The monopoly of the United States of America (US) in the world geopolitical system seems already to be in retreat during the last two decades with the simultaneous emergence of new regional powers, some of which are a new benchmark in power concentration and which seek to become the main rival of the US in international markets to serve their own vital interests. A case in point is that of China, whose Belt and Road (BRI) initiative has been seen as an important policy tool in China’s geo-economic strategy with billions of dollars invested in infrastructure and industrial sectors across Eurasia and in the Indo-Pacific region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The initiative emerged in 2013 as a practical expression of China’s leader Xi Jinxing’s determination against former leader Deng Xiaoping’s exhortations to hide the country’s potential and to be patient with remaining rival powers. This initiative aims to make China-dominated Eurasia an economic and trade region to compete with the US-dominated transatlantic one. The infrastructure investment aims to create new markets for Chinese companies to export some of the country’s vast excess capacity in cement, steel and other metals. Investments in volatile Central Asian countries aim to create a more stable neighborhood for China’s western regions, Xinjiang and Tibet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As one might expect, such a large amount of investment would have significant geostrategic implications in these regions, and in reaction to the BRI, the US and other powers have come up with a “free and open Indo-Pacific” strategy. The BRI appears to be able to significantly transform China’s international security policy while expanding China’s security influence may further intensify the security competition between it and other major powers in the Indo-Pacific region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speculation about China’s hegemony in the wider Eurasian region has grown into assertions with its military and technological rise at home and rising economic profile in global affairs. Boosting the country’s global profile is a result of Xi’s lofty ambitions. The combination of material capacity and strong will seems to make China a formidable opponent for the new hegemonic order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, a new rising great power in the world system is India. The size of the country and the dynamics it has demonstrated in the last decade rank it as a capable competitor to China among the emerging great powers. This is supported by its population superiority as the most populous country in the world with 1.4 billion inhabitants in the year 2021, its abilities to access and dispose of resources as well as its military power occupying the 4th place among 145 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to recent data from the World Bank, India is among the fastest growing economies in the world and with ambitions to rise to the category of upper middle income countries by 2047, the year that also marks 100 years since its independence from the then British empire. The country declares its intention to continue its development path with the development of the last two decades having led it to remarkable progress in reducing extreme poverty. During 2010-20 the country appears to have halved the share of the population living in extreme poverty \u2013 below $2.15 per person per day (2017 PPP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the G20 summit in New Delhi in September 2023, the leaders of participating countries announced a plan for an India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). Saudi Arabia, the European Union (EU), India, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), France, Germany, Italy and the US signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), pledging to cooperate on the promoting the project. The ultimate goal of the project is to create a transit network with sea and rail connections that will complement the existing sea and road transport routes. The project’s physical infrastructure will include rail lines connecting the UAE to Israel via Saudi Arabia and Jordan, as well as electrical cables to improve digital connectivity and pipelines to export clean hydrogen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This particular project is supported by the US considering it serves its interests at the regional level and is expected to act as a counterweight to the new Silk Road starting from China to Europe. At the same time, the realization of such an effort leads to a geopolitical wall that will become an obstacle to unfriendly states to the West that the US considers as threats including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Syria.[9 ] However, China already has significant influence along IMEC’s proposed route as a major connection point in IMEC is the port of Piraeus in which Chinese shipping company Cosco already holds a majority stake when the Greek government sold two-thirds of shares of the company in the year 2016 and therefore the ability to manage and control its operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US effort to restore its former hegemonic presence in geopolitical regions, including the Eastern Mediterranean, is not expected to be an easy task. Developments in the wider region are affected by the strong Chinese influence in the Middle East and also Russia’s effort to strengthen its influence in the region. At the same time, India seems to be seen as the most important of the world’s emerging powers while its ties with the US are stronger than ever and it is itself increasingly aligned with the US with regard to China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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