(iPoster) Roads to Power: State Agency and the Rise of Authoritarianism

• In Event: Poster Session: Various Interesting Foreign Policy

Abstract

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposes a vast global network of infrastructure and development projects, positioning itself as a transformative force in international politics and the regional economic order. As Chinese President Xi Jinping’s flagship program, the BRI has sparked both optimism and criticism, including allegations of debt-trap diplomacy. However, the broader political impacts of the BRI on recipient states remain underexplored.

This paper uses a unique dataset comprising 155 semi-structured interviews with bureaucratic elites from Southeast and South Asia conducted over the past three years. The analysis focuses on how autocratic economic statecraft influences young democracies, presenting evidence of authoritarian drift through institutional adaptation in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. These findings shed light on the political consequences of Chinese investment, highlighting how the BRI reshapes governance structures in recipient states while contributing to democratic backsliding.

By connecting elite perceptions to broader trends in authoritarian politics, democratic backsliding, and Chinese foreign policy, this research advances scholarly understanding of the BRI’s role in altering state-society relations and undermining the liberal international order. The study offers significant contributions to the fields of economic statecraft, comparative politics, and the geopolitics of rising powers.

Author

• Merlin Boone, United States Military Academy