The domestic politics of the belt and road initiative and its implications

Within the Belt and Road Initiative literature, as well as in the media more broadly, geopolitical and geostrategic analyses have largely undervalued a role for domestic politics analyses. This article seeks to redress this deficiency, and supplements geopolitical analyses with a domestic politics perspective. It brings back the centrality of domestic politics. The domestic politics approach pays attention to the influence of personal leadership on the BRI and focuses on the political mobilisation and control mechanisms of the BRI, their impact and the various entanglements of international relations and domestic politics.