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2021 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Implications for Central Asia

Author: Alejandra Peña

Published in: Political Regimes and Neopatrimonialism in Central Asia

Publisher: Springer Singapore

Abstract

Launched in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) constitutes so far, the most complex, controversial, and far-reaching project put forth by a major power in the contemporary era. The BRI attempts to build an interconnected network of maritime and land-based economic routes, running from the Western Pacific to the Baltic Sea by putting forward “hard” and “soft” infrastructure projects. This chapter sheds light on the implications of the BRI in Central Asia by analyzing the economic, security, and political rationale driving the initiative in the region and exploring the linkages between the BRI and the agenda of Central Asian elites in terms of power consolidation and regime’s political stability.

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previous chapter Russia’s Role in the Consolidation of the Central Asian Elites

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Title: China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Implications for Central Asia
Author: Alejandra Peña
Publisher: Springer Singapore
Book: Political Regimes and Neopatrimonialism in Central Asia
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-9092-4

Electronic ISBN: 978-981-15-9093-1

Copyright Year: 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9093-1_3

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