On August 2nd Anatoly Motkin, president of StrategEast presented the main findings of the StrategEast Westernization Index 2022 to the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. The presentation was attended by Bo Tedards, director of the International cooperation department at Taiwan Foundation for Democracy and Iris Hsu, the Foundation representative.
This year, the Index is being released under extraordinary circumstances. Russia’s war against Ukraine affects nearly all the countries of Eurasian region that StrategEast studies in the Index. This study reflects on the state of Eurasian countries as of December 31, 2021.
The 2022 edition of the Index demonstrates that an imaginary “Westernization border” is emerging across the region. The dividing lines are growing as some countries become more closed off and limit freedoms in order to preserve their power. The region is more unstable than it was two years ago, when StrategEast released its previous Index.
Generally, for the past 30 years, the development of Eurasian countries has been under the strong influence of three forces: Russia, China, and the Western world. In particular, China has gained significant influence in all the states of Central Asia, in the Caucasus, and, to a large extent, in Belarus. The instruments of Chinese influence are present in forms of the large preferential loans allocated to local authorities, the purchase of local enterprises, primarily mining, and imposing their technological solutions, primarily 5G technologies. China’s efforts in the region are united under the umbrella of the One Belt One Road project.
Since 2021, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy supports StrategEast Westernization Index and Report projects.
