BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE (BRI) A PATH TO ECONOMIC RESILIENCE: THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL  APPROACHES

Chou Zanadu Linjie

Authors

Chou Zanadu Linjie Jagiellonian University, Krakow, (POLAND)

Keywords:

BRI, Belt and Road Initiative, Liberalism, World Order, Chinese Affairs

Abstract

The paper focuses on a liberal theoretical approach to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The analytical framework around the BRI study is in the formation process, just like the Initiative itself. This article analyzes and explains the connections between liberalism and China’s BRI. It discusses the suitability of liberal conceptual framework application for BRI analysis in the light of democracy, Confucianism, Kantian Philosophy, Tianxia all under heaven, and Duojihua1 multipolarity concepts. The author argues that BRI is a challenge to the Western Liberal order since it criticizes the neo-liberal globalization projects, which prioritize only the interests of the old Euro-American world. The BRI is changing the fundamental thinking and logic of traditional geopolitical competition. Examples of this are the differences in perceptions and interpretations of the Initiative’s goals and objectives. Finally, the author concludes that BRI requires a more com-prehensive theory explaining the open cooperation model, highlighting the harmonization of mutual interests instead of competition for capital, markets, and resources.

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