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Rivers of Iron

Railroads and Chinese Power in Southeast Asia

David M Lampton author Selina Ho author Cheng-Chwee Kuik author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:University of California Press

Published:18th Aug '20

Should be back in stock very soon

Rivers of Iron cover

What China’s infamous railway initiative can teach us about global dominance.

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled what would come to be known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)—a global development strategy involving infrastructure projects and associated financing throughout the world, including Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. While the Chinese government has framed the plan as one promoting transnational connectivity, critics and security experts see it as part of a larger strategy to achieve global dominance. Rivers of Iron examines one aspect of President Xi Jinping’s “New Era”: China’s effort to create an intercountry railway system connecting China and its seven Southeast Asian neighbors (Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam). This book illuminates the political strengths and weaknesses of the plan, as well as the capacity of the impacted countries to resist, shape, and even take advantage of China’s wide-reaching actions. Using frameworks from the fields of international relations and comparative politics, the authors of Rivers of Iron seek to explain how domestic politics in these eight Asian nations shaped their varying external responses and behaviors. How does China wield power using infrastructure? Do smaller states have agency? How should we understand the role of infrastructure in broader development? Does industrial policy work? And crucially, how should competing global powers respond?
 

"Rivers of Iron tactfully deals with China’s power from the perspectives of China and seven Southeast Asian countries. . . . The book’s on-the-ground illuminations of the three major misconceptions about China’s overseas rail projects are highly valuable. They clear the smokescreen for both academic researchers and policy makers in understanding China’s power and the neighboring countries’ capacities to react." * The China Journal *
"Rivers of Iron shines a lot of new light on today’s China, and it should be required reading for all China-watchers and scholars." * Australian Outlook *
"Insightful and readable." * Perspectives on Politics *

Rivers of Iron makes an important contribution to the study of China’s exercise of its power and interaction with its southern neighbours. . . . An important book for academics and policymakers interested in Chinese power and its implications.”

* China Quarterly *
"The book provides a useful overview and discussion of the complexity of China’s expansion in infrastructure abroad and could appeal to a wide readership interested in current development in Southeast Asia." * Connections *
"A vivid account and a comprehensive comparative analysis of the rail projects development between China and Southeast Asia, with rich empirical details and analytical insights." * Pacific Affairs *

ISBN: 9780520372993

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 30mm

Weight: 635g

336 pages