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Level of Education

Undergraduate

Abstract

This book review examines political scientist Bruno Maçães’ The Dawn of Eurasia, which presents the emergent Eurasia, China and Russia’s role in shaping it, and what preceded this shift. His book delves into the background that shows the pairing of Europe and Asia to be key in understanding today’s political landscape. Maçães writes that the world has stepped into globalization’s second stage, which is unsteady due to the heightening juxtaposition of different nations that muddle the geopolitics of Europe and Asia. He goes on to argue that this new moment has made a shift in power feasible and appealing to Russia and China, who continue to rise as the key poles in Eurasia. Their rise makes a pivot away from the current Western model possible as the globe turns towards an East and West pairing in which neither is dominant. Eurasia raises new questions for international relations that center on geopolitics as it relates to political and economic integration, because in the new order, dominance and reciprocity must be used in tandem if the West is to keep up. Ultimately, Maçães argues that the current "artificial separation between Europe and Asia cannot hold in a globalized world,” and while his argument that the two continents will become one unit in the next twenty years is convincing, his assertion that it will most likely adopt a new set of universal values crafted by Russia and China is unconvincing given their human rights records, current governments, and human nature in general.

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