The Belt and Road and the Path to Chinese Greatness

This chapter looks at the Belt and Road Initiative as a case study of China’s claim to exceptionalism in global affairs. I argue that, as a form of economic statecraft, the BRI is conceived with the primary goal of generating Chinese political influence abroad. Through a study of the existing scholarship, I argue that three key themes frame Chinese IR scholars’ discussion of the BRI: (I) the rules of the international system; (II) the competition for regional influence; and (III) China’s own domestic affairs and responsibility to its own people. Taken together, these themes provide important clues about how the BRI is conceptualized to promote a sense of Chinese exceptionalism.