Conclusion

This book focuses on China’s relations with other Eurasian players in the era of changing world order. It is already a fact, that China is a superpower, which is spreading its influence and projecting its power on a global scale. Of course, China implements it in its own way having the BRI as a main tool, without military involvement in any region, using investments and loans instead. In sum, the modern world order is on its way to become multipolar, where China, the United States, the EU, and Russia play crucial roles. India’s rise in Eurasia will bring another great player to the “Eurasian chess board.” Will the multipolar world order be safer and more peaceful without multilateralism, which was mainly damaged during Donald Trump’s presidency? The answer to this question can be found in Chapter 1, where Heinz Gärtner points out that “Multipolarity without multilateralism is a dangerous mix in the world.” Gärtner also warns us, that because of the emerging multipolar world order, polarization, arms races, trade wars, mutual demonization of adversaries, the fight for domination with the danger of war will threaten world security. It seems, that liberal values and democracy will remain on the whole or it will only dominate in the Western part of the Eurasia. What about a rising and dynamic Asia, where China plays a crucial role? Of course, one can speak about Asian democracies too, such as India, South Korea, Japan, etc., but authoritarian ways of governance in Eurasia are mostly dominant in Asia. Will the international community witness a “new Cold War,” where liberalism will clash with authoritarianism, like in the Cold War, when communism was clashing with democracy? Is there any new idea or initiative, which can stop this kind of development in Eurasia? In Chapter 2 Zheng Yuntian argues that Chinese new ideological initiative, which is called “a community with a shared future for mankind” can be a uniting factor for Eurasian nations. He also mentions, that in total “China needs to implement the following to contribute to the world order: upholding and advancing economic globalization instead of de-globalization or anti-globalization, supporting multilateralism and upholding international equity and justice.” Will these proposals work for uniting mankind and strengthening multilateralism? Time will tell, but nowadays not only manpower and political ideologies, but also technologies play a crucial role. It is already obvious, that the states, which will be prominent in R&D, the digitalization of economies, AI, and cybersecurity, will lead the world. For this reason, China proposed DSR, which is playing an especially important role for harmonizing digitalization processes between China and the Eurasian states. It is also the main conduit through which China transfers its technologies to other states. In turn, the EAEU also initiated its Digital Agenda which aims to support the creation of a united digital economy. In Chapter 3 Anahit Parzyan writes, that in line with traditional soft and hard powers, we face the emergence of a Digital Power, that will be used to shape a new technological world order. The Internet Plus concept that converted China from just a consumer to a manufacturer of technology, provided greater opportunities for its technological expansion. She argues that China is using liberal markets to deploy technologies that are seen as a security threat for the United States and its allies, particularly relating to 5G networks and safe and smart city projects. Surveillance technologies that are used for implementing safe city projects collect data, that provides both more efficient smart solutions for better management by governments but need provide tools to suppress its people when needed. Parzyan concludes, that within these realities, cybersecurity policy is becoming more important for states. China’s cybersecurity policy is based on cyber sovereignty, which is mirroring Russia, the leading country of the EAEU. Considering similar cybersecurity priorities and the concept of cyber sovereignty, the DSR and EAEU’s Digital Agenda are easily implemented. Moreover, the EAEU member states are eager to be provided with China’s comparably cheap, but advanced technologies.