> financial connections are one excuse to spend more time interacting. And it's not sufficient. Most people will buy products imported from China without ever

> financial connections are one excuse to spend more time interacting. And it's not sufficient. Most people will buy products imported from China without ever interacting with Chinese people (or their culture) and Chinese will export products to the rest of the world without ever interacting with foreign cultures and their ideas and viewpoints. Tell me how a gas pipeline between Russia and Germany helped build ties between the citizens of either country, aside from the politicians who got rich off of it and turned into apologists.