CPEC: A TOOL FOR REGIONAL INTEGRATION AND LIBERAL INSTITUTIONALISM

Abstract

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been visualized by political scientists as a structural change in the balance of power of the world. The corridor has far-reaching economic and geopolitical impacts on Southwest Asian countries in general and Pakistan in particular. CPEC, being a transnational project, may face challenges in geographic as well as human terrain during its implementation phase. It would involve extra ordinary engineering resources to execute, massive funds to realize, and political acumen to manage social elements of Southwest Asian countries. This paper, therefore, explores China’s evolving relationship with the international system to achieve accelerated infrastructure development and boosted socio-economic growth through regional integration and liberal institutionalism. It is a multilateral strategy that will help Pakistan realize its true potential in the economic and strategic domains. It also endeavors to find linkages between China’s multilateralism with regional integration under the framework of CPEC based on liberal values of connectivity.

Bibliography Entry

Ali, Asif. 2020. "CPEC: A Tool for Regional Integration and Liberal Institutionalism." Margalla Papers 24 (2): 1-15.