Quote:
Originally Posted by begemot
Look at it this way. The world is dividing into huge economic blocks--NAFTA, the EU, China may become the center of an Asian block--will Russia be able to compete standing outside of those, or build its own with countries of the former Soviet Union?
True. Another way of putting it is Hunnington's "Clash of Civilizations", where the world is divided geo-politically along cultural lines. According to Hunnington, Russia stands at the center of the Orthodox bloc, which comprises Greece, Serbia, and the former Soviet republics.
This is also supported by the Russian geo-political thinker Alexander Dugin, who sees Russia at the center of the Eurasian bloc(Russia, China, and the Middle East) to counter the Atlantic bloc(mainly US and UK but also Western Europe).