Global Perspectives on China's Belt and Road Initiative
Title
Global Perspectives on China's Belt and Road Initiative
Subtitle
Asserting Agency through Regional Connectivity
ISBN
9789048553952
Format
eBook PDF
Number of pages
350
Language
English
Publication date
Dimensions
15.6 x 23.4 cm
Discipline
Asian Studies
Also available as
Hardback - € 129,00
Table of Contents
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Prelims
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction (Florian Schneider)
Part I: Global Connectivity
2. China's BRI and International Cooperation in Higher Education and Research: A Symbiotic Relationship (Ingrid d'Hooghe)
3. Understanding China's varied choice of agreements and institutions related to the BRI in the areas of Trade, Tax and Development Finance (Michael Sampson, Jue Wang, & Irma Johanna Mosquera Valderrama)
Part II: Regional Dynamics
4. The BRI in Latin America: New Wine in Old Bottle? (Matt Ferchen)
5. Ascertaining Agency: Africa and the Belt and Road Initiative (Stacey Links)
6. Parameters and Pathways: Agency in the case of the Southern African Development Community (Stacey Links)
7. Over Hills and Valleys too: China's Belt and Road Initiative in the Caribbean (Ruben Gonzalez-Vicente)
Part III: Local Actors
8. The Geopolitical Relevance of the BRI: The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway in Indonesia (Frans-Paul van der Putten & Mirela Petkova)
9. Elite Legitimation and the Agency of the Host Country: Evidence from Laos, Malaysia, and Thailand's BRI Engagement (Cheng-Chwee Kuik)
10. The Two Faces of the China Model: The BRI in Southeast Asia (Matt Ferchen)
11. The Belt and Road Initiative in South Asia: Regional Impact, and the Evolution of Perceptions and Policy Responses (Richard Ghiasy)
12. Geographic Agency: The Case of Iran as a 'Civilizational Crossroads' in the 'Silk Roads' (Mohammadbagher Forough)
13. Exploring the political, economic and social implications of the digital silk road into East Africa: the case of Ethiopia (Sanne van der Lugt)

Reviews and Features

"This book strikes a nice balance between examining the breadth of the BRI while providing the depth of analysis necessary to understand local contexts. Unlike similar volumes that only dedicate one or two chapters to China’s influence outside of Southeast Asia, this book provides a more inclusive global perspective. [...] The detail of the local-level analysis and the geographic scope of BRI activities examined in the book set it apart from the existing literature. Interdisciplinary work is desperately needed to create a flow of information among researchers and across academic departments. This book does just that, showing that instead of retreating into our own departmental echo chambers, we should seek out and celebrate the unique benefits each field contributes to our understanding of the BRI and China’s impact on the world."
- Sarah Sklar, Boston University, The China Journal, No. 87 (2022)

Florian Schneider (ed.)

Global Perspectives on China's Belt and Road Initiative

Asserting Agency through Regional Connectivity

The year 2013 saw the launch of the largest, most influential investment initiative in recent memory: China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This globe-spanning strategy has reshaped local economies and regional networks, and it has become a contested subject for scholars and practitioners alike. How should we make sense of the complex interactions that the BRI has enabled? Understanding these processes requires truly global perspectives alongside careful attention to the role that local actors play in giving shape to individual BRI projects. The contributions in Global Perspectives on China's Belt and Road Initiative: Asserting Agency through Regional Connectivity provide both 'big picture' assessments of China's role in regional and global interactions and detailed case studies that home in on the role agency plays in BRI dynamics. Written by leading area studies scholars with diverse disciplinary expertise, this book reveals how Chinese efforts to recalibrate the world are taken up, challenged, revamped, and reworked in diverse contexts around the world.
Editor

Florian Schneider

Florian Schneider is Chair Professor of Modern China at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies. He is managing editor of Asiascape: Digital Asia and author of numerous books and articles on political communication and media in China.