Beyond the Shanghai Spirit? The foreign policies of Russia and China and soft balancing

Abstract

The objectives of this paper are to analyze the main factors driving the foreign policies of Russia and China in the contemporary world and explain why both decided to support the creation and development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It is argued that one of the main guidelines of Russia's foreign policy is the search for contracts for energy exports with high prices, agreements for Russian control over strategic pipelines and investment arrangements for Russian companies abroad. Moreover, Russia opposed the Western policies of democratization in post-Soviet states and sought to develop partnerships with leading strategically important neighbors in the building of its areas of interest. The main guidelines of China's foreign policy are the survival of the communist regime; the consolidation of disputed territories firmly under Chinese control and the prevention of conflicts that would create obstacles in the pursuit of economic modernization. Chinese foreign policy operates to a more active state involvement in international institutions, essential for the maintenance of a robust economic growth and important for social stability and the political legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party. Although the convergence of views between China and Russia is not complete and that both wish to secure their own interests in Central Asia, the main force that explains the creation and development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is the implementation of a strategy of soft balancing by both states in relation to U.S. regional and global power and influence when they threaten Russian and Chinese goals. However, soft balancing did not always succeed in the light of the difficulty of Russia and China in solving their collective action problems.