Since its independence almost three decades ago, the nation-state of Kazakhstan has been nestled in a search for identity and unity. Located in a geographically strategic location between two of the world's most significant actors, and with a colonial history to one of them —the Soviet Union— the country's strive for identity in a self-determined world continues. Surrounding the influx of Chinese investments coming with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, the country now sees the national political space drifting in a different direction. By looking at identity building and researching contemporary scholarly articles, and with aid from the methodology of a case study. This thesis aims to utilise postcolonial theory to analyse how and if Chinese investments through the BRI are the beginning of a new neocolonial in post-independent Kazakhstan and if the previously colonised country's identity, or lack thereof, is a leading factor in being more susceptible to Chinese influence in the twenty-first century. To conclude, this work presents new research on how the Kazakh nation responds to Chinese BRI and determines that a lack of national identity due to previous colonisation can increase susceptibility to new actors' influence later down the road.

By looking at the reactions of Russian actors regarding the development of the Belt and Road Initiative of the People’s Republic of China in Central and Eastern Europe, this dissertation presents new theoretical and empirical findings that can be used extensively in the fields of Area and Global Studies, as well as practical policymaking. In this context, the Russian Federation’s foreign policy in the region is understood as cumulative activity and strategy developed by the government of Russia regarding the relationship with other countries that are being impacted by multiple internal and external factors. In order to understand a complex relationship between Russian, Chinese, and Central-Eastern European actors, this study employs uniquely created methods focusing on analyzing the reactions of the relevant Russian policymakers, as well as literature, documents, and statistical data. The reactions are also collected via extensive reflection of interviews and primary source material. In this framework, the areas of Russian interests directly related to and operationalized in Central-Eastern Europe are identified, and those affected by the Belt and Road Initiative the most are researched. The study’s results highlight the many discourses and contradictions when contrasting portrayal and perceptions against statistical data. Since none of these areas were analyzed under these circumstances before, many characterizations about the nature of the Initiative, perception of the actors’ behavior, understanding of the positioning of Russia within contemporary geopolitical realities, and many other aspects have been broadened. That leads to a better comprehension of the mechanisms and networks between the companies and political actors based in the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, and Central-Eastern Europe, the effects of their interdependencies and relationship, and general international relations. This research demonstrated a tension of interests within the Russian expert community when assigning securitization to the Belt and Road Initiative sections that affect Russia and East-Central Europe. They are recognized as intertwined with internal politics, economics, geopolitical competitiveness, and international strategy and are thus appropriately employed when reacting to and debating them.

This thesis contributes to the literature on strategic narratives by investigating how China navigates tensions between its projected identities in Belt and Road Initiative narratives relatingto Italy, the United Kingdom, and India aimed at domestic and international audiences. Usinga modified version of Colley’s (2019) method of narrative analysis, the thesis traces how Chinese state identity is emplotted in narratives aimed at domestic and international audiences, respectively. It proceeds to discuss how tension can arise from the distinct choices of inclusionand omission of events as a result of the differing aims and contexts of the two categories of narratives. Finally, it evaluates how the emplotment mechanisms of omission/silencing, linking, sharpening, clarifying, and flattening can be used to ease these tensions through selective deemphasising of narrative elements.

