Abstract
This chapter assesses how Latvia’s perception of the Belt and Road Initiative has evolved in the context of the Latvian relations with China and Belarus, one of the China’s closest partners in Eastern Europe. The early Latvian economic-centric approach towards China until around 2018–2019 and Belarus until 2020 was cautiously enthusiastic. The engagement with Belarus was seen also as a potential connection to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. However, the engagement with China gradually transformed in disillusionment and fatigue towards it and its Belt and Road Initiative, better known in Latvia as the New Silk Road. The 2020 Belarusian post-electoral crisis and violence resulted in the deterioration of Latvian–Belarussian relations. It further downgraded prospects of the Belt and Road Initiative leg via Latvia. The chapter concludes that the uneven triangle of Latvia–Belarus–China has proven to be an unstable construct largely because of the overwhelming number of differences between the partners opposed to only one commonality—the interest in economic cooperation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Palgrave Handbook of Globalization with Chinese Characteristics |
| Subtitle of host publication | The Case of the Belt and Road Initiative |
| Editors | P.A. Duarte, F.J. Leandro, E.M. Galan |
| Publisher | Palgrave Macmillan |
| Pages | 609-621 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-981-19-6700-9 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-981-19-6699-6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2023 |
Keywords*
- Belarus
- Belt and Road Initiative
- China
- Latvia
Field of Science*
- 5.6 Political science
Publication Type*
- 3.1. Articles or chapters in proceedings/scientific books indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database
