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On October 17, Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit China’s Xi Jinping for the first time in 20 times outside the edges of the former Soviet Union.

If the attend takes place, it is likely to strengthen a partnership in which Russia has emerged as an important tool in China’s larger strategy to increase its impact in Europe and the Americas.

Putin’s likely visit to Beijing coincides with the Belt and Road Initiative( BRI ), a bold Chinese initiative to broaden international trade routes with other countries and improve transportation and infrastructure ties.

On October 17 and 18, China’s leader Xi may host ambassadors from about 130 nations in Beijing to commemorate this occasion.

Putin is probably going to be the main attraction. Putin reportedly accepted Xi’s proposal in September, according to Russian options, though Beijing has declined to confirm this.

There is no doubt that the two leaders may have a lot to talk about. The world has undergone a significant change since they declared their” no-limits” agreement in February 2022, just before Russia invaded Ukraine on full-scale.

The South Caucasus and the Middle East, both regions where Russia and China have interests at stake, are engulfed in unrest.

However, their unrestricted relationship has evolved into a much more one-sided affair. Russia today likely aligns its policies to serve Chinese interests, whereas Moscow and Beijing may have once coordinated their strategies.

At least temporarily, the Ukraine war has weakened Russia and reduced its effect not only in the Middle East and the South Caucasus but also in northern Asia. As a result, China has been able to establish its dominance it and strengthen its ties to the area.

Putin, who is now obviously Xi’s junior partner, also suggests that Russia and China have a common goal in mind when it comes to putting an end to the Western-dominated global order and limiting US and European influence in what they both see as their privileged interest zones across Eurasia.

Russia continues to emphasize its ties to China, in part because it has some other options besides Iran and North Korea, which are considered to be global pariah states.

Trade along the New Eurasian Land Bridge, an inland road connection between China and Europe that was once a significant transportation route for Chinese exports to European markets, has been significantly reduced by American sanctions against Russia in response to Moscow’s warfare against Ukraine.

Instead, transportation roads avoiding Russia have become more significant, such as the Middle Corridor, which connects China to the EU via Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, and the South Caucasus. Additionally, this has dashed Russian expectations for the BRI and Moscow’s Eurasian Economic Union ( EAEU ), a post-Soviet economic integration initiative.

It is significant that Putin was invited to visit Beijing by Xi, but it is also noticeable that this is not just a intergovernmental matter. Putin’s trip to Moscow does, at best, give the Russian president the chance to speak with Xi in the margins of a summit intended to enjoy the BRI, an initiative that is closely related to him personally.

In its international relations, China also has and pursues different options. At the APEC summit in San Francisco in November, US President Joe Biden and President Xi may also cross paths. Josep Borrell, the head of the EU’s international policy, also traveled to China, perhaps to get ready for an EU-China summit that will take place later this year.

What Xi hopes to accomplish

None of this suggests that Xi will soon stop supporting Putin.

The key issue is how Xi will strike a balance between his support for Putin and his desire to prevent widespread European” de-risking ,” which would restrict Chinese technology exports to China, scrutinize Chinese investment, and reduce China’s reliance on China-only supply chains and further restrict access to EU markets for Chinese goods, services and capital.

Xi is unlikely to renounce Putin given the growing signs of discord fatigue among Ukraine’s American allies and the possible advantages Putin will receive from the current harsh escalation in the Middle East.

Nevertheless, he might see an opportunity to facilitate a settlement more on Russian terms than on Ukrainian terms, which would give Putin the advantage of the doubt and allow him to declare victory while maintaining some degree of stability in an area that is still vital for the BRI’s long-term success and, ultimately, for Chinese superpower ambitions.

If Xi were to succeed in doing this, it would also solidify China’s position in a potential safety get involving the Euro-Atlantic and European Union.

This might also be Putin’s best chance to spare himself the humiliation of a never-ending war, even though it would instantly turn Russia into an conceivable permanent second-order power in the shadow of China.

But, that possibility is still very much a possibility, particularly if China and the West continue to support Russia and Ukraine at their existing levels, which provides just enough support for each side to avoid defeat.

Professor of International Security at the University of Birmingham, Stefan Wolff

Under a Creative Commons license, this essay has been republished from The Conversation. Read the article in its entirety.

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We are hopeful that, as a community committed to learning, we may take steps that will bring on our shared humanity and values in order to tone rather than intensify the deeply ingrained divisions and animosities so painfully evident in the wider world.” We have no illusion that Harvard alone may easily bridge the extensively diverse views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ,” the school’s leadership said.

