There are striking parallels between Putin's politics and Chinese power politics in the South and East China Seas. The United States did take military action, though, when Beijing announced an air defence zone above some uninhabited islands that are disputed by China and Japan. The reason for this was that, unlike in Ukraine, in Asia vital American interests were at stake, and the United States had extended security guarantees to Japan.

The rise of China is undoubtedly the most important geopolitical development of recent decades. This is confirmed by the figures: over the last 30 years, the country has enjoyed average economic growth of 10 per cent. In 2011 China overtook Japan as the world's second economy, and in 2013 China became the world's largest exporter and overtook the United States as the largest importer of oil. In 2014 China overtook the United States as the world's largest trading nation.

In recent years, numerous books have been published on the new world order and how it will be dominated by Asia. One of the more influential authors is the Singaporean ex-diplomat and professor, Kishore Mahbubani. The subtitle of his sensational book The New Asian Hemisphere (2009) refers to what he believes will be an irresistible shift in geopolitical power to the East. The idea that the geopolitical centre of gravity will shift from the transatlantic world to Asia is by no means new. It is a fact that China has grown rapidly since Deng Xiaoping opened up the country to the world at the end of the 1970s. Deng strengthened China's ties with the United States and Russia and laid the foundations for large-scale socio-economic reforms, meaning that China developed an economy based on capitalist principles on the one hand, and a political and social system based on socialist principles on the other. The example of China clearly shows that a country that becomes part of the process of globalization and renounces isolation can enjoy rapid economic growth.

China is the only emerging economy to have converted its newfound economic power into diplomatic and military power.