China's Foreign Policy Towards Post-Soviet Russia and Central Asia: A Neoclassical Realist Analysis

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2023-2
Piri, Burak
This thesis aims to examine China’s foreign policy towards Russia and Central Asia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is argued that China’s foreign policy towards this region is best explained with neoclassical realism. Because neoclassical realism focuses both on system and unit level factors, this thesis will first frame the systemic and domestic drivers of China’s foreign policy towards Russia and Central Asia. Some key points are the China’s position against the United States US, and its desire to avoid confrontation with the US, while achieving its development and stability goals. The thesis is composed of five chapters. After the introduction, the second chapter focuses on China’s grand strategy, and the importance of Russia and Central Asia for China for China’s both international and domestic considerations. The third and fourth chapters focuses on the developments on China-Russia and China-Central Asia relations, mainly on economic and security aspects, and the effects of the Ukraine war on the relations are also emphasized.

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Citation Formats
B. Piri, “China’s Foreign Policy Towards Post-Soviet Russia and Central Asia: A Neoclassical Realist Analysis,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2023.