China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the Triangle Great Game of Contemporary International Politics

Preface
Contents
1 The Belt and Road Initiative and U.S.–China–EU Relations: A Historical Review
	1.1 The Emergence and Development of the BRI
	1.2 U.S.–China–EU Relations: The Background
	1.3 The Dynamics of the BRI: When the World Is Caught in the COVID-19 Pandemic
		1.3.1 Economic Sustainability of the BRI
		1.3.2 Reinvigorating the BRI: GSR, HSR, and DSR
	References
2 U.S.–China Relations in Donald Trump’s Administration: The Belt and Road Initiative and the Thucydides Trap
	2.1 Trump’s Initiatives to Rival China’s BRI Ambition: Are China and America Walking into the Thucydides Trap?
		2.1.1 U.S.–China Relations in the Shadow of the Thucydides Trap
		2.1.2 Dilemmas of the U.S. in Managing Its China Policy
	2.2 The “New Normal” in U.S. China Relations: How Is the EU Involved?
		2.2.1 European Versus American Perspectives on the BRI
		2.2.2 Friends or Foes: China Between the EU and the U.S
	References
3 The Belt and Road Initiative in EU–China Relations: Risk or Opportunity?
	3.1 The Development of the BRI in Europe: The CESEE and 16+1 Cooperation
		3.1.1 Looking at the BRI from the European Perspective
		3.1.2 Opportunities and Risks in the “16+1” Mechanism
	3.2 EU Countries’ Perceptions of the BRI: More Risks than Opportunities?
		3.2.1 The Rise of China: Challenges and Opportunities for the EU
		3.2.2 The BRI Factor in the China–EU Relationship
	References
4 The Reconstruction of the U.S.–EU Alliance in Joe Biden’s Administration: The G7 and NATO as Instruments to Contain China and Russia
	4.1 Analysis of Biden’s Foreign Policy on China, the EU and Russia
		4.1.1 Reshaping the Structure of International Relations in Biden’s World
		4.1.2 Triangular Dynamics Among the U.S., the EU, and Russia After the Russia–Ukraine War
	4.2 Rebuilding Alliances: The G7 and NATO
		4.2.1 The G7 and NATO Cooperation: Toward a Collective Action
		4.2.2 Building the New Transatlantic Alliance
	4.3 NATO in Strategic Transition: Responding to the Bear and the Dragon
		4.3.1 Parallel Tracks: An Expanded NATO and an Emerging Bear–Dragon Alliance
		4.3.2 Europe’s Concerns About the BRI
		4.3.3 NATO’s New Strategic Concept
	References
5 Competition Between International Public Goods: Alternatives to the BRI?
	5.1 The B3W as an Alternative to the Global South?
		5.1.1 Engaging the Global South: From the BRI to the B3W
		5.1.2 Challenging the BRI: The Western Alternatives
	5.2 South–South vs. North–South: New Bottle with Old Wine?
		5.2.1 Understanding the Strategic Opposition Between the B3W and the BRI
		5.2.2 The Uncertain Prospect of the B3W: Financial and Political Factors
	5.3 Comparison of the BRI with the B3W: Inevitable Rivals or Potential Complements?
		5.3.1 Understanding the Strategic Opposition Between the BRI and the B3W
		5.3.2 The BRI and B3W: Who Will Win the Strategic Long Game?
	References
6 Looking Ahead in the Mist of Chaos: Prospects of the BRI in a Stormy World
	6.1 World in the Whirlpool: Beijing Winter Olympics, Russia–Ukraine Conflict, Taiwan Strait Crisis, and Derived Episodes
		6.1.1 Beijing Winter Olympics: The Art of Shaping the National Image
		6.1.2 The Russia–Ukraine Conflict: The Trauma of the Changing World Order
		6.1.3 Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan Visit: The Tenuous State of Sino–US Relations
		6.1.4 Arctic Region: The Next Great Game in Geopolitics
	6.2 The Reshaping of the International Order and the Prospects of the BRI
		6.2.1 The Shadow of the BRI: Strategic Risks and Implications
		6.2.2 The Arctic: A New Issue on the BRI Agenda
	References
Conclusion
Index