IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/asiaeu/v18y2020i1d10.1007_s10308-019-00536-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Leadership-building dilemmas in emerging powers’ economic diplomacy: Russia’s energy diplomacy and China’s OBOR

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaoguang Wang

    (China University of Petroleum)

Abstract

Discussions of the roles of emerging powers in a changing world have been simmering for many years, with many arguing that non-Western powers should build an alternative global order given the growing influence of their money, natural resources, manpower, and products. Focusing on Russia and China, this article argues that both Russia’s energy diplomacy and China’s One Belt One Road policy are mostly ‘mercantile’ in handling their respective domestic challenges over the short and medium terms and do not help build political leadership. The economic structures of the two strongest emerging powers do not support strategies that require the disbursement of economic resources to build an alternative global order—if these two countries truly have such a strategy. This article challenges the myth of emerging powers and suggests that the economic strength of these emerging powers is insufficient to radically shift the diplomatic status quo of a Western-dominated world order.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaoguang Wang, 2020. "Leadership-building dilemmas in emerging powers’ economic diplomacy: Russia’s energy diplomacy and China’s OBOR," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 117-138, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:asiaeu:v:18:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s10308-019-00536-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10308-019-00536-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10308-019-00536-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10308-019-00536-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew F. Cooper & Asif B. Farooq, 2013. "BRICS and the Privileging of Informality in Global Governance," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 4(4), pages 428-433, November.
    2. Kristen Hopewell, 2015. "Different paths to power: The rise of Brazil, India and China at the World Trade Organization," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 311-338, April.
    3. Kropatcheva, Elena, 2014. "He who has the pipeline calls the tune? Russia's energy power against the background of the shale “revolutions”," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 1-10.
    4. Filippos Proedrou, 2017. "Why Russian gas diplomacy fails: the geopolitics-energy nexus in Ukraine and Turkey," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 21-37, March.
    5. William I. Robinson, 2015. "The transnational state and the BRICS: a global capitalism perspective," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 1-21, January.
    6. Richter, Philipp M. & Holz, Franziska, 2015. "All quiet on the eastern front? Disruption scenarios of Russian natural gas supply to Europe," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 177-189.
    7. Haihong Gao, 2013. "Convertibility as a step for the RMB internationalization," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 71-84, March.
    8. Pami Aalto & Tuomas Forsberg, 2016. "The structuration of Russia’s geo-economy under economic sanctions," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 221-237, June.
    9. Cumings, Bruce, 1984. "The origins and development of the Northeast Asian political economy: industrial sectors, product cycles, and political consequences," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 1-40, January.
    10. Valentina Feklyunina, 2012. "Russia's International Images and its Energy Policy. An Unreliable Supplier?," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 64(3), pages 449-469.
    11. Geoffrey Roberts, 1994. "Moscow and the Marshall plan: Politics, ideology and the onset of the cold war, 1947," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(8), pages 1371-1386.
    12. Deepak Nayyar, 2016. "BRICS, developing countries and global governance," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 575-591, April.
    13. Michael Smith, 2014. "EU-China relations and the limits of economic diplomacy," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 35-48, March.
    14. Austvik, Ole Gunnar, 2016. "The Energy Union and security-of-gas supply," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 372-382.
    15. Stephen, Matthew D., 2014. "Rising powers, global capitalism and liberal global governance: A historical materialist account of the BRICs challenge," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 20(4), pages 912-938.
    16. Motomura, Masumi, 2014. "Japan’s need for Russian oil and gas: A shift in energy flows to the Far East," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 68-79.
    17. Vladimir Mau, 2017. "Russia’s economic policy in 2015–2016: the imperative of structural reform," Post-Soviet Affairs, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(1), pages 63-83, January.
    18. Shadrina, Elena, 2014. "Russia׳s natural gas policy toward Northeast Asia: Rationales, objectives and institutions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 54-67.
    19. Tadashi Sugimoto, 2013. "The Foundation of Japan–Russia Energy Cooperation: The History of the Ups and Downs of the Sakhalin Project," The Northeast Asian Economic Review, ERINA - Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia, vol. 1(2), pages 27-41, December.
    20. Seung-Ho Joo & Yune Lee, 2018. "Putin and trilateral economic cooperation between Moscow, Seoul, and Pyongyang: motivation, feasibility, and Korean peace process," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 81-99, March.
