Putin’s struggle for influence in the world

The radio correspondents change focus for a few weeks and stay Radio correspondents-Russia. This is the second episode.

Russia wants to change the world

What Russia is doing now, and what NATO is responding to, what is happening along the border with Ukraine, is part of a larger struggle over what the geopolitical structure of the world should look like. Both Russia and China talk about a multipolar world, where they have their own spheres of interest, worlds where the United States, NATO and the EU stay away. The United States has long wanted to direct much more of its power towards the Pacific region and China, but is the power enough now that Russia is challenging Europe?

Moscow vs Beijing

It is now the Winter Olympics in Beijing. Russian President Vladimir Putin, unlike many other leaders, will visit the Beijing Olympics and greet China’s leader Xi Jinping. How do you think in Beijing, 600 km away from Ukraine, about why Russia gathers so many troops at Ukraine’s border? How do people think in Moscow about the increasingly powerful neighbor to the East and how does Vladimir Putin handle the fact that China has so much greater economic muscle. In Moscow, there is admiration that China has retained the dictatorship and not just collapsed as the Soviet Union did.

Participants: Johanna Melén, Russia correspondent, Hanna Sahlberg China commentator and Gudrun Persson research leader at the Swedish Defense Research Agency.

Host: Jesper Lindau

jesper.lindau@sverigesradio.se

Producer: Irma Norrman

irma.norrman@sr.se

Source: ICELAND NEWS