the region by expanding contacts with ASEAN, advocating the continuation of the policy of «strategic autonomy» and against a sharp change in the foreign policy. Author believes that the address of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Shangri-La Dialogue in 2018 was the turning point: the head of the Indian government identified there New Delhi's priorities in the implementation of the Indo-Pacific concept. In conclusion, the author describes the current attitude towards the idea of the Indo-Pacific among Indian experts and points out the consequences of a possible Beijing review of the negative attitude towards it.

The article deals with the problems of joint actions of Russia, India, and China to mitigate the terrorist threat from Islamist terrorists in the Central part of Eurasia. The author comes to the conclusion that, from an objective point of view, the three giants have completely uniform approaches to terrorism, separatism and extremism. Moreover, along with the refusal to accept the monopolar structure of the world system, it is the fight against such radicalism that is the main parameter contributing to the real existence of the triangle. However, the concrete actions of the three powers do not indicate any established cooperation. The analysis shows that the main reason is the policy of China, which is extremely wary of India and prefers Russia to stand alone against terrorist activity in the region. Joint public statements remain pure declarations, not supported by real steps. In the fight against Islamist terrorism in the PRC itself, Beijing does not take action to limit external support for Uighur radicals (and doesn't, for example, exert any pressure on Islamabad, dependent on China, to limit the activities of Pakistan's InterServices Intelligence, which has close contacts with the main Islamist organizations of South and South-East Asia, Central Asia, Afghanistan, and China itself), preferring independent actions.

Russia has gone to fairly broad cooperation with different countries, as well as with regional and global organizations in the fight against international terrorism. Particular importance is attached to the development of contacts on this issue with key strategic partners (China, India, Kazakhstan) and the work of organizations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Anti-terrorist operations are constantly carried out, however, outside the Russian Federation they are carried out only in very rare cases. On the formal side, Russia is taking certain steps to limit the spread of radical Islamic ideas in the region. The counter terrorism centers and anti-terrorism programs created within the framework of the SCO and the CSTO have been widely advertised. However, there is essentially no practical impact from them, and many structures simply duplicate each other (including in terms of lack of efficiency).

Therefore, it is imperative to establish a significant rapprochement between the three giants on the issue of countering the terrorist threat, although neither the scope nor the framework of interaction has been clearly defined yet.

Peace in Central Asia (CA) and Afghanistan directly affects China's long-term economic and security interests. In particular, it concerns ensuring stability in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and promoting the Chinese Silk Road Economic Belt. That is why cooperation with Central Asian states in this area remains significant for Beijing. Since 2014, a certain militarization of Beijing’s approach to ensuring the security of its own interests abroad has been taking place, which is especially noticeable in Afghanistan. However, here too, China’s policy is more protective in nature and often lies in the “gray zone”, as statements by official authorities and various media reports create a dual impression of the presence of a Chinese military presence in the Afghan border area. Despite stepping up diplomatic efforts and expanding the military component of its policy, China’s influence on the Afghan peace process remains limited and is primarily aimed at containing threats to its interests in the XUAR and Central Asia.

Proceedings of the roundtable “Regional Orders and the Rise of CHINA”, organized in the framework of the RISA Convention on October 21, 2019 at MGIMO University.

China is perceived, on the one hand, as a long-term object of sanction pressure, on the other hand, as a consistent critic of using unilateral sanctions for political purposes. At the same time China has regularly applied unilateral economic sanctions at least since 2000-ies. As the PRC’s economic power grows, the world sees a rising number of the Chinese unilateral sanctions, which become increasingly effective.

Analyzing China’s sanctions policy is complicated, as Beijing’s unilateral sanctions mostly lack any official announcement. The tools of sanction pressure concern export control, public authorities’ increased activity, sanitary restrictions, canceling previously approved credit lines, etc.

China is most ready to apply sanctions as a response to issues concerning the offence of its military security and infringement of its and territorial integrity, both being identified as core national interests. Yet the number of sanctions applied to ensure a wider range of objectives is increasing.