[pt] A China estabeleceu as bases para sua ascensão meteórica na década de 1970, porém foi durante os anos 1990 e particularmente 2000 que ela chamou a atenção do mundo. Atualmente, o país tem uma posição extremamente relevante nas relações internacionais, e o crescente interesse nele é inevitável, especialmente em seu desenvolvimento e em suas iniciativas de cooperação internacional. Esta dissertação objetiva verificar a ascensão recente da China à categoria de potência global e comparar a abordagem ocidental e tradicional de cooperação internacional e a política externa chinesa relacionada a essa agenda, de forma a discutir sobre a estratégia da China de Xi Jinping no campo da cooperação internacional e sobre como o país asiático poderá modificar sua operação. Nesse sentido, primeiramente, ela analisará brevemente as reformas econômicas da China e sua trajetória desenvolvimentista, bem como recentes transformações políticas, econômicas e diplomáticas. Posteriormente, examinará similaridades e diferenças entre a cooperação internacional ocidental e chinesa. Finalmente, inspecionará as mudanças de conjuntura da cooperação internacional para o desenvolvimento, baseando-se na retórica e na prática chinesas e na natureza experimental de suas iniciativas, como Um Cinturão, Uma Rota, que, se bem-sucedida, pode favorecer a China na arena global. / [en] China provided the bases for its meteoric rise in the 1970s, but it was during the 1990s and particularly the 2000s that it really called the world s attention. Now, the country holds an extremely relevant place in international relations, and the growing interest in it is inevitable, especially in its development and in its international cooperation initiatives. This dissertation aims to check China s recent rise as a global power and to compare Western traditional approach to international cooperation and Chinese foreign policy related to this agenda in order to discuss China s strategy during Xi Jinping s presidency in the field of development cooperation and how the Asian country may change its operation. In this regard, firstly, it will briefly analyse China s economic reforms and developmental trajectory, as well as more recent political, economic and diplomatic transformations. Afterwards, it will examine Western and Chinese similarities and differences regarding international cooperation. Finally, it will inspect the changing landscape of international development cooperation, based on China s rhetoric and practice and on the experimental nature of its initiatives, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, which, if successful, might favour China in the global stage.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is undoubtedly the most high-profile global initiative launched by China today, aiming to promote connectivity and strengthen partnerships and mutually beneficial cooperation among countries along the routes. With the increasing international attention to environmental issues, China is also willing to take more responsibility within its capacity and has consciously promoted the BRI concept of green development in recent years. The debut of BRI was originated from a public speech by President Xi Jinping in Kazakhstan in 2013, as the initiator of the Belt and Road Initiative, and his speech also played an important role in guiding the advancement of the BRI. This paper aims to explore and analyze the connotations, discourse changes, focus and potential interaction with the international agenda such as SDGs regarding BRI green development, through content analysis by using President Xi's public speeches during 2013 -2021 as corpus. This paper finds that the concept of green development gradually occupies a more important weight in President Xi's speeches regarding the BRI. At the same time, the conceptual construction of green development has shifted from a more scattered and specific description to a position of deeper roots as one of the foundational guidance for the BRI as a whole. In his presentation, the topic of climate, industry and energy and infrastructure aspects have received higher attention while talking about BRI green development. In terms of regions, Central and West Asia, Central Europe, and Southeast Asia received relative more attention, showing a trend of from near to far and focusing on developing countries. Lastly, there is potential for synergy between BRI's green development and global agenda such as SDGs, however, social aspects are less prominent than economic or environmental aspects.

