Review article
Chinese presence in the Western Balkans in the context of a conflicted multipolar world
Borko Ivanković
; Fakultet političkih znanosti Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Republika Hrvatska
Abstract
China is the fastest growing economic, technological and military power in the twenty-first century. Its activities are strategic and planned, and so is its approach to the Western Balkans. China’s growing power has brought it into conflict with the US. The reason for this conflict partly lies in Thucydides trap and partly in the offensive realism, as this paper shows. This conflict is still in latent stage, with sporadic open confrontations (such as economic war from 2018). Both countries act asymmetrically towards each other. China’s global strategic project Belt and Road Initiative is part of its positioning toward the US, as well as the basis of its future economic growth. The Western Balkans is an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative because of its geostrategic position, as it represents the gateway to Europe. Chinese projects as part of Belt and Road Initiative in the Western Balkans demonstrate China’s strategic approach to this region. The lack of a European perspective of the countries of the Western Balkans and their inherent in stability enables the expansion of China’s soft power in this area.
Keywords
China; Belt and Road; Western Balkans; soft power; geostrategic
Hrčak ID:
303587
URI
Publication date:
7.6.2023.
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