The bear has lost its battle with the dragon

Adding salt to the wound, it is being outclassed by the Chinese not only within the BRICS but on the global stage. The Russian led Eurasian Economic Union is going nowhere and is widely dismissed as an irrelevant talking shop and vanity project for its creaking and autocratic elites. The Chinese have a direct competitor in their promotion of a Silk Road Economic Belt and have upped the ante with the addition of a Maritime Silk Road[1]. Together these proposals demonstrate ambition, and a confident and mature strategic vision for economic and social development.

If not yet reality, this is not just rhetoric. The Chinese are pumping unprecedented investment into countries at various points on these roads. They are putting skin in a game in which Russia can simply no longer compete.

The reality is that Russia cannot now match the sheer financial heft of the Chinese economy or the dynamic, strategic vision of its government. Putin has proven himself a populist and ruthless tactician but does not match the cold long game minds of the Chinese leadership.

On every level, Russia and China are at different stages of development. Russia is in decline, and its current regime appears to have entered an agony that threatens to pull the country down into confusion and turmoil. China, despite a dramatic slowdown, is still on the rise.

The bear has lost its battle with the dragon.