以絲綢之路作為文明接觸的和平場域為概念，探討中國正在推動「一帶一路」─以連結中歐為終極目標的道路、基礎設施、投資、政策互聯及人民交流網路─的全新重大外交體系。針對當前國際地緣政治的環境，中歐領導人近期確實強調了布魯塞爾與北京關係的重要性。儘管如此，很多中歐關係的專家也指出這種夥伴關係，還沒有達到雙方所預期的那樣快速及深刻。 本文的第一個研究問題「進一步發展中歐關係的障礙是什麼，以及如何克服這些障礙？」，便是基於對此國際情勢的考量。透過建構主義理論，本文對深化中歐關係的真正障礙進行討論，認為這些障礙來自於中歐人民身份、價值觀與文化的差異，並提出促進中歐人民之間的文化交流來加強中歐關係的可行方案。因此，本文提出第二個研究問題，「一帶一路在中歐文化關係中扮演什麼角色？」，對前項結論接續探討，發現由於一帶一路為中歐雙方提供了文化專案及人際交流合作的動機和框架，因此這一政策對中歐關係具有正面影響的潛質。 本文的最後兩個研究問題「一帶一路將帶給歐洲怎樣的風險與利益？」與「歐盟應如何應對一帶一路？」是相互關聯的。通過對一帶一路將帶來的風險與利益的分析，筆者對中歐雙方如何更有效地推進一帶一路提出了一些政策建議，其中重點分析了歐盟領導人如何與中方開展合作，並認為歐盟必須回應中國的倡議，與之合作，確保中歐雙方實現共贏、對國際規範的遵守、以及幫助中國保持一帶一路所經之地的穩定。 / By recalling the idea of the Silk Road as a place of peaceful encounter of civilizations, China is promoting its new, major diplomatic outreach system called the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a network of roads, infrastructures, investments, policy connections and people to people exchanges with the final objective of connecting the PRC to Europe. Indeed, in view of the current international geopolitical circumstances, the Chinese and European leaders are recently emphasizing the importance of the Brussels-Beijing relationships. Nonetheless, many experts complain that this partnership has not yet developed as fast and deeply as the two sides originally hoped. This leads to the first research question addressed in the thesis:"which are the obstacles to a deeper EU-China partnership and how to overcome them and improve the overall relations?". By borrowing the constructivist theories, this thesis argues that the real obstacle to deepening the China-EU partnership are the differences in identities, values and culture, and that the improvement of the people to people and cultural interactions will enhance the general bilateral relations. Consequently, the second research question is "which role does BRI play in the China-EU cultural relations?". BRI has the potential to have a positive impact on their relations by providing a new framework and incentives for the collaboration on cultural projects and people to people interactions. The last two research questions are related to each other: "what are the risks and benefits that BRI will bring to the EU?" and "how should the European Union respond to BRI?". By analyzing the risks and benefits that will derive from the implementation of BRI, the author provides some policy suggestions to both sides on how to efficiently implement BRI, and especially to EU leaders on how to cooperate with their Chinese counterparts: the EU should definitely cooperate in the Chinese initiative, to ensure a win-win outcome for all, to guarantee the respect of the international norms and to help the PRC maintain the stability in the areas crossed by the BRI network.

新疆塔吉克族的婚禮，目前已是聯合國非物質文化遺產之一。塔吉克族的婚禮方式傳統特殊，有其特定的結婚季節，是塔吉克人引以為傲的慶典。隨著中國大陸「一帶一路」的全球經濟發展策略，塔吉克族的故鄉塔什庫爾干，因為位於一帶一路通往中亞與南亞的重要樞紐上，成為了經濟特區，帶動經濟飛快地發展，卻也造成維護傳統文化上的巨大衝擊。許多塔吉克族的傳統房屋被迫拆除，新建地現代樓房因為室內空間改變，而影響了塔吉克族的婚禮儀式。此外，隨著現代化的影響，許多傳統的禮俗慢慢地流失，塔吉克族特有的樂器鷹笛和羊皮鼓，已漸漸地被電子琴所取代。而騎馬迎娶新娘的儀式，也大多被汽車所取代。因此，此創作計畫透過三個多月的紀錄，將塔吉克婚禮的過程紀實攝影，最終展覽以攝影敘事的方式，結合動態影像與塔吉克鷹舞的互動體驗，以及問卷回饋的形式，反映社會大眾對於不同文化變遷的意見，也希望能特過此創作，對於塔吉克族文化的變遷與流失，做最後的紀錄與保存。 / The Xinjiang Tajik wedding is one of the United Nations Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Tajik wedding is particular, traditional which is only hold in wedding season. The Tajik is proud of their wedding ceremony. Via the One Belt One Road global economic strategy in mainland China, which leads to the dramatically change in Tashkurgan, the hometown of the Tajik. The location of Tashkurgan is in the hub of Central Asia and South Asia. The perfect location make Tashkurgan become the Fourth Special Economic Zone in China. Being the Special Economic Zone brought to the increasing developing, on the other hand, which harmed to the cultural maintenance as well. Most of the traditional Tajik houses were demolished. The China government built the modern house to replace the original tradition one. The change of the house which also changed the indoor space leading to the change to the Tajik wedding ceremony. Otherwise, the modern life also make many customs vanished. Instead of playing the Eagle-flute and Lamb-drum, some wedding were playing the keyboard . The custom about horse-riding to escort the bride was substituted by the car. Thus, this project has recorded the Tajik for three months. The process of the Tajik wedding was recorded with photography documentary. The exhibition that integrated Photography Narrative and dynamic phantom. In the exhibition, with the questionnaire and interaction in Eagle dance, which reflected the audience feedback to the other culture change. Furthermore, I hope that I could make a contribution to preserve images about the culture change for Tajik via this project.

