Or Russia opens up if Aleksej Navalny manages to get a foothold (and then hope he is not just another Bilderberg-boy like far too many of the EU “leaders”.)

As for democracy, I think that system has outlived its time. It has been effectively sidelined, neutralised, by capitalism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l5fRI-YnG0&t=5s

My guess is that the Europeans will evolve more or less in the direction of an economy for the common good https://www.ecogood.org/what-is-ecg/. This would mean that the ideological distance with China becomes much smaller.

And the Chinese are very pragmatic and super future-orientated (they are run by engineers, not politicians). A.I. can enable a smooth running of an economy for the common good, so I would not at all be surprised if the Chinese catch on and implement it.

The real problem is the narrow mindedness of Putin. A pity, he is missing his window of opportunity to radically change the world as we know it and leave a long-lasting positive mark on history.