Classical and Critical Geopolitics of China's Belt and Road Initiative: Examining US/Chinese Discourses on BRI

本研究通过考察美国和中国官方/非官方关于一带一路的话语，从地缘政治的角度思考围绕中国倡议的关键问题-它是否对美国的霸权构成挑战。它采用地缘政治的方法，试图克服传统国际关系中有限的空间观(Agnew，1994)，探索美国和中国行为者如何将一带一路的地缘政治格局视为大国竞争(Mearshemer，2001)或合作(Xi，2017)的地形。因此，本研究为“中国能和平崛起吗？”的争论提供了新的视角，同时通过将前者的现实主义焦点与后者的话语分析相结合，弥合了地缘政治学经典分支和批评分支之间的鸿沟。它还将“和平的地理”(麦康奈尔等人，2014年)框架与有关中国崛起的文献进行了对话，探索了不同地缘政治行为者对和平的不同概念。互文性话语分析(Hansen，2006)将对政府、学术和灰色文献进行。对关键行为者(政策制定者、学者和官员)的更多访谈将有助于对确定的话语及其相互作用进行三角划分。这将结合桌面研究和在美国和中国的实地工作，有可能在两个地点和更远的地方进行重大研究传播。这项研究既涉及理论，也涉及政策，将为中国和美国之间日益激烈的竞争做出独特的学术贡献，揭示双方围绕一带一路影响的担忧和目标。

This research considers the key question around China's Belt and Road Initiative from the perspective of geopolitics - whether it poses a challenge to US hegemony - by examining US and Chinese official/non-official discourses on BRI. It adopts a geopolitical approach, which attempts to overcome the limited view of spatiality in traditional IR (Agnew, 1994), to explore how US and Chinese actors view the geopolitical landscape of BRI as terrain for great power competition (Mearsheimer, 2001) or cooperation (Xi, 2017). Thus, this research offers new perspectives on the debate "Can China Rise Peacefully?", while bridging the gap between the classical and critical branches of geopolitics by combining the realist focus of the former with discourse analysis of the latter. It also brings the "geographies of peace" (McConnell et al, 2014) framework into conversation with the literature on China's rise, exploring different conceptions of peace by the various geopolitical actors. Intertextual discourse analysis (Hansen, 2006) will be undertaken on governmental, academic, and 'grey' literature. Additional interviews with key actors (policymakers, academics and officials) will help to triangulate the discourses identified, as well as their interactions with each other. This will combine both desk research and fieldwork in the USA and China, with the possibility for significant research dissemination across both locales and further afield. Engaging with both theory and policy, this research will make a distinctive contribution to the scholarship on the growing competition between China and America by shedding light on both side's fears and goals around the impact of BRI.