China's Belt and Road Initiative and External Policy

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is emerging as a vital lynch-pin in China's efforts to establish a maritime and continental zone of influence in the Indo-Pacific region. The Belt and Road Initiative and the Future of Regional Order in the Indo-Pacific interrogates to what extent BRI represents an achievable vision of a China-centric order in Asia and explores its major security implications for the region. The contributions to this volume provide up-to-date analysis of the effect of BRI on the region's foreign policy and alliance patterns, its connection to geo-economics and domestic Chinese politics, and the policy responses of key Indo-Pacific actors. While acknowledging that BRI remains prey to a variety of internal and exogenous shocks, the contributors conclude that at the very least BRI will continue to disrupt the existing alignments of economic and strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific and that on this minimal basis BRI will likely be judged a success by China. For regional actors, however, the BRI simultaneously enhances choice while presenting strategic and economic risks of greater dependency on China - a dilemma intensified by the disruptive effects of the Trump administration on regional confidence in the longevity of American commitments and leadership.

A leading international relations expert uncovers the key stages that led from the end of the Cold War to the War in Ukraine. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, warnings of a new Cold War proliferated. In fact, argues Gilbert Achcar in this timely new account, the New Cold War has been ongoing since the late 1990s. Racing to solidify its position as the last remaining superpower, the US alienated Russia and China, pushing them closer and rebooting the 'old' Cold War with disastrous implications. Vladimir Putin's consequent rise and imperialist reinvention, along with Xi Jinping's own ascendancy and increasingly autocratic tendencies, would culminate, respectively, in the invasion of Ukraine and mounting tensions over Taiwan and trade. Was all this inevitable? What comes after Ukraine, and what might the contours of a more peaceful world look like? These questions and many others are addressed in this essential book by one of the most seasoned analysts of international relations. With erudition and sobering analysis, Achcar argues that only by understanding this new landscape can we begin to imagine the contours of an alternative, more peaceful world.

From Tanzania to Malaysia, Russia to Iran, author Eyck Freymann takes readers inside China's One Belt One Road, the largest global infrastructure development program in history. In this authoritative and accessible book, Freymann argues that OBOR is not the centralized and systematic investment policy that many commentators have made it out to be. Rather, it is a largely aspirational and sometimes ad hoc campaign to export an ancient Chinese model of patronage and tribute. Inside China, propaganda depicts President Xi Jinping restoring the nation's lost imperial glory. Overseas, China uses massive investments to cultivate relationships with willing politicians and political parties. Freymann finds that this strategy is working. Even in countries where OBOR megaprojects fail, political leaders are still excited about the potential benefits of continued partnership with China. One Belt One Road is a guide for understanding China's burgeoning commercial empire. Drawing on primary documents in five languages, interviews with many senior officials, and on-the-ground case studies from the salt flats of Sri Lanka to the shipyards of Greece, Freymann tells the monumental story of the world's latest encounter with Chinese power.

The concept of a '21st-Century Maritime Silk Road' refers to the proposed modern-time version of the ancient Maritime Silk Road that connected China with the rest of Asia, and even parts of eastern Africa. It is a strategic initiative designed to increase investments in and foster collaboration among all countries along the ancient Silk Road. This volume, 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative: Aims and Objectives, Implementation Strategies and Policy Recommendations, presents the latest research findings on the directions and implementation methods related to the initiative, and contributors offer policy suggestions, include promoting effective macroeconomic policies, extending microeconomic cooperation schemes, removing trade barriers and facilitating financial integration, building infrastructures that can connect all subregions in Asia, and increasing people-to-people exchanges and industrial cooperation.