The Greening of the Belt and Road Initiative and China’s New International Order

This book uses an International Relations Constructivist approach to analyze the greening of the Belt and Road Initiative in the wider context of Beijing’s counterhegemonic efforts.

This book uses an International Relations Constructivist approach to analyze the greening of the Belt and Road Initiative in the wider context of Beijing’s counterhegemonic efforts. The book’s first part shows that, since 2013, China has been constructing a new international order. The numerous large prestige infrastructure projects of the BRI have served as material incentives allowing for the Chinese socialization of Global South political elites. In recent years, however, the Western infrastructure counteroffensive and severe financial difficulties have seriously hampered this process. In response, President Xi decided to make the BRI smaller, “cleaner,” and greener. Given the first two changes’ lack of results, greening remains the only way to restore the Initiative’s effectiveness. This book’s second part shows that despite a “mountain” of pro-environment policy documents, the BRI greening is, in large measure, little more than greenwashing. However, it has been successful in achieving its real objective. The Green BRI helps create long-lasting center-periphery relationships of dependence and, more importantly, tries to take control of the global environmental governance system or, if this fails, to create a new one. This governance system becomes a component of the Chinese-led international order, thus strengthening and bringing it closer to maturity.