Carnegie Moscow Center
The 2012 APEC summit took place in Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok. Following this summit, the Carnegie Moscow Center and the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East organized a conference in Vladivostok dedicated to the Asia-Pacific security in the 21st century.
Modern Russia has exploited its Asia-Pacific advantages rather poorly, if at all. The country must find a pathway to a dynamic future and make a pivot from West to East—where the greatest geopolitical challenge is rising.
The APEC agenda focuses on trade and investment liberalization, business facilitation, and economic and technical cooperation—all things that are top priorities for Russia, if it seeks to develop its Asia-Pacific territory and increase its presence in the region.
Russians need to see themselves as a Euro-Pacific country, and act accordingly by developing Russia's own Asia-Pacific territory and increasing its activity in the whole region.
Despite common views on international affairs and economic interests, the Russian-Chinese relationship is weak—even in the sphere of energy trade—and needs to be strengthened.
Despite the overlapping interests of Russia and China, the two countries are not allies. Moscow will not accept a junior position vis-à-vis Beijing, while the Chinese regard Russia as a fading power.
Russia and China are suspicious of multilateral institutions created by the West and hostile to anything that could justify external intervention in a sovereign state’s affairs, but both are learning to use international forums to their advantage.
Russia is the world’s biggest hydrocarbon producer, and China is one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing energy markets. The two are neighbors, yet their energy relationship is very thin. Instead, they compete for vast and largely unexplored Central Asian resources.
In order for Japan to address the spectrum of regional and global challenges it faces, it must establish national objectives and a trajectory that preserves and reasserts Japanese identity.