IS CHINA’S BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE (BRI) A CASE OF CROSS COUNTRY DYNAMIC SYNERGY?

Abstract

China’s Bridge and Road Initiative or BRI is emerging as the new bulwark of a newly reconfigured World economy. The initiative is presented as the conceptual and operational framework for the restructuring of the global economy. Foundations are designed to be all inclusive. There is capital, trade, technology and human resource elements. There are outward flow, inward flows, bilateral flows and regional flows. It draws a whip of economic exchange that run all the way from Spain through Germany, Turkey and Greece to Pakistan and ultimately China. It is projected as “ a Chinese idea but for everyone's benefit”. An effort that will “drive trade and prosperity through Chinese built infrastructure”. And as President Xi puts it “….to …….encourage the building of systems of fair, reasonable and transparent global trade and investment rules.BRI will, to all appearances, require different conceptual foundations from those that guided Raegan’s globalization efforts and the waves that followed. Those were largely based on competition and a country situational dominance based on a unique comparative advantage. BRI’s political and economic context will advance a different foundation: cross country dynamic synergy. And this is the core of the following article.The article starts with a brief analysis of the conceptual framework of the globalization that emerged in the 80’s and contrast that with the principles of cross country dynamic synergy that are adopted today. The article will go further to analysis the principles of the BRI and how those are based on dynamic synergy concepts as well as dynamic synergy application among the players. The article concludes with a projection of the longer term implications of BRI. The article provides a novel application of cross country dynamic synergy concept to a present day event of unusual scope and potential.