ABOUT THE BOOK

China’s Belt and Road Initiative has become the organizing foreign policy concept of the Xi Jinping era. The 21st-century version of the Silk Road will take shape around a vast network of transportation, energy, and telecommunication infrastructure linking Europe and Africa to Asia. China sees physical infrastructure as a first step toward Eurasian integration, thanks in part to the creation of economic corridors that will enable greater regional policy coordination.

Drawing from the work of Chinese official and analytic communities, China’s Eurasian Century? Political and Strategic Implications of the Belt and Road Initiative examines the concept’s origins, drivers, and various component parts, as well as China’s domestic and international objectives. Rolland shows how the Belt and Road Initiative reflects Beijing’s desire to shape Eurasia according to its own worldview and unique characteristics. More than a list of revamped infrastructure projects, the initiative is a grand strategy that serves China’s vision for itself as the preponderant power in Eurasia and a global power second to none.

ABOUT Author

Nadège Rolland is Senior Fellow for Political and Security Affairs at the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR). Prior to joining NBR, she served as Senior Adviser to the French Ministry of Defense and was responsible for analyzing diplomatic, military, and domestic political developments across East Asia and for making policy recommendations to the minister and his cabinet office. From 2008 to 2014, Ms. Rolland served as Desk Officer for China and Adviser on Northeast Asia in the Ministry of Defense’s Directorate for Strategic Affairs. From 2003 to 2005, she was a senior analyst of Asia-Pacific affairs at the French Defense Ministry`s Directorate for Strategy, and between 1994 and 1998 she worked in the ministry as a China analyst. In these positions, she wrote reports for the defense minister and other senior government officials, coordinated interagency policy reviews, and directed an external research program on a wide range of topics, including China’s military modernization, diplomatic strategy, leadership dynamics, and treatment of ethnic minorities. Ms. Rolland received a master of science in strategic studies from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. She also holds a BA on contemporary Asia and a master of science in Chinese language with distinction from the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations in Paris.