Roads to Power? The political effects of infrastructure projects in Asia

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is said to be aimed at generating both economic gains, but also political ones – tying recipients of Chinese investments closer to Beijing. But does investing in infrastructure projects generate increased political influence? 

ROADS seeks to answer this question by combining systematic analyses of China's investments in infrastructure projects in different regions with in-depth analyses of the political dynamics of infrastructure investments in specific countries. 

We assess the political effects of infrastructure investments (roads, trains, digital) by analysing the pre-existing relationship between China and the countries where they invest, as well as attributes of the infrastructure investments themselves. 

Ongoing research considers China's role in infrastructure development in Southeast Asia (i.e. Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia) and other regions (i.e. MENA region, Europe), as well as responses and parallel initiatives of other major powers (i.e. US, Japan, G7, EU) to the BRI. 

The ambition is to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of the BRI and China's efforts to wield power globally, and to identify the factors that strengthen or undermine BRI and China.