This paper seeks to understand the political dynamics that operates behind reforms in China. To interpret the political influences that have, and are, determining the course and trajectory of the reform process, two themes have been chosen. First, an examination of ideological trends (determinants) and their relationship with economic reforms, and the second, as an important corollary, the behaviour of factions (variables) within the Communist Party of China (CPC) that have differing
Strategic Predominance and Open Market Access: The Twin Pillars of Russia's Policy in the Central Asia-Caspian Sea Region
As the Russian thinking on its near abroad is crystallizing in the wake of the US withdrawal from Uzbekistan's Karshi-Khanabad airbase in late 2005, it appears that Moscow is aiming at strategic predominance in Central Asia and the Caspian Sea region, though it seems ready to accept the reality of free market dynamics. But the fact of the matter is that Moscow has neither the will nor the resources to single-handedly resolve all the problems of the impoverished former Soviet republics of the region.