Are we REALLY in a New Cold War? The Belt-Road, US-China Relations, and Perceptions of a New Cold War

Speaker: Prof. Ivan Willis Rasmussen, Undergraduate Coordinator, Social Sciences and Associate Professor of Practice in Political Science, NYU Shanghai

Chair: Prof. Pallavi Raghavan, Head of the Department, Assistant Professor of International Relations, Ashoka University

The People’s Republic of China’s (China) now 10 year Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) rhetorically centres around development projects in Asia. While much attention is focused on the Chinese strategy behind the BRI, less analysis has looked at member state motivations for participation. The talk will use qualitative, statistical analysis to look at why specific states should join the BRI. Participation in the BRI can be linked to a variety of factors including GDP per capita, regime type, whether the country is an ally of the United States, and proximity to China. Looking at the regional relevance of BRI, the speaker offers correlations between these factors and whether a country is either an initial member of the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB) or has signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding BRI. The talk offers a novel approach to understanding the state motivations for joining the BRI and regional implications of the Initiative asking whether we have entered a New Cold War
 
(Collaboration: Centre for Chinese Studies, Ashoka University; and NYU Shanghai)