ABSTRACT
With the collapse of the Soviet Union,Moscow found its territorial and diplomatic dependence on Northeast Asia greater than in the past. The loss of the western republics, most importantlyUkraine, and the extension of the EU and NATO raised the importance of the Russian Far East and Siberia in the reducedRussian Federation. Switching from being a largely autonomous industrial leviathan to a one-sided raw material and energy exporter re-drew the economic map of the country, increasing attention to eastern markets. Finally, in search of an international balance of power, Moscow turned eastward, not as in the aftermath of the Crimean War to find its own arena for imperial influence, but to take advantage of the dramatic rise of states in the region, especially China. Having already turned to China in the 1920s to promote international revolution and in the 1950s as the gateway for an Asian socialist bloc, Moscow faced the challenge of improving on prior experience of misjudging China’s development and its malleability within regional policy.
