786 SEER, 84, 4, 2006 is not just the slavish adoption of EU rules by an aspirantmember, but 'an interactive and dynamic process' (p. I73). Nonetheless, Europeanization and Regionalization in theEU's Enlargement to Central andEastern Europe has a number of drawbacks.Although regional policy was a controversialissue during the accession negotiations,it is dubiouswhether it was the best policy area to use to dispel the 'myth of conditionality' as the acquis is very thin on regional policy, the EU does not promote a single model or ideal, and the fact that regional policy is contingent on so many other factors. Moreover, their empirical research was focused largely on four countries (Estonia,Hungary, Poland and Slovenia), all of which were in the firstgroup to begin accession negotiations. The inclusion of one of the countries invited at the Helsinki summit in I999 to begin accession talkssuch as Slovakia,Latviaor Lithuania would have been welcomed. Schimmelfenningand Sedelmeier'svolume also has its limitations.Putting together an edited volume can be a thankless task, especially dealing with recalcitrantcontributorsand demanding publishers.Given the list of scholars who contributedto the originalworkshop,but not to the book, it is perhaps harsh to criticize the editors for omissions in coverage, but two areas needed more attention. First, apart from Rachel Epstein's analysis of central bank independence in Poland, economics is largelyabsent from the book. The lack of a chapter analysing economics is particularlysignificantgiven the prominent position of the economic criterion laid down at the Copenhagen European Council in I993 and the fact that shortcomingson the economic front were central to the decision taken at Luxembourgin 1997 not to begin accession negotiations with states such as Bulgaria and Romania. Secondly, foreign and securitypolicy is neglected. Although not as significantas other policy areas in terms of EU accession in the light of differencesover the war in Iraq, relationswith the US and Russia and accession to NATO, a study may have found the balance between social learning and external incentives may have been markedlydifferentin foreign and securitypolicy. Nonetheless, both books under review enhance our understandingof the role played by the EuropeanUnion in the changeswitnessedin CEE between I989 and 2004. Moreover, Schimmelfennig et al.'s conclusion that 'in sum, high EU credibilityplus low governmentaladoptioncosts appearsto be key to successfulpolitical conditionality'(p. 50) has broaderimport. EU officialsand politiciansfrom the member stateswould be well advisedto bear this finding in mind when consideringthe future enlargementof the European Union. Centre for RussianandEastEuropean Studies T. HAUGHTON European Research Institute Universiy ofBirmingham Wilson,Jeanne L. Strategic Partners: Russian-Chinese Relations in thePost-Soviet Era. M. E. Sharpe, Armonk, NY and London, 2004. xiv + 279 pp. Maps. Tables. Appendix. Notes. Bibliography.Index. ?55.50. WHO would be a student of China-Russia relations?It takes twenty years to learn both languages and begin to have an understandingof their histories, REVIEWS 787 political systems, cultures, economic conditions and civilizational impulses, and then you hit what seems like an insuperable barrier. There just is no theory of internationalpolitics out there that can adequately encompass the complexities and contradictions of this relationship. Lockeanism?Doubtful. Kantianism?Hardly. Even the default Hobbesian position realpolitik with Russo-Chinese characteristics does not address the ambiguities of this smoke-and-mirrors relationship. The fact is that Russians and Chinese have always reserved the right to make this relationshipby themselves, for themselves and in terms that only they perhaps understand. Since the end of tripolarity a few intrepid scholars have made inroads into this territory: Lukin, Rozman, Voskresenskii and Wishnick deserve honourable mention. And to these names we can now addJeanne L. Wilson, who has written a detailed and accessibleaccount of the firstten years of the relationshipunder the new conditions. Like others she faces the problem of where to locate the analysis:how much to agency and how much to structure, and at what levels:internal,peripheral,regionaland strategic?She also has to consider the limits of empiricism:even after providing a careful narrativeof contemporaryrelations,how close have we got to what thisrelationshipmeans? Analytically, Wilson views the relationship from the perspective of Russian agency:what Russia has done with its China strategywithin the constraintsit faced, including the rise of China and US penetration of Eurasia.The book...