I find it interesting that you consider ethnic culture such a significant geopolitical influence. As I'm a cultural anthropologist by discipline, I find that intriguing. But I'm not quite convinced! As I've suggested, I think China will have to demonstrate leadership in moderation, compromise, and peace-building in the region in order to gain the confidence of its historical regional adversaries.
Yes, I believe culture plays the most important part here, you can almost say for the past 200 years it was just a temporary break from the way how Asia used to work for the past 2,000 years of history. And I think as soon as China get back on it is feet again, things will go back to normal. Of course they won't be exactly like the old days, but many of the old geopolitical structure will go back the way it was. And of course, with China at the center it does not mean China wins and everyone else looses. Because this relationship will benefit China as much as it will benefit the surrounding nations.
As for China have to demonstrate leadership and all that, that goes without saying so I didn't bother to type it out. I am very confident China can achieve that, and if they don't, they don't deserve to became the leadeship in the first place.
Interesting! They have been rivals in the far, and recent, past.
I actually consider Russia to be one of the nations with the most potential to become an equal partner. Just developing stronger cooperation in the sectors of energy exploration and transport (technologies, techniques, and applications), as well as cooperation in the development of coordinated regional transport infrastructure, could be a significant geopolitical event, offering significant advantages to both nations and the region as a whole. Not to mention that, as few nations export strategic bombers, therefore creating no competition for exports, and that both China and Russia will need to develop a new platform, the potential for future, mutually beneficial cooperation in the sector of defense technology is not out of the question.
In the short term China and Russia will be partners... but partners that keep very close eye on each other. As long as USA will continue to snub Russia, their relationship with China will be friendly. And it is not just that, it is in Russia's best interest to keep China as a friend than an enemy. China is the key to Russia's economic growth, right now they are very dependent on exporting oil and timber to China and this reliance won't ease up as time goes on. But when I am talking about rivals, I am talking about long term views in about 50-100 years. Because if you look at China's surrounding nations, Russia is still the only nation that can posses the most challenge to China, because it is the most organized state along China's border and shares very little common culture with Chinese civilization. And they do have a history of border dispute in the past dated all the way to 500 years ago. But overall Russia will not posses the same challenge to China as the nomadic people did to China for over 2000 years. So in the end, even China was badly humiliated for the past 200 years due to European industrialization, but industrialization itself means eliminating the threat from the nomadic culture to organized/established culture, so in the long term industrialization is the best thing that ever happens to Chinese civilization I think, because it eliminated their age old enemy and let them expand their influence to all over the world far beyond their traditional world views.
I was almost afraid to quote that, but I did for one reason. Iran is a surprisingly modern Islamic nation. Although the face of the regime would not suggest so, Iran, formerly Persia, is a scientifically, philosophically, academically, technologically, and politically, advanced and sophisticated nation with a long and rich history and culture. Had it not been for the imperialistic interventions of the Russo/Anglo/American sphere, Iran might be a very different nation today, and still be Islamic.
Iran is another nation whose resources and capabilities would offer significant advantages in a relationship with China. China is already Iran's largest trading partner.
Oh yes I very much agree with you on Iran, never ever underestimate the Persian people. They have been a thorn of every superpower in history, they were a great challenge to Rome, to the many Arab empires, and they were the first world's first true multicultural empire that existed way before China and Rome.
http://www.sinodefenceforum.com/world-armed-forces/iranian-military-trend-6162.html
I started this trend and noticed that Iran is doing something very different, they are actually the only nation in Middle East that are actively thinking of future and investing into research and development.
But with that being said, Iran still have a huge problem with all Middle East nations. The problem being the society so integrated with religion. And also the problem of repression of woman, when you systemically suppress half of your population due to their birth status, it will not help with your economic, military and cultural growth. And in the end, Iran is just one Middle East nation among dozens, whatever they do will not stop the degradation of rest of the Middle East.
As for Iran being a partner of China, that will very much be the case, but only on a economic and political levels. I doubt there will be any significant exchange on the culture level, because both nation think they are the "hot stuff", they will be polite on exchanging views, but no one will truly accept the other nation's culture. To me, cultural similarity is all that matter, political alliance last as long as both nation benefits, not a second longer than that.
