Akaha, Tsuneo and Vassilieva, Anna (eds). Russia and East Asia: Informal and Gradual Integration (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 793 Akaha, Tsuneo and Vassilieva, Anna (eds). Russia and East Asia: Informal and Gradual Integration. Routledge Contemporary Russia and East Europe Series, 51. Routledge, London and New York, 2014. xxi + 293 pp. Maps. Figures. Tables. Notes. Index. £95.00. This collection brings together eleven studies of varying lengths on Russia’s integration into Asian regional structures with a focus on politics, diplomacy, economics and security. A section on bilateral relations analyses in depth Moscow’s ties with China and Japan, as well as both Korean states, but it is a theme that recurs throughout the book. Also playing a prominent role are issues related to oil and gas exports to the region, developments in Siberia and the Russian Far East and the much-debated construction of the gas pipeline to China and/or Japan. The volume’s conclusion provides a concise and useful overview of the regional organizations which Russia has joined since the 1990s, although it says surprisingly little about the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The editors explain that Moscow is keen on being involved in the region and is gradually being accepted into its existing structures, but they also point out that the country’s ‘potential as a significant partner in regional integration remains largely untapped’ (p. 282). While this is a sensible conclusion, which draws together the findings of the preceding chapters, it is somewhat at odds with the book’s title, which suggests that it was ‘informal and gradual integration’ that has been taking place. There are a number of other issues which cause confusion. For example, part three is entitled ‘Energy and Immigration’, but it is not made clear anywhere how these issues are related, if at all. This part contains two chapters about cooperation and developments in the oil and gas sector, which at first sight seem to tackle very much the same topic. As it turns out, they approach it from opposing standpoints. The chapter by Kenji Horiuchi takes the point of view of Russia’s Asian customers, whereas the chapter by Boris Saneev and Dmitrii Sokolov is written from a Russian perspective and suggests that the country is a reliable energy supplier. It would have been helpful if these differences had been more clearly indicated in the chapter’s titles. Also, it would have been useful to have converted the trade figures stated in rubles (p. 198) into Euros or US dollars to make this chapter more accessible to an international audience and to facilitate international comparisons. The long chapter about immigration by Zhanna Zaionchkovskaia, Nikitia Mkrtchian and Elena Tyuryukanova contains interesting and detailed information about the immigrants who have come to Russia since 1991 and discusses some of the ways in which the state and society have responded to them. The chapter also addresses the issue of Russian emigration and seeks to predict future trends in both fields. As most of the immigrants have come from SEER, 92, 4, OCTOBER 2014 794 Central Asia, the chapter focuses mainly on this former Soviet region and only contains a relatively short section on Chinese immigrants, which seems at odds with the stated aims of the book. By contrast, Natasha Kuhrt’s chapter on Russo-Chinese relations, which considers whether they are based on a strategic partnership or asymmetrical dependence, is faithful to the book’s geographic focus and makes a useful contribution to the protracted and complex debate on this topic. Based on analysis of the material which informed Russia’s foreign policy doctrines of 2008 and 2013 it highlights that, in the international arena, ‘Russia does not wish to be viewed as a partner in containing China’ (p. 103). Kuhrt concludes that Russia’s problems with China are qualitatively different from those experienced by the USA which, she argues, is primarily concerned with Beijing’s challenge to its global superpower status. For Moscow, the threat posed by China is ‘most obvious in the border regions of the Russian Far East where Chinese migration and Chinese economic power present a worrying picture of asymmetry’ (p. 103). Beom-Shik Shin’s chapter on Russia’s policies towards the Korean peninsula, and Christian Wirth’s chapter which discusses Moscow’s relations with Japan and China...