The world's superpowers' show of force against China's Silk Road Initiative (US confrontation)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69760/portuni.0105004Abstract
From 2013 to 2023, the United States has followed a specific path in its response to China’s Silk Road Initiative, gradually moving from a position of silence and indirect measures to aggressive and confrontational behavior towards China’s infrastructure initiative. The purpose of this article is to explain the process of the gradual confrontation of the United States’ position towards China’s Silk Road Initiative.
In this regard, the main question based on the descriptive-explanatory method of the article is why, in the ten years since the announcement of the Silk Road Initiative (2013-2023), the position of the United States has gradually become more confrontational towards it? The hypothetical answer to this question is that the US’s increasingly confrontational stance towards China’s Silk Road Initiative is a result of the changing nature of the relationship between the two countries from cooperation to competition, and this has led to a shift from the Obama administration’s relatively cooperative approach to the initiative to a more competitive approach under the Trump administration and an intensification of competition under the Biden administration.
The article finds that, given the evolving U.S. approach to the Belt and Road Initiative, there is also the potential for further intensification of competition with China in the area of international infrastructure development.
References
Dehshiyar, Hossein and Mehdi Pour-Baqer (2023) “The Strategic Competition of the United States and China in the Infrastructure Plan for Building a Better World and the Belt and Road,” Journal of International Relations Studies, Volume 13, Issue 1, Serial Number 48, Spring. pp. 50-7
Doshi, Rush (2023) The Long Game: China's Grand Strategy to Replace the American System, translated by Mehdi Ansari, Tehran: Abrar Cultural Institute for Contemporary International Studies and Research, Tehran.
Ashbee, E. (2023). Countering China, US Responses to the Belt and Road Initiative , Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Ashford, E. (2021). “rr eat eeee r cppp eiiiinn ss a eecppe rrr eeeeeeee, Foreign Policy , April 1. https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/01/china-usa-great-power-competition-recipe- for-disaster.
Bartlett, D. (2021). “What eee G - 7 Smmmtt nnCwwwawll ee ass oor aaaa.” The Diplomat , June 15.
Bermingham, F., & Delaney, R. (2021). “77 Leaders Turn Attention to China with ccccccc ctttt tt aaaaa a ee nnnnnnn B’’’’’ ’ uuulld Back Bette’’ P””””, South China Morning Post , June 12.
Blumenthal, D. (2018). “ee iii yyyy yyrrr e SS Seaaee FoeennnResssssss Cmmmtteee, eeagggg
on the China challenge, par t I: eciiiii i ceeccnnn as eeeeeratt”, yyyy yyy https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/ media/doc/072418_Blumenthal_Testimony.pdf.
Blanchard, J-M. (2021). “hh e dddddd Seeees — Caaaa Rrrrrr r add eee BRI”,
Vestnik RUDN. International Relations,21 (2), 288 — 303. DOI: 10.22363/2313-0660- 2021-21-2-288-303.
Cardenal, J., et al. (2017). “Saappeeee :: ggggggutttttt t aaan eeeeeeeee”, aa iiaaa l wwwwwwww for Democracy, December 2017. https:// www. ned. org/ wp- content/ uploads/ 2017/
/ Sharp- Power-Rising-AuthoritarianInfuence-Full-Report.pdf.
Chaziza, M. (2021). whh e “Blll d Back Better Wo””””: nn rrrrr rr iiee ooC’’’’’ ’ BRI oor eee dddd EE Ea””””W Waggggggggg ggg Middle East Institute , July.
Council on Foreign Relations (2023). “Wlll eee .... . nnnooCrrrrrr Cii aass Bett add Raad Ittt eeeeeee ????”, Seeeerrrr . https://www.cfr.org/blog/will-us-plan-counter-chinas- belt-and-road-initiative-work
Gan, N., & Delaney, R. (2019). “dddddddeeees eeee r aaaa ddrr ppp Is Veegggggg ay fmmm C’’’’’ ’ ’ ett aRR Raa””, South China Morning Post , April 25.
Institute for China-America Studies (2016). “mmecccan Peeeeeciiees nn tee Bett add Raad Initiative Sources of Concern and Possibilities for Ceeee aaii””” , eeee rrrr , Washington, DC 20036. https:// chinaus-icas. Org/wp -content/ uploads/ 2017/ 02/ American- Perspectives- on-the-Belt-and-Road-Initiative.pdf
Committee on Foreign Affairs (2023). ”eeee iii gg SS ff rrr ssooCrrrrrr C’’’’’ ’ Bett add Raad mmmmmcm””S Seaaa1 111 111– 33. http:// www. foreignaffairs. House. Gov
Daniel, R. (2018). ” Wowwwewee eeeeat attttttttt tt eee SS ttt ellcccccc commtttt ””, rr ddd Services Committee, United States Senate. March 6. https://www.armed services.senate.gov/imo/media/ doc/Coats_03-06-18.pdf.
