The focus on the Eurasian continent

 

Hal Brands provides s history of the geopolitics associated with the Eurasian continent over the last 100 years. While the history was interesting and a quick read, it centered more the European politics during the 20th century and now the switch to a focus on China. It did not spend much time on the development of the Russian empire which has always focused on trying to dominate the Eurasian continent. 

Now it is China who is trying to dominate this land mass. To some degree the US is a digression to this long struggle and core Europe is also a marginal player in these geopolitical dynamics. 

This is a Russia-China story first and world politics story second. In an effort to protect its western border, Russia has made a pact with China, yet solving one problem will create a new problem on its eastern reaches. There is a new partner mix between Russia and China that will define the next decade of the 21st century. 

Unfortunately, most analysts do not seem to be overly concerned about this changing balance which will impact the supply of key natural resources. Brand provides a nice recap of Eurasian politics, but it does not stretch the imagination of what is and what will be.