Third World Quarterly

How can the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) contribute to the making of a Global South-centered multipolar world?

On the 17^th of October 2023, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) convened its Third Forum. By the end of that year, more than 80 countries and international organizations had subscribed to the Initiative on Promoting Unimpeded Trade Cooperation Along the Belt and Road (Tangen, 2023). Overall, there are over 200 BRI agreements signed with over 150 countries and 30 international organizations. It is now widely acknowledged that the BRI represents China’s endeavour to establish a reformed—or alternative—world order. By the World Bank’s estimate, the BRI will, by 2030, generate $1.6 trillion in global revenue annually, accounting for 1.3 per cent of global GDP. 

However, BRI’s first-decade of development has met with mixed reviews. In recent years, a growing body of scholarship on the BRI has emerged through special issues (e.g., Hu, 2023) and edited volumes (e.g., Chong & Pham, 2020; Amineh, 2022). However, much of this tends to hold a ‘China Threat’ premise (e.g., Rochat, 2023), employs predominantly dissective approaches (e.g., Sun, Lews, and Urpelainen, 2023), and focuses solely on policy measures (e.g., Hu, 2023). Moreover, few studies adequately examine the BRI’s trajectory in light of the recent expansion of the BRICS. The nexus between BRI and BRICS, as scholars such as Lian (2025) argue, elevates the power of the Global South. Thus, it is plausible that the BRI may contribute to the making of a multipolar world shaped by and for the Global South. The questions are how and on whose terms this may take place.  

Acknowledging its political and ideological flexibility, the BRI can be understood as an adolescent entity—growing rapidly while intensively negotiating its identity with and within a complex global environment. Against this backdrop, the special issue seeks to address two core questions: (1) What are the ongoing challenges of the BRI in responding to the Global South’s development and geopolitical realities, including the BRICS expansion? (2) What forms of agency do Global South actors possess in shaping the continuing evolution of the BRI?

We welcome critical engagement that captures the catch-22 situation within the BRI’s expansion and reform. We do not treat the BRI merely as ‘China’s project’; its transcontinental character facilitates systematic coordination among all members involved, particularly those from the Global South. Thus, we do not focus on any single country. Instead of presenting retrospective studies, the special issue aims to identify future trends. We encourage pluralistic and holistic perspectives.

This special issue invites contributions from early-career and established scholars of diverse racial, ethnic, and disciplinary backgrounds. Interdisciplinary approaches are especially welcome. Authors may choose to focus on, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Bilateral, multi-bilateral, and multilateral trade relations within the Global South, with attention to agency and geopolitical dynamics under the BRI;
• Educational and training cooperation among BRI countries and partners;
• Discourse, intercultural communication, and narrative strategies in BRI’s people-to-people exchanges;
• Development finance, green transition, and sustainability dimensions of the BRI;
• The Digital BRI and its potential for promoting people-centred AI governance.

Contributors are also encouraged to investigate queries of decolonization and de-neoliberalization in the context of BRI reform and BRICS expansion.

The aim is to offer forward-looking alternatives that refresh our critical engagements with the BRI as a transcontinental collaboration impacting—and shaped by—the Global South.