Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2021. 350 pp. (Maps, B&W photos.) US$124,00, cloth; free ebook. ISBN 978-94-6372-785-3.
Florian Schneider’s book on the global perspectives on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an important contribution to the analyses of China’s global economic influence. Undergirding this study is a novel argument on agencies’ role in China’s interactions with BRI participating countries. The book argues that rather than treat states as singular and monolithic actors (11), we should pay attention to the role of agencies that give shape to individual BRI projects.
Convening experts with diverse disciplinary backgrounds, the edited volume documents with detailed empirical data and discusses the complexity and depth of the role multidimensional agencies play in the BRI. Devolving into three parts (global, regional, and local), the book begins with an excellent conceptualization of the agency’s role in international political economy and an overview on China’s BRI in international institutions and global collaborations. Part II engages discussions on regional dynamics that span from Latin America to Africa. There is no question that in some regions like Africa, China’s economic presence has been intensively embedded in the local political economy. Many developing regions that are in huge demand for infrastructure investment look up to China for assistance as the distribution of capabilities and wealth have changed dramatically over the past decades since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Following the regional analyses, part III provides more in-depth analyses on local actors in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Iran, and Ethiopia, which demonstrate the complexity of host-state interactions with China.
The book is a fascinating read with its rich array of case studies in part III. For instance, chapter 8 studies how Indonesian elites navigate geopolitical tensions in the Chinese High-Speed Rail (HSR) project. Chapter 9 provides a detailed assessment of how elites in Laos, Malaysia, and Thailand have become more adept in engaging with a rising China to advance key infrastructural projects under the BRI to strengthen their legitimacy. Chapter 10 examines China’s formal and informal models for implementing BRI projects in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Chapter 11 examines how agencies in India and Pakistan influence the different engagement outcomes between the host country and China. Chapter 12 details how agencies in Iran have tapped on its historical and geographical features to revive China’s interests there. The book ends with a chapter on the implications of China’s Digital Silk Road in East Africa (chapter 13).
As the empirical analysis from the book shows, many aspects of BRI, like upgrading infrastructure, are filling an important void and gap in national and regional growth, and development. A key aspect facilitating this growth and development lies in the multi-layered interactions between agencies in both China and the host country. This important role of agencies uncovers the significance of their presence in state-state cooperation. Specifically, it shows that the historical and geographical interconnections between the various stakeholders—elites, institutions, firms, think tankers, and local communities—can help to influence the outcome of China’s economic statecraft.
With rich empirical observations, the book finds that multidimensional interactions between agencies in both China and the host country can yield mixed results across the world. In some cases, local agencies such as those in Laos (chapter 9) have adapted to, benefited from, and even helped to shape the narrative of China’s economic influence, increasing levels of engagement with China that eventually benefit the local elites who prioritize trade, business, and economic ties.
Notwithstanding the core values of the book, there are a few key elements missing in the analyses. For one, it does not delve into a detailed assessment of how effective these agencies are in assisting or resisting China’s strategic goals for the BRI. Second, while the edited volume provides interesting analysis on peripheral countries such as Iran (which very few studies cover), the editors could have provided a better justification of how regions such as Asia, Latin America, and Africa can represent the global perspective. Obviously, analysis of China’s engagement with developed democracies in Western, Central and Eastern European, and even Oceanic countries such as Australia is missing. Cases in these countries could provide a nuanced analysis on the role of local agencies in the BRI, given project negotiation and implementation require higher standards in transparency and due diligence. Therefore, it may be more appropriate to claim Global South perspectives on China’s BRI instead of a global perspective.
Third, the book could further its argument, validity, and significance if it had a comparative assessment on the agencies’ engagement with other regional powers in development cooperation. It would be helpful to compare whether these agencies interact with other development cooperation providers in a similar fashion or not. For instance, it would be interesting to test how agencies perceive and adapt to Japan’s historic and still critical role in global development. Similarly, discussion on the role of the United States is also noticeably scant. While the scope of the book may be limited and confined to China and BRI-participating countries, it would have been helpful to identify what role (if any) the US and its allies such as Japan might play in economic activities.
Furthermore, there is no concluding chapter that serves as a bookend to provide a summary and observation of the book’s core argument as a whole. A concluding chapter would have been necessary to close the book and provide some discussions surrounding the response from the United States. With the growing tensions in US-China relations, Washington’s emphasis on building an Indo-Pacific standard of economic governance through mini-lateral (e.g., Trilateral Partnership for Infrastructure Investment in the Indo-Pacific and Blue Dot Network) and multilateral (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework) platforms could have significant socioeconomic and political implications for the BRI implementations. How the agencies perceive these emerging and new initiatives and what are the impacts on the BRI deserves some discussion in the book.
Nonetheless, with its rich empirical data, interdisciplinary approach, and innovative argument, Schneider’s book makes important contributions to anyone interested in studying the economic influence of a rising power.
Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore