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Negotiating the boundaries of China’s Belt and Road Initiative

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  • Tim Summers

Abstract

This paper explores dynamic processes of (re)negotiation of boundaries of and in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. It identifies ambiguous temporal and spatial boundaries which create space for ongoing political and ideological contestation over the shape of the Belt and Road Initiative. The paper suggests that lack of clear geographical scope leaves open multiple futures for China’s global relations under the initiative. Chinese imaginaries hint at a world of transnational networks of political economy but one still structured by nation states and inter-governmental regional institutions at a time when the intertwining of the political and the economic is a feature of shifting configurations of global political economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Tim Summers, 2020. "Negotiating the boundaries of China’s Belt and Road Initiative," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 38(5), pages 809-813, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:38:y:2020:i:5:p:809-813
    DOI: 10.1177/2399654420911410b
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alan Wiig & Jonathan Silver, 2019. "Turbulent presents, precarious futures: urbanization and the deployment of global infrastructure," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(6), pages 912-923, June.
    2. Marcin Kaczmarski, 2017. "Two Ways of Influence-building: The Eurasian Economic Union and the One Belt, One Road Initiative," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 69(7), pages 1027-1046, August.
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