    21. Yung Chul Park, 2010. "RMB Internationalization and Its Implications for Financial and Monetary Cooperation in East Asia," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 18(2), pages 1-21, March.
    22. Yasuyuki Sawada, 2014. "Japan's Strategy for Economic Cooperation with Asian Countries," Public Policy Review, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan, vol. 10(1), pages 53-76, March.
    23. Paik, Keun-Wook, 2012. "Sino-Russian Oil and Gas Cooperation: The Reality and Implications," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199656356.
    24. Marcin Kaczmarski, 2017. "Two Ways of Influence-building: The Eurasian Economic Union and the One Belt, One Road Initiative," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 69(7), pages 1027-1046, August.
    25. Tristan Kenderdine & Han Ling, 2018. "International Capacity Cooperation—Financing China's Export of Industrial Overcapacity," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 9(1), pages 41-52, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Parizek, Michal & Stephen, Matthew D., 2021. "The long march through the institutions: Emerging powers and the staffing of international organizations," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 56(2), pages 204-223.
    2. Jaakko J. Jääskeläinen & Sakari Höysniemi & Sanna Syri & Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, 2018. "Finland’s Dependence on Russian Energy—Mutually Beneficial Trade Relations or an Energy Security Threat?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-25, September.
    3. Bouwmeester, Maaike C. & Oosterhaven, J., 2017. "Economic impacts of natural gas flow disruptions between Russia and the EU," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 288-297.
    4. Adrienn Selei & Borbála Tóth & Gustav Resch & László Szabó & Lukas Liebmann & Péter Kaderják, 2017. "How far is mitigation of Russian gas dependency possible through energy efficiency and renewable policies assuming different gas market structures?," Energy & Environment, , vol. 28(1-2), pages 54-69, March.
    5. Anca Gabriela Ilie & Marinela Luminita Emanuela Zlatea & Cristina Negreanu & Dan Dumitriu & Alma Pentescu, 2023. "Reliance on Russian Federation Energy Imports and Renewable Energy in the European Union," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 25(64), pages 780-780, August.
    6. Tana Johnson & Johannes Urpelainen, 2020. "The more things change, the more they stay the same: Developing countries’ unity at the nexus of trade and environmental policy," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 445-473, April.
    7. Sauvageot, Eric Pardo, 2020. "Between Russia as producer and Ukraine as a transit country: EU dilemma of interdependence and energy security," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    8. Yassine Rqiq & Jesus Beyza & Jose M. Yusta & Ricardo Bolado-Lavin, 2020. "Assessing the Impact of Investments in Cross-Border Pipelines on the Security of Gas Supply in the EU," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-23, June.
    9. Aalto, Pami, 2014. "Energy market integration and regional institutions in east Asia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 91-100.
    10. Catherine Locatelli & Mehdi Abbas & Sylvain Rossiaud, 2015. "Russia and China hydrocarbon relations A building block toward international hydrocarbon regulation?," Working Papers hal-01246346, HAL.
    11. Aalto, Pami, 2014. "Institutions in European and Asian energy markets: A methodological overview," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 4-15.
    12. Tomasz Rokicki & Piotr Bórawski & András Szeberényi, 2023. "The Impact of the 2020–2022 Crises on EU Countries’ Independence from Energy Imports, Particularly from Russia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-26, September.
    13. Tomasz Rokicki & Aleksandra Perkowska, 2021. "Diversity and Changes in the Energy Balance in EU Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-19, February.
    14. Catherine Locatelli, 2015. "Les échanges gaziers entre la Russie et la Chine à l’ aune de leur sécurité énergétique," Post-Print hal-01206226, HAL.
    15. Charalampos Efstathopoulos, 2016. "Reformist Multipolarity and Global Trade Governance in an Era of Systemic Power Redistribution," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 8(1), pages 3-21, January.
    16. Rory Horner & David Hulme, 2017. "Converging divergence? Unpacking the new geography of 21st century global development," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 102017, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    17. Dubský, Zbyněk & Tichý, Lukáš & Pavliňák, Daniel, 2021. "A quantifiable approach to the selection of criteria and indexation for comparison of the gas pipeline projects leading to the EU: Diversification rationality against securitisation?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    18. Batten, Jonathan A. & Szilagyi, Peter G., 2016. "The internationalisation of the RMB: New starts, jumps and tipping points," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 221-238.
    19. Deane, J.P. & Ó Ciaráin, M. & Ó Gallachóir, B.P., 2017. "An integrated gas and electricity model of the EU energy system to examine supply interruptions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 479-490.
    20. Phillip Y. Lipscy, 2020. "How Do States Renegotiate International Institutions? Japan’s Renegotiation Diplomacy Since World War II," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 11(S3), pages 17-27, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:asiaeu:v:18:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s10308-019-00536-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.