Geoeconomics with Chinese characteristics: the BRI and China’s evolving grand strategy

China has become the second largest economy in the world in a historically unprecedented space of time.Subsequently,China has begun to exert a form of geoeconomic influence that is changing the way we think about both the nature of international relations in the 21st century and about the precise uses China’s policymakers will put their growing power into.This paper explores these debates and China’s evolving approach to foreign and strategic policies through the prism of the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI).If the BRI becomes a reality it will quite literally cement China’s place at the centre of a regional network of production processes that will inevitability enhance China’s overall economic and geopolitical importance.At the very least,China’s ascent is forcing a reassessment about the nature of power and influence in the contemporary international system.Not only is the nature of economic organisation currently raising important theoretical and practical questions about the basis of international competition,but it is also becoming increasingly clear that the power and influence of national governments are largely determined by relative shifts in the balance of economic power,as much as it is by more traditional strategic factors.

“去风险”但不“脱钩”:中欧经济关系的韧性

In recent months,“de-risking”has become the catchword for economic relations between China and the West.The article begins by exploring the evolution of the discourse,then describing China’s interaction with Europe regarding it.Subsequently,it reviews China–Europe relations through the lens of de-risking.The article argues that“decoupling”connotes the image of severing all economic ties,whereas de-risking implies a partial and gradual movement.De-risking to a large extent is a stabilizing factor for China–Europe relations.A sudden breakdown or extremely turbulent China–Europe relations are currently ruled out.

Peace Theories & Quest for Peace: A Cross-cultural Perspective

Out of the plethora of peace theories,two stand out in particular:(a)the Kantian democratic theory of peace,which argues that peace depends on a league of democracies,and(b)the liberal economic theory of peace,that a free,open world market conduces to peace.In this essay,concrete examples are cited that would raise doubt on the validity of these theories.It then proceeds to examine whether culture would make a difference on the incidence of war.In this light,the Westphalian system of states is compared with the historical Chinese“tribute system”qua an inherent system of international relations.One distinct difference is found in the much lower incidence of wars in the latter system,as David Kang’s study identified that in 5 centuries(1368-1841)the Chinese tribute system had only two interstate wars within its circle of members,not counting the wars initiated by external,ex-regional Western powers.And,the religious wars that plagued the West were never found in the Chinese tribute system.In search of an answer to this almost incredible record of low incidence of war,this essay finds that the Confucian culture,with its emphasis on harmony and harmonization of opposites,in contradistinction to the teachings on conflict in Abrahamic cultures,seems to hold the key to an answer.If so,culture,rather than institutions(such as democracies,open world market,etc.)deserves to be seriously considered as a relevant factor contributing to peace.Most importantly,culture as such can be taught and disseminated,including through the classroom.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Gulf: Will India Prefer a Further Westward Expansion of the SCO or its Consolidation?

The admission of India and Pakistan as full members in the SCO in June 2017 is a landmark event in the evolution of Eurasian identity and its institutionalization and an event set to change the geopolitical and geo-economic patterns of the world.India,given the nature of its interests and ambitions in Asia,would have serious misgivings about any Eurasian project that would bring the Gulf and Central Asia into a single institutional framework.India is aware that at the global level,it is the weakest of the four global players,namely,the US,Russia,China,and India.In this context,India appears to be pursuing diplomacy along two parallel axes simultaneously:to balance China in the Indo-Pacific region with American support and assistance and to balance China in Eurasia with Russian support and assistance.This article also focuses on the nature of India’s bilateral relations with China,Pakistan,Russia,the US,and the EU to gauge India’s attitude toward the SCO’s further expansion westwards.While India may welcome Iran into the fold of the SCO for geo-economic reasons,it may not be too keen on Saudi Arabia and the GCC membership in the SCO.In economic terms,India may prefer a dense network of economic collaboration and cooperation activities with other states and regional entities,as the SCO looks further west,rather than absorbing them into the SCO’s fold.In security terms,India will probably try to direct the SCO efforts towards dealing with nonconventional threats like terrorism,energy security,and environmental protection rather than developing conventional military capabilities and doctrines,which could be perceived as anti-NATO.