China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a highly ambitious infrastructure and connectivity project that aims to link China to Europe through Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Launched in 2013, the BRI involves the extensive construction of roads, railway lines, port facilities, and telecommunications infrastructure, among other major development projects. Impressive goals notwithstanding, the BRI faces significant criticism. Some pertain to charges of “debt-trap diplomacy,” others relate to claims of serious environmental damage and social upheaval in local communities. The scope, scale, and debates surrounding the BRI invites attempts to conceptualise and understand its consequences. We examine the BRI in the context of other colossal, high-modern development projects to advance scholarship while speaking to policy and business concerns.

The BRI Cluster also has links with the Max Weber Foundation Research Group on Borders, Mobility and New Infrastructures, which was established in FASS in June 2017.