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

This book focuses on the triangular relations between China, the United States and the European Union from the perspective of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) via the methodology of international political economy. China, the US and the EU are the three most important players in international politics and the global economy, and their relations are accordingly among the most influential in the global arena. This book will argue that the interactions between China, the US and the EU are highly dynamic given their close connections in trade, finance and many other economic fields. In the context of US–China competition, the decisions of the EU, which has sought to remain independent in its foreign policy for decades, crucially shape the landscape of international politics, and lucidly articulates how international relations look from China to scholars of geopolitics. Professor Edmund Li Sheng received his M.A. and Ph.D. (political economy) from Universitaet Freiburg, Germany, after graduating with his BA from Peking University. His research has focused mainly on political economy and public policy. He is currently a distinguished professor of School of Political Science and Public Management and executive director of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Research Institute at Shandong University.