Dollar, D. (2021). “What eee s B’’’’’ ’ first 000 aass llll ll atttt ttt aaaaaaah ooC?????? https://www. brookings.edu/blog/fxgov/2021/04/26/what-does-bidens-frst-100-days- tell-us-about-his-approach-tochina.
Fingar, T. (2019). “Fotty eeass ff ooaaa l -but not yet normal- eessssssss, China International Strategy Review 1 (1):11 – 20.
Karni, A. (2018). “rr upp aasss eedddd dddddd ddddd dddd d OO””, Politico , August 8.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/08/trump-executive-dinner-bedminster- china-766609.
Lew, J., et al. (2021). “C’’’’’ ’ Bett add Raad Ipp iicaiisss rrr eee dddddddeeee””, The Council on Foreign Relations , Independent Task Force Report No. 79.
Lynch II, T. (2020). Strategic Assessment 2020: Into a New Era of Great Power Competition , Washington DC: National Defense University.
Mazarr, M. J., et al. (2018). Understanding the Emerging Era of International Competition: Theoretical and Historical Perspectives , RR2726, Santa Monica, CA: RAND.
Nilsen, E., & Ward, A. (2021). “ Biden Is Using His Economic Plan to Challenge China ” Vox.com , April 26. https://www.vox.com/22350402/biden-infrastructure - plan-foreign- policy-china
OECD (2016). “OECD Economic Surveys: United States” Paris: OECD.
OECD (2021). OECD and Global Executives Engage with the Blue Dot Network to Develop Certification for Quality Infrastructure Investment , Paris: OECD, June 7.
Onea, T. (2021). The grand strategies of great powers , London: Routledge.
Parpiani, K. (2021). “Bnnnnnn ۱ooo - Pacccc:c Ciiii gggggggg“eee ccca Ftttt ” rrrr aach” ee w Delhi: Observer Research Foundation, January 29.
Patey, L. (2021). How China Loses: The Pushback Against Chinese Global Ambitions , Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pompeo, M. (2019). “Ceeee aaaiinn hhhhh hhhwwwyy at eee aa iiaaa l Reii ew Iiiii ttt ess 9999 aaaas mmmmtt”, aa cch 28. https://www.state.gov/conversation-with-rich-lowry-at-the national-review-insti tutes-2019-ideas-summit.
Sprague, Sh. (2017). “Bewwwrr e::: eee .... . cccccccttt y SwwwwwwwSeeee eee rr eat Receiii ””” , Beyond the Numbers , January 6, no. 2. Washington, DC: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Rolland, N. (2017). China’s Eurasian Century? Political and Strategic Implications of the Belt and Road Initiative , Seattle: National Bureau of Asian Research.
Wall Street Journal (2015). “... aa Pre.... . aee rrr aaaa rr ade ee a,, Wasss Fallrr e Wdddd d eeettt C”””””” Geaadd F. Se,,, http://wsj.com/articles/ obama-presses-case-for-asia-trade-deal-warns-failure-would-benefitchina-1430160415
Wuthnow, R. (2018). The Left Behind: Decline and Rage in Rural America , Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Zhao, M. (2021). “eee Bett add Road Initiative and China – US strategic cttttttt tttt t aaaa International Strategy Review , 3:248 – 260. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42533-021-00087-
White House (2017). “Naiiaaa l Secyyyyyyaaaffff ff eee dddddddeeees of Arrr aaa”, ee cerrrr 2017. https:// trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final- 12-18-2017-0905.pdf
White House (2018). “Rerrr ss yy aa iiaaa l Secuyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ssarrr nnnn n . Bttt nn on eee rr ppp iiiiii iiii iissss ss w Arraaa Saaaggg””” Wagggggggggggg Wttt e eeeee e https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks -national-security- advisor-ambassador-john-r-bolton-trump-administrations-new - africa-strategy /
Wright, T. (2020). “COVID - ssss mmaact nn geeat - eeee r cttttttt ttttt tt .. Baasss & F. ..
Gavin (Eds.), COVID-19 and world order: The future of conflict, competition, and cooperation, London: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Porta Universorum
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
License Terms
All articles published in Porta Universorum are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). This license permits:
-
Sharing (copying and redistributing the material in any medium or format),
-
Adapting (remixing, transforming, and building upon the material),
-
for non-commercial purposes only,
-
with proper attribution to the original author(s) and source.
Commercial use of the material is not permitted without prior written permission from the publisher.
