Rapprochement or Rivalry?: Russia-China Relations in a Changing Asia by Sherman W. s> Garnett (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 17I different, is a warning against too easy categorizations of thinkers. It is important to know not only what a person thought, but the lifestyle and practicesthat accompanied the thought. One of the difficultiesin discussing Russian messianism is thus that it is hardto knowexactlywhat certainpeople reallybelieved.AsDuncan implicitly observes,itisaproblemhighlightedby the characterof Shatovin Dostoevskii's TheDevils:Shatov believed in Russia'scallingto be a God-bearingpeople, yet was not sureof his own personalbelief in God (p. 36). ForShatov and this surely represents an important problem for the scholar of Russian messianism - ideological conviction and personalbelief did not fullycoincide. It is for this reason that I would like to have seen some reflection on the roots of messianism at a personal and experiential level. Amongst messianic and nationalistthinkers,it is not alwaysclear what kind of belief one is really dealing with. Duncan observes that there existed some kind of alliance between communism and Russian Orthodox messianism at the end of the Soviet era (p. I29). Beneath allegiances to Party or church, there were doubtless structuresof thought and habits of mind with much in common. Yet, what kind of experiences gave rise to the beliefs we are dealing with?To what extent did these ideasreflectgenuine personalbelief? One possible reason why communism and certain kinds of Orthodox messianismwere sometimes compatible is that they were abstractsystemsof thought;theycould thusbe espousedwithout anypersonalcostto thebeliever. At the beginning of his book Duncan cites the Russian philosopher P. Ia. Chaadaev's view that Russia was destined to teach the world a lesson, and suggests that, indeed, Russia does 'warn the rest of the world against states pursuingideas at the expense of people' (p. i). How truethat is. One area which is not discussed is the twentieth-centuryRussian emigration . Duncan drawsconsiderablyfrom Berdiaev's TheRussian Idea(I947), and indeed states that his own book is the first text on Russian messianism to appearin Englishsince the publicationof Berdiaev'stext (p. 4). Perhapsthere could have been more material on Berdiaev as a thinker. Similarly,Russian nationalistsin the Iggos were influencedby the right-wingemigrephilosopher Ivan Il'in; Il'in and other philosophers and theologians of the emigration might have merited attention. Yet Russian messianism is a large theme, and Duncan hassucceededverywellin bringingtogethera greatrangeof material, and illuminatingsome of the longer-termpatternsin Russianhistory. School ofHistogy PHILIP BOOBBYER University ofKent atCanterbuy Garnett, ShermanW. (ed.).Rapprochement orRival?y?.: Russia-China Relations ina Changing Asia.Russia and EurasiaBooksfrom the Carnegie Endowment. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, DC, 2000. x + 437 pp. Maps. Notes. $24.95 (paperback). SINCE the collapse of the Soviet Union, there has been a remarkable transformationin relations between Russia and China. From conditions of extreme hostility and ideological enmity after the Sino-Soviet split, a rapid I72 SEER, 8o, I, 2002 and peaceful process of normalization has taken place. Borders have been demarcated, troop reductions and confidence-building measures have been undertaken, trade and commerce has begun to flourish, and, perhaps most strikingly,China and Russiahave assumedan increasinglycommon view and understandingof post-Cold Warinternationalpolitics. The strategicpartnership which has been the fruitof this increased level of cooperation is viewed by both countries as a force for the 'establishment of a new international order', which would undermine 'unipolar' US hegemony and institute a 'multipolar'internationalsystem. This convergence in geopolitical outlook cannot, though, disguise the underlying reality of the relationship which involves an even greater transformationin terms of the relative balance of power. While China has continued to engage in fast economic growth, Russia has suffered a catastrophicdecline in economic output combined with a markeddeterioration in social, political and military capabilities. The consequence has been one of the most striking shifts in the history of international economic relations. While in the I980S the Soviet Union had a GDP that was greater than China, now China has five times the GDP of the Russian Federation. Even in termsof GDP per capita, it is expected that China will surpassRussia in the next fiveto ten years.This bruteeconomic realityhighlightsclearlythat China is a risingpower and thatRussiais in a processof deep decline. These two differing,if complementary, featuresof the recent evolution of Sino-Russian relations are at the heart of the various contributions to Rapprochement andRivaly. Sherman W. Garnett has performed an...