The Greater Eurasian Partnership and the Belt and Road Initiative: Cooperation and Competition in the International System

Abstract

Russia has long been caught between Eurocentrism and Eurasianism. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia attempted to integrate with Europe, but when this proved unsuccessful, its foreign policy focus shifted from “Greater Europe” to “Greater Eurasia.” The subsequent success of the Eurasian Economic Union encouraged Russia to launch the Greater Eurasia Partnership GEP. Meanwhile, China’s Belt and Road Initiative BRI proposed by China’s President Xi Jinping in 2013 has grown in prominence on the world stage. These two initiatives have a high degree of geographical overlap and are likely to greatly influence the economic, political, and cultural landscape of Eurasia. This chapter discusses the opportunities and challenges facing the alignment of the BRI and GEP and the necessity for cooperation at a time when strategic interaction through international institutional competition has become an essential aspect of great power competition.