Philip Snow is one of the world's leading scholars of Chinese language and culture. He has dedicated much of his career to documenting Chinese history and relations.
Born in 1952, he grew up traveling from an early age with his parents, then went on to study Chinese at Oxford University.
His most recent book from Yale University Press took 15 years of research and writing.
"China and Russia: Four Centuries of Conflict and Concord" chronicles the history of relations between two international superpowers.
China and Russia have been fluctuating in power since the 17th century, pushing and pulling at each other along the way.
"If you look back beyond the very hostile period of the '50s and '60s, further back into the past, you'll see that there have been quite long periods when the relationship has been very stable," Snow said.
"I think it's a mistake to assume that bitter hostility is the norm, or that the current partnership will easily break up, as a lot of Western commentators thought when they first noticed it."
Still, their relationship is far from simple.
"It's a balance," Snow explained, "which may now swing the other way, till we have a much richer and more powerful China and Russia as a junior partner."
No matter what the future holds, Snow believes it is crucial that we continue to study the past.
"I don't think historical events repeat themselves, exactly," Snow said, "but as people have occasionally commented, they do quite often rhyme."
This interview aired on The Conversation on June 27, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. This interview was adapted for the web by Emily Tom.
