The Belt and Road Initiative

This book studies the geopolitical and geoeconomic aspects of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It argues that the BRI has the potential to redesign the spatial and territorial dimensions of governance and effectively counterbalance the hitherto predominant hegemonies of the Anglo-American sea power.

The volume:

• Highlights the main geopolitical patterns, including geographical, economic, financial, technological, and strategic factors guiding the BRI on a global scale
• Presents a historical account of the development of the Silk Road and underlines its contemporary relevance
• Traces China’s growing inf luence from Eurasia to America
• Discusses how the Initiative is likely to transform international relations by the middle of the 21st century.

A comprehensive guide to China’s rise as the new centre of gravity in global geopolitics, the book will be indispensable for students of political studies, geopolitics, international relations, and foreign policy. It will also be useful for policymakers, strategic investors, think tanks, and government officials.

Faisal Ahmed is a Professor in the International Business Area teaching trade and geopolitics at FORE School of Management, New Delhi, India. In addition to a PhD and master’s from India, he holds an Executive Certification in geopolitical analysis from Geneva. His research and consulting interests include Indo-Pacific region, China’s trade and geopolitics, ocean diplomacy, trade agreements, and sustainable development goals. He had been consultant to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia and other organisations. He has also worked on projects supported by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. He has published papers in refereed journals, and also frequently publishes in popular media. He is the author of the textbook Business Environment: Indian and Global Perspective (2014). He has also published two edited books on India-ASEAN Engagements, and India’s Foreign Policy in WANA region. Also, he has published three monographs on grassroots reach of India’s foreign trade policy, India’s experiences in PTAs, and EEZ and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. His articles have appeared in The Hindu Business Line, South China Morning Post, The Economic Times, Business Standard, The Financial Express, China Radio International, The Korea Times, and The Straits Times, among others. He is frequently interviewed as an expert by national and international media.

Alexandre Lambert is Academic Director of the Geneva Institute of Geopolitical Studies (GIGS), Switzerland. He is also Director of a SIT Study Abroad University Program on Global Health and Development Policy in Switzerland and teaches international relations, with focus on international security at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations (GSD) and Webster University, Geneva. Formerly, he was a civil servant at the Swiss Federal Department of Defence within its security policy division and became a founding fellow of the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF). He holds a PhD from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, where he was also lead researcher on the OSCE, to which he has been providing independent policy advise for almost two decades and with special emphasis on the Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security. He has mainly published in the fields of international security, civil-military relations, and geopolitics.