Russia is unprepared for
the next world order
An interview with Bobo Lo, expert on Russia and China
and author of the books Russia and the New World Disorder
and A Wary Embrace: What the China-Russia relationship
means for the world. Interviewer: Adam ReichardtADAM REICHARDT: It has been two
years since you published Russia and the
New World Disorder in which you concluded
that Russian foreign policy is not well suited
for the current geopolitical context. Yet, if
we look at Russia since 2015, it has project-
ed itself as a strong country, one that can
defend against sanctions, intervene in Syr-
ia, advance its interests in its near abroad
and project an image of itself as a real glob-
al player. Would you still argue that same
thesis today?
BOBO LO: This is a question I often
get asked. I stand by my original thesis.
True, Russia is not going to become a mi-
nor power straight away, the regime will
not collapse anytime soon, and Russia
will not buckle under western pressure
and be forced into concessions. How-
ever, we need to look at Russia and the
world in the longer term. What will hap-
pen over the next decade, two decades,
three decades and beyond? Can Russia
adapt to a world that is changing in all
sorts of uncontrollable and unpredict-
able ways? This is about much more than
just Russia’s interaction with the United
States, the United Kingdom, France or
Germany. It is about whether it can op-
erate effectively in a more complex, dis-
aggregated and disorderly international
environment crowded with competi-
tors – not just the West and China, but
many others as well.
The 21st century international envi-
ronment will increasingly feature not
just state actors, but also non-state ac-
tors, ranging from terrorist groups to
big multinational companies. Without
change, Russia will struggle in a glo-
balised world where trade transcends
sovereignty, where threats of global pan-
demics are on the rise, where climate
change is accelerating and where the
ubiquity and multiplicity of information
make it virtually impossible to control.