This article studies the Chinese approaches to the application of unilateral sanctions that are reflected in available publications of the Chinese scholars and particular examples of PRC’s sanctions policy. Since this paper is specifically focused on unilateral economic sanctions, it does not address the issues of China’s participation in implementation of sanctions measures introduced by the UN Security Council.

The competitiveness of the country in the modern world mainly depends on the ability of the national education system to provide training for the professional elite, to involve the broad strata of society in the process of lifelong learning and to create conditions to meet the various cultural and socioeconomic needs of the population. The Chinese dominant national idea − the revival of greater China − in the most important documents is supplemented recently by new content: “the creation a powerful country with a strong education.” Education in China’s strategy is considered as a main factor of social stability and internal ethnic integration, and at the same time as an engine of innovative development. China provides the world with an example of how to increase the potential of human capital in a country where illiteracy and poverty reigned 30 years ago. The Chinese higher education system not only demonstrates its ability to compete with the world’s leading universities, but also promotes its technologies, standards and values in the global educational space, fi rst of all, strengthening its infl uence on the countries included in the “One Road ‒ One Road” project.

From the 1980s of the last century to the beginning of the 21st century, frontier trade between the Far East of Russia and the Heilongjiang Province of China went through two stages. 1. In the 1980s There was a restoration of trade and economic relations between the two neighbouring regions in the context of the transformation of socialist economies. 2. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, China’s policy was transformed in accordance with new economic and political realities. The governments of China and Russia adjusted the direction of cross-border trade, leading to instability and fluctuations in the volume of trade between the two countries. The development policy of trade and economic relations between the two regions played a crucial role in the development of Russian-Chinese relations. The Far East of Russia and the Heilongjiang Province should not stop at an early level of development, the province should “keep up with the times” and adapt to new conditions.

The article is devoted to the Sino-Soviet management of Chinese Eastern railway (CER), which still stays poorly studied, full of contradictions. Despite the variety of studies on the history of CER there is a number of questions that need clarification. What was CER for the USSR and China? Was the equal terms real, not nominal? How justified were the claims of the Soviet and Chinese sides to each other? On the basis of unpublished archival sources, (in particular, Russian State Historical Archive), the article examines the points of view of both the Soviet and Chinese sides on the activities and importance of the CER, analyzes the composition of the CER Board and Management, employees and workers with Soviet and Chinese citizenship, identifies cases of parity violation. The author comes to the conclusion that the joint Sino-Soviet management of CER faced a number of problems related to the political, social and cultural differences between the two countries, as well as the international and domestic political situation. Both sides suspected each other of violating parity and exceeding authority, and treated hierarchy issues differently. In addition to language difficulties and problems of intercultural communication, the unclear prospects of the USSR in Northern Manchuria and increased Chinese nationalism played a role. Nevertheless, both the Soviet and Chinese sides have shown themselves being pragmatists and realists, using various strategies to strengthen and keep power at the CER.

Review of the collective monograph: Development Model of Modern China: Assessments, Discussions, Forecasts. Ed. by Alexei D. Voskressenski; Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Moscow: Strategic Research, 2019. 736 p.

Review of the collective monograph: Development Model of Modern China: Assessments, Discussions, Forecasts. Ed. by Alexei D. Voskressenski; Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Moscow: Strategic Research, 2019. 736 p.

Review of the book “China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Potential Transformation of Central Asia and the South Caucasus. Ed. by Harinder S. Kohli, Johannes F. Linn, Leo M. Zucker. Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd, 2020. 300 p.”

Review of the books: 1) Negro, Gianluigi. The Internet in China: From Infrastructure to a Nascent Civil Society. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. 276 p.; 2) Kuang, Wenbo. Social Media in China (Sociology, Media and Journalism in China). Springer Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. 293 p.; 3) Griffi ths, James. Great Firewall of China: How to Build and Control an Alternative Version of the Internet. London: Zed Books, 2019. 400 p.