IR scholar Artyom Lukin talks about Climate Change in Russia and how the decline of American hegemony has become a moot point as the real question is what will replace it. He believes we are entering a prolonged period of US-China bipolarity with Russia as a second tier power, and the potential for a multipolar world down the road. The difficulty in analyzing Beijing is that China is completely non-transparent to outside observers, a "black box". No one, including the Russians, really understands what China wants. He also discusses why he and others think the world has entered an era of isolationism, closed borders, and restricted travel triggered by the geopolitics of intensifying great-power rivalry. He also gives his thoughts on Vladimir Putin, North Korea, and what the near-future portends for the United States (e.g. civil war?). *Support/Donate to Geopolitics & Empire: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/empiregeopolitics PayPal https://www.paypal.me/geopolitics Bitcoin http://geopoliticsandempire.com/bitcoin-donate Show Notes Can Russia become China’s strategic mercenary? https://www.9dashline.com/article/can-russia-become-chinas-strategic-mercenary Era of isolationism is coming to the world https://www.rt.com/op-ed/522863-era-isolationism-borders-covid The end of civil wars? https://www.rt.com/op-ed/511561-end-of-civil-wars America needs to create a new enemy. Anti-China hostility is only thing that unites Reps & Dems https://www.rt.com/op-ed/506886-regain-unity-america-enemy-china The Russia–China entente and its future https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342157695_The_Russia-China_entente_and_its_future Websites Twitter https://twitter.com/ArtyomLukin ResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Artyom-Lukin RT Op-Eds https://www.rt.com/op-ed/authors/artyom-lukin About Artyom Lukin Artyom Lukin is deputy director for research at the School of Regional and International Studies, Far Eastern Federal University (Vladivostok, Russia). He is also associate professor of International Relations there. Lukin earned his PhD in Political Science from Far Eastern State University in 2002. Apart from his academic career, he worked as a public relations officer in the Vladivostok City Administration (1998-2002) and at the Russian Far East’s biggest energy utility company Dalenergo (2002-2007). Lukin has authored numerous chapters, papers and commentaries, in Russian and English, on Asia-Pacific international politics and Russia’s engagement with Asia. His latest book (co-authored with Rens Lee) is Russia’s Far East: New Dynamics in Asia Pacific and Beyond (2015). Artyom’s research interests include international relations and security in the Asia-Pacific and Northeast Asia; Russian foreign policy; Russia’s engagement with the Asia-Pacific; social, political and economic processes in the Russian Far East. Lukin has authored and co-authored multiple scholarly publications in Russian and English. He has been involved in numerous research and publication projects both in Russia and abroad. Artyom Lukin is an expert with Russian International Affairs Council. He is a regular commentator for Russian and international news media. *Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Jig" by "Musicke & Mirth" from their album "Music for Two Lyra Viols": http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)