China's Belt And Road Initiative:Estrangement Or Engagement With The United States

Since its “Going Out” policy in 1999,China's rapid growth and development have launched it into the international spotlight as a world superpower and a contender to the Western led world order.The United States is not letting China's rise go unnoticed and has sought greater influence in China's neighboring regions through a host of efforts,such as former United States President Barack Obama's “pivot to Asia,” the proposed TransPacific Partnership,and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's “New Silk Road Initiative.” Seen by China as encirclement,the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI)is partly a geopolitical response to America's spreading influence in China's backyard.This paper evaluates the current progress of the BRI by analyzing to what extent it the BRI's drivers and goals compete with the United States' primacy in regional affairs in the Eastern hemisphere.Two avenues are examined: the potential for the BRI to break from United States' hegemony by forming a Sino-centric order and the ability of shifting geopolitical factors to create opportunities for greater engagement between the two powers.In addressing these two points,both countries' stratagems,the pivot to Asia and the Belt and Road Initiative,will be compared.The paper finds that the BRI is indeed a response to political,economic,and military pressures put forth by Barack Obama's pivot to Asia,but is not designed to supplant the United States' leadership on a global stage.Rather,the BRI provides attractive and needed alternatives to Western preeminence in Asia,Africa,and Oceana by addressing the shortcomings of Western engagement and furthering win-win outcomes for participatory nations.