The Great Powers and Their Neighbors: Relations Strategy (Comparative Analysis of Russia and China)
For each great power neighboring countries are such territories that draw their attention in the first place, when they try to extend influence beyond their own territory, at the same time it is the neighboring countries that are used by the great powers as buffers for their own safety. However, the strategies of the great powers towards their neighboring countries differ fundamentally. For Russia, the construction of territorial coalitions around it is the f priority of foreign policy and the main proof of the country’s status as a great power, while the implementation of this strategy involves investing a lot of resources, both material and symbolic. For the Chinese elite formation of a coalition with the neighbors, on the contrary is not a priority; China’s overall approach to the neighbors can be described as a combination of active and even aggressive penetration into neighboring economies and creation of geopolitical buffers. Coalitions are not built by China, but by the neighboring states against it. The main purpose of this article is to make a comparative analysis of the benefits and drawbacks of the strategies of Russia and China towards their neighboring countries.