The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is one of the most talked about yet little understood policy initiatives of the People's Republic of China. This book offers a comprehensive, balanced and policy-oriented assessment of the BRI's first ten years and what it has meant for the world's businesses, polities and societies. The authors explore China's role as a globally significant source of development finance and investment capital, and examine the political, economic, normative, environmental and social implications of its increased presence in the world.

Aimed at researchers and academics, business professionals and policy analysts, as well as informed readers, the book seeks to answer some of the most pressing questions that China's rising economic presence in global markets poses: how is the BRI organized? Is it China's grand strategy? Is it green, is it corrupt, and what are its social effects? Is there even a future for the BRI in a world beset by new uncertainties? The book offers a sober analysis of the most prevalent narratives that cast China as a "threat" and as an "opportunity" and considers the specific challenges that it presents for the liberal international order.

About the Author

Igor Rogelja is Lecturer in Global Politics at University College London.

Konstantinos Tsimonis is Lecturer in Chinese Society at the Lau China Institute, King's College London.

Reviews

An accessible yet sophisticated primer on China's most ambitious global project, this book stands out with its clear-eyed assessments of the rhetoric and reality of a major force in international development.

-- Ching Kwan Lee, Professor of Sociology, UCLA

Rogelja and Tsimonis have written a remarkably concise and clear-sighted book highlighting the Belt and Road Initiative's most important aspects. It is a must-read for anyone invested in the ways in which China is shaping the future of our planet.

-- Jeremy Garlick, Prague University of Economics and Business

A forensic, evidence-based and highly readable account of the world's biggest infrastructure initiative in which the authors avoid cliches on all sides. If you only read one BRI book, make it this one.

-- Isabel Hilton, founder of China Dialogue



Book Information
ISBN 9781788212540
Author Dr Igor Rogelja
Format Paperback
Page Count 184
Imprint Agenda Publishing
Publisher Agenda Publishing