The external and internal factors of China's polar silk road initiative

Abstract

Deemed as an economic powerhouse, China has now become the second-largest economy and one of the most powerful countries in the world today. This was belie����ed ����o be made po��������ible b���� China�������� con����in����o�������� increa����e in po����er and infl����ence throughout the globe, especially through its Belt and Road initiative. Along with the two main elements of the Belt and the Road, China added yet another element to the BRI framework back in 2018 through its Arctic Policy, which is now popularly known as the Polar Silk Road in the Arctic region. This decision then comes as a surprise to several parties, which then raises the question of factors influencing China in initiating the PSR - which becomes the main focus of this thesis. In answering the question, it is believed that this decision was fueled by the increasing geographic accessibility of the region due to global warming and climate change. For this thesis, the aforementioned argument is further elaborated and segmented into the internal and external factors and identifies that there are several factors contributing to influencing the making of this specific foreign policy from China. These factors include the strategic importance of the Arctic region as the eminent external factor and three internal factors which are: (1) the Xi Jinping factor, (2) search of a new geoeconomic zone, as well as (3) regional and economic development.