無 / This qualitative study provides conclusions on Impact of Belt and Road Initiative for Visegrad countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. It analyses trade indicators and foreign direct investments between Visegrad countries and China for years 2012-2016. It compares results and status of relations based on Belt and Road Initiative on economical, geopolitical and political level. In the end, this study provides suggestions for Visegrad countries to be more attractive for Chinese investors or to benefit more from cooperation.

BILL, Simon. Bandwagoning with the Belt and Road: Russia's changing attitude towards the Chinese presence in Central Asia post-Crimea. Praha, 2019. 78 pages. Master's thesis (Mgr.). Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of International Studies. Department of Russian and East European Studies. Supervisor Prof. Jan Šír, Ph.D. Abstract Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has considered the Central Asian states to be a part of its exclusive sphere of influence. In recent years, however, China has also increased its presence in the region, investing heavily in the energy and transportation sectors. This is exemplified by its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), specifically its Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) component, which was launched in September 2013. As China increased its presence in the region, and Russia launched its own initiative, the Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU), the two powers seemed to be on a collision course. However, relations between the two never deteriorated as predicted. Instead, the opposite has happened. In 2015, Russia found itself internationally isolated due to its controversial actions in Ukraine and embraced China's initiative. This dissertation will seek to explain Russia's increasingly accommodating attitude towards China's growing investment and influence...

L’initiative Belt and Road (BRI) a été lancée en 2013 par le président chinois Xi Jinping. En 2021, 46 pays africains avaient déjà signé des accords avec la Chine pour réaliser des travaux dans le cadre de l’Initiative. À contre-courant, la Tanzanie et la Sierra Leone ont suspendu deux projets signés dans le cadre de la BRI. Dans ce contexte, ce travail cherche à savoir pourquoi les pays africains, après avoir signé des accords de coopération avec la Chine, dans le cadre de la BRI, décident d’interrompre le projet. Pour répondre à cette question, nous ferons deux études de cas : l’interruption du projet de l’aéroport de Mamamah en Sierra Leone et celle du port de Bagamoyo en Tanzanie. L’argument développé dans cette recherche explore l’importance de l’agentivité africaine dans un contexte de coopération Sud-Sud, pour réduire les asymétries dans les négociations. Les cas analysés ont démontré qu’il existe un espace d’expression et d’opportunité pour les acteurs africains. De plus, la dynamique de la politique interne joue un rôle fondamental dans l’attitude des agents vis-à-vis des accords de coopération, ce qui contribue in fine à leur interruption ou à leur maintien. / The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was launched in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping. By 2021, 46 African countries had already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China under the initiative. Against this broad trend, Tanzania and Sierra Leone have suspended two projects signed under the BRI. In this context, this research seeks to explain why some African countries, after signing cooperation agreements with China, within the framework of the BRI, decide to stop the project. To answer this question, we will conduct two case studies: the interruption of the Mamamah airport project in Sierra Leone and that of the Bagamoyo port in Tanzania. The argument developed in this research explores the importance of African agency in a context of South-South cooperation, to reduce asymmetries in negotiations. The cases analyzed have shown that there is a space for expression and opportunity for African actors. In addition, the dynamics of domestic politics play a fundamental role in the attitude of agents vis-à-vis cooperation agreements, which ultimately contributes to their interruption or maintenance.