The Putin-Xi Partnership: Historical Context and Implications for the International Community

YCAPS is excited to announce our next event in Sasebo. This event will feature Dr. Joseph Torigian who will lead us in a discussion on the Putin-Xi partnership.

Sino-Russian relations have always had a deep impact on both countries, and the rise and fall of their alliance during the Cold War even significantly shaped the history of Xi's own family. In this talk, Professor Joseph Torigian will compare that earlier era of the relationship to the present day across three issue areas. First, although the two countries are no longer tied by Marxist ideology, they share a distaste for western democracy and a hope that the world will become safer for authoritarian regimes. Second, during the Cold War, China's use of force often led to tensions with the USSR - now, it is Russia's aggressive behavior that stresses the relationship. Third, the Putin-Xi friendship is an anomaly in the history of the relationship, as previous leaders often mistrusted or disrespected one another. An appreciation for these differences suggests that although the relationship is not as close as it was at the height of the Sino-Soviet alliance and that neither side will fully sacrifice its interests for the other, in some ways the relationship today is better capable of managing centrifugal forces.

All are welcome and free food and refreshments will be provided.

Please use this link to register for the event.

Schedule:

• 17:45-18:30 - Welcome reception (food & drinks). Feel free to show up anytime during the reception.
• 18:30-19:45 - Seminar and Q&A.
• 19:45-20:00 - Optional casual networking and chatting/wrap up.

Location:

Machinaka Community Center

5-5 Tokiwacho, Sasebo, Nagasaki 857-0053

Google Map

Speaker:

Joseph Torigian is a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, an assistant professor at the School of International Service at American University in Washington, a Global Fellow in the Wilson Center’s History and Public Policy Program, and a Center Associate of the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Michigan. Previously, he was a Visiting Fellow at the China in the World Program at Australian National University, a Stanton Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton-Harvard’s China and the World Program, a Postdoctoral (and Predoctoral) Fellow at Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), a Predoctoral Fellow at George Washington University’s Institute for Security and Conflict Studies, an IREX scholar affiliated with the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, and a Fulbright Scholar at Fudan University in Shanghai. His first book, “Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion: Elite Power Struggles in the Soviet Union and China after Stalin and Mao” was released with Yale University Press, and he has a forthcoming biography on Xi Jinping’s father with Stanford University Press. He studies Chinese and Russian politics and foreign policy.

Event Cost: Free of charge

Location: Machinaka Community Center, 5-5 Tokiwacho, Sasebo, Nagasaki 857-0053

Google Maps: Here

Moderator: William Yale

Language: English

Registration: Optional via this link.