Unpacking Economic Motivations and Non-economic Consequences of Connectivity Infrastructure Under OBOR

Abstract

With the introduction of the One Belt One Road Initiative (OBOR), Chinese President Xi Jinping heralded a new era of Chinese integration into the global economy. Ritika Passi deconstructs the economic underpinnings of OBOR, and explores how the economics result in non-economic consequences. The chapter shows how OBOR’s foundational and most visible element, infrastructure connectivity, itself a response to China’s domestic economic needs, is resulting in a number of non-economic consequences. The result underscores that political intent and desires notwithstanding, the political and strategic consequences are functionally pegged onto the economics of the initiative.