| Summary: | The paper examines the steady rise of China in the international system vis a vis the
gradual retreat (looking inwards) of the United States of America as the global hegemon faced with
enormous strategic uncertainty. Unequivocally, the international system is characterized by an endless
and relentless struggle for power, hence, the possibility of a power switch between great powers in the
system. Using library research method, aided by textual analysis of secondary data, the paper
interrogates the normative changes in China’s foreign policy, from the building of global institutions
that can rival the post-war II institutions, to the building of burgeoning partnerships with its
neighbours. It contends that China’s one belt one road initiative is a significant structural strategy to
advance a new global order, thus; it signals a more assertive China in its foreign policy, from risk
aversion to risk embracing. The paper concludes that the ‘one belt one road’ initiative if actualized,
has serious global geopolitical and geo-economics significances as well as a grand ploy to re-edit the
global order and further Chinese spheres of influence and interest in the international system.
|
|---|
