Rethinking Soft Power in Light of China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Abstract

This paper investigates how China appeals to other countries by utilizing soft power in ensuring their participation in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which seeks to revive ancient Silk Road through infrastructure, trade, finance and other linkages. By employing a behavioral and contextualized explanation for soft power, this investigation reveals that Chinese state actively pursues a soft power-oriented economic diplomacy for BRI and relies on hard power resources for its effectiveness. Furthermore, China takes advantage of the power vacuum in the global economy and embraces a liberal economic vision for the international system in its diplomatic activities emphasizing the importance of globalization, free trade, infrastructure investment, and win-win cooperation in achieving high levels of economic development. While China frames BRI mainly in terms of economic development purposes, China’s soft power appeal to other countries is likely to have important political and security implications for the international system.

Keywords

China, Belt and Road Initiative, Soft Power, Economic Diplomacy

Citation

Yağcı, Mustafa, “Rethinking Soft Power in Light of China’s Belt and Road Initiative”, Uluslararasi İliskiler, Vol. 15, No. 57, 2018, pp. 67-78, DOI: 10.33458/uidergisi.518043

Affiliations

• Mustafa YaĞCi, Assist. Prof. Dr., Department of International Relations, İstinye University