China and the Islamic World

How the New Silk Road is Transforming Global Politics

Robert R. Bianchi

Argues that China's economic partnership with Islamic countries will have unforeseen social and political consequences for China
Synthesizes empirical data, current publications and statistics, and extensive fieldwork in China and the Muslim world
Draws on world history and complexity theory to understand the emergence of new megaregions across Eurasia and Africa

China and the Islamic World

How the New Silk Road is Transforming Global Politics

Robert R. Bianchi

Description

China is building a New Silk Road that runs through the heartland of the Muslim world, promising it will create integrated economies and stronger ties across Eurasia and Africa. Robert R. Bianchi argues that while China has the financial and technical resources to accomplish its infrastructure goals, it is woefully unprepared to deal with the social and political demands of its partner countries' citizens.
China and the Islamic World explores how China's leaders and citizens are learning-through their relationships with Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria and Egypt-that they have to respect and adjust to the aspirations of ordinary people throughout the Islamic world, not just cater to the narrow band of government and business elites. Bianchi demonstrates that turbulent countries along the New Silk Road are likely to transform Chinese society at least as much as China changes them. This realization will be deeply unsettling for China's authoritarian rulers, who desperately want to monopolize power domestically. The party and state bosses have responded to challenges with a contradictory blend of flexibility abroad and rigidity at home, compromising with popular demands in one country after another while refusing to negotiate many of the same issues with their own citizens. This book shows how China faces a growing struggle to maintain their double-sided statecraft as it becomes apparent that the New Silk Road is not a one way street.

China and the Islamic World

How the New Silk Road is Transforming Global Politics

Robert R. Bianchi

Preface
List of Tables
List of Figures
Introduction
Chapter 1: What Is New About the New Silk Road?
Chapter 2: Megaregions and Coevolution in World Politics
Chapter 3: Pakistan: Deep Democracy and Shallow Strategy
Chapter 4: Turkey: Competing Partner
Chapter 5: Indonesia: Inherent Weakness and Increasing Leverage
Chapter 6: Iran: The Great Divider
Chapter 7: Nigeria: A Shaky Bridge
Chapter 8: Egypt: Weighing the Tolls
Chapter 9: Islam and the Opening of the Chinese Mind
Chapter 10: Learning Abroad, Evading at Home
Chapter 11: The Bitter and the Sweet
Notes
Selected Bibliography

China and the Islamic World

How the New Silk Road is Transforming Global Politics

Robert R. Bianchi

Author Information

Robert R. Bianchi, Advisor and Visiting Professor, Middle East Studies Institute, Shanghai International Studies University

Robert R. Bianchi is a political scientist and international lawyer who has lived and worked in China and the Islamic world for nearly two decades. He earned his Ph.D. and law degree at the University of Chicago, where he also served on the faculty of the political science department and the law school. He is a former Peace Corps volunteer, a three time Fulbright-Hays grantee, and a recipient of the Albert Hourani Book Prize.

China and the Islamic World

How the New Silk Road is Transforming Global Politics

Robert R. Bianchi

Reviews and Awards

"The book is a welcome contribution to China's foreign diplomacy and international economic relations under Xi Jinping's leadership. More significantly, the book successfully presents both China's and the partnering countries' interests in the BRI and discloses the potential disagreements regarding their respective future ambitions...Bianchi's recommendations for preventing problems which may arise during the implementation of the BRI projects make the book a useful source for diplomats in China and BRI partnering counties. The book is also interesting to a wider audience who want to understand China's foreign diplomacy and international economic strategies." - Cuma Özkan, University of Iowa, TRT World research centre

"China and the Islamic World is an important contribution to an ongoing attempt to achieve a more nuanced understanding of China and its foreign relations." - Ray Takeyh, Survival

"this is a timely, up to date and empirically and analytically rich contribution to our understanding of China's increasingly significant engagement with the Muslim world in general and the nuances and complexities of the BRI in particular. The readers would find much food for thought in this highly recommended volume - a must-read for the students, scholars, and policy makers who want to know more about the multipronged and multifaceted nature of China's engagement with the Muslim world." - Manochehr Dorraj, Professor of International Affairs, Department of Political Science, Texas Christian University, Middle East Journal