Towards a New World Order in Eurasia? The Role of Russia and China

Daily News (Egypt)

25 December 2016

James M. Dorsey

A new Russian-led, China-backed Eurasia-centred world order may be in the making against the backdrop of alleged Russian cyberwarfare against the United States and Europe. Analysts see a pattern in Russian moves that could serve China’s interests should US president-elect Donald Trump adopt a more confrontational approach towards Beijing.

Suggestions that Russian president Vladimir Putin is bent on creating a new Russia-led and China-backed Eurasia-centred world order by undermining western democratic institutions may be a crackpot conspiracy theory. Yet, this may not be so far-fetched against the backdrop of US allegations of Russia’s waging cyberwarfare against the US, German intelligence sounding the alarm bell, East European leaders having their fears confirmed, and Moscow and Beijing reaching out to western supporters of the idea.

Whether conspiracy theory or not, western intelligence agencies and many analysts see a pattern in Russian moves that would serve Chinese interests, particularly if Trump adopts a more confrontational approach towards Beijing. Analysts believe that the sum total of Russian activity amounts to an attempt to undermine trust in democratic structures and manipulate elections.

… James M. Dorsey PhD is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and co-director of the Institute of Fan Culture of University of Wurzburg, Germany.

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