This statement came after Lawrence Summers, the past president of Harvard, issued harsh criticism of the university for continuing to exist in a letter that was signed but whose authors and signatories were unknown. & nbsp, true bravery. In addition, & nbsp,

After Putin’s war and the determination to sail the Ukraine symbol over Harvard Yard, Bacow made a strong statement of support for Ukraine, which Summers noted. However, 48 hours later, there is still no official Harvard speech at this time of social evaluation. & nbsp,

Otherwise, the ethically repugnant speech made by student groups blaming all the assault on Israel is how Harvard is defined. & nbsp, I feel ill. I find it incomprehensible why the administration did not remove the university and denounce this assertion.

Is the Harvard Leadership’s revised declaration, which was made a few days later, any better when it refers to” common humanity”? They certainly forgot Confucius’ statement that men have similar natures. Andnbsp, what separates them so drastically is their behavior. Subsequent occurrences demonstrate just how far.

However, it is unclear why Harvard’s faculty and students may surprise Summers or anyone else. & nbsp, Harvard’s history has been characterized by a similar mindset for many years.

On April 11, 1968, the later Harvard scholar Alexander Gerschenkron, who was born in Russia, gave a lecture there. & nbsp,

Two days prior, hundreds of students and professional activists yelled” Sieg heil,”” demanded the elimination of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps ( ROTC ),” occupied University Hall and renamed it Che Guevara Hall ,” and” shoved faculty and administrators down stairs while shouting expletives.”

These incidents led to an urgent meeting of the Harvard staff, where Gerschenkron gave his speech that was broadcast unrestrictedly on the television. & nbsp,

I hear a lot of speak about the imperial war machine, but any man with fair authority must realize that this is all nonsense and low-level social talk. .. …

Additionally, this faculty is not the appropriate defender of intellectual freedom. ….. Senator Joe McCarthy claimed that sixteen, 17 years back, when scientific freedoms were cruelly and violently threatened, it was not the faculty that resisted the threat. The staff was intimidated and subdued. & nbsp, Let’s take a moment to look honestly at this faculty and ourselves.

Some people are preoccupied with their studies and have no interest in the outside world. Then,” there are the middle-aged popularity kids who have seriously harmed the university ,” according to nbsp. They fear disapproval in addition to seeking fame, particularly” in the surroundings of terror- worry of boycotts, of decrease in election in their courses.”

The Most Incredible Thing & nbsp, a story by Hans Christian Andersen that surprisingly foreshadowed both 1968 and current events, served as the introduction to the most devastating part of his speech. & nbsp,

A king is said to have promised that anyone who performs an extraordinary deed did receive his daughter’s hand in marriage and third of his realm. The judges of the competition quickly concur that a fresh, honorable entrepreneur created the clock with 12 various performances, one for each hours, and won the prize.

From Moses’ commandments to Christianity and the fundamental pleasures of daily life— that elusive” common humanity ,” the 12 performances served as a reminder to the audience of the myths and roots of Western civilization.

A fresh young man shows up as the award is about to be given out, swinging an ax and slamming the clock. He asserts that by doing this, he has accomplished the most extraordinary thing. As is the case with the press and universities today, the courts and the populace concur and give the cretin the princess and half of the land.

The fantasy, however, has a happy end. The clock, which resembles a Phoenix, reappears as fresh on the ceremony day. The lump is rendered incomprehensible by the personalities in the 12 shows. The great, creative young man is rewarded. Andersen favorably comes to the conclusion that a work of art does not perish. Although its spirit may be broken, its good incarnation may become shattered.

The story ends with an assessment about what made the story’s conclusion really unbelievable( that Gerschenkron omitted mentioning ), despite the guests at the bridal claiming to have lived to witness the most remarkable issue. & nbsp, No one in the audience was envious of the” start-up” young man who built the clock and wed the princess, which is not the current way of thinking for many people, especially in academia.

Then Gerschenkron came to the conclusion that” the spirits of the staff will have to climb and destroy all this fugitive nonsense that is going around in this land.” He continued by saying that just as one cretin destroyed the clock in Andersen’s tale, the university is a precarious creation that fools may damage. & nbsp,

Maybe a storybook is needed to remind us of how frail civilization’s façade is, how delicate the institutions that support it are, and how simple it is to lose sight of the type of culture and character that can keep them going. & nbsp,

Reuven Brenner’s” How the 2008 Financial Crisis Did Not Change the World” by American Affairs, Spring 2019, is referenced in this article, which was recently published at Real Clear Markets.

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