China's Eurasian Dilemmas

Providing a timely analysis of China’''s engagement with Eurasia, R. James Ferguson focuses on the challenges obstructing China’''s path to becoming a sustainable global power. Engagement across Eurasia presents China, its leaders and policymakers with intensified contact with regional and national conflicts, posing environmental, developmental and strategic dilemmas.

Including an up-to-date analysis of wider Central Asian and transnational interactions between China and the EU, Eastern Europe and Russia, Ferguson critically evaluates the present and prospective implications of Chinese initiatives in the region. Particular emphasis is paid to China’''s decision to create the Belt and Road Initiative and establish the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Divergent perspectives on multilateral international systems across Eurasia are also discussed, focusing on the contrast between Chinese and Russian approaches. Ferguson also explores the complexity of China-Russia relations with the ongoing formation of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping’''s legacies, linking their Eurasian and global agendas.

Academics researching Eurasian politics and international relations –- specifically Sino-Russian relations -– will find this book an excellent addition to the literature, advancing their understanding of China’''s